2011.08.07 Home!

We are safely home.

The last week of July:

Vince, Anne, and I drove to Colorado,

then north through Colorado, across Wyoming,

and ended in Billings, Montana.

On Sunday, July 31:

Vince left Montana to drive home

while

Anne and I stayed in Montana for a one-week

mission trip on the Crow Reservation.

We flew home yesterday.

I will post photos and narrative

in the coming weeks.

2011.08.06 Mission Trip to the Crow Indian Reservation - part 1

Who and what:

Anne and I went on a mission trip to

the Crow Indian Reservation

through World Servants

from Sunday, July 31 through Saturday, August 6.

How:

In May, Anne and I talked about our mutual interest in going on a mission trip.

We didn't have anything specific in mind.

Just something we would pray about.

The first week of June, I attended the annual Home Educators' convention.

Immediately outside the entrance to the Vendors' Hall

was a booth for World Servants.

The banner:  "Serving changes everything.  Lead the way."

Lead the way . . . well, okay then.

I've read quite a bit lately about getting outside your (personal) comfort zone.

This was definitely outside my comfort zone.

Committing to a week of

living with strangers,

unfamiliar living accommodations,

no computers,

very limited cell phone use,

and

relating to a people with a very different cultural background.

And me, an introvert.  Hmmmm . . .

What we (the World Servant team) worked on during the week:

Kids' Club (like vacation Bible school) each morning in the park,

a nursing home visit,

community Ice Cream Social one evening,

community Carnival one evening,

construction projects.

The construction projects (with one exception) focused on

the permanent mission campground.

The previous campground had become much too small,

so a new campground was underway for this and future

World Servant teams as well as other mission teams.

All mission work is supervised by Four Square Church in Crow Agency, Montana.

Kids' Club . . .

Nursing home afternoon . . .

Serving ice cream at the Social . . .

2011.08.06 Mission Trip to the Crow Indian Reservation - part 2

And, more photos . . .

Two of the four camp dogs (there were also three kittens) . . .

 The bunkhouses . . .

Evening campfire . . .

Working on the bathhouse . . .

Anne learned to use a circular saw (among other things)
and then supervised someone else learning . . .

Making to-go lunches . . .

The road into camp just before sunset . . .

2011.08.06 Mission Trip to the Crow Indian Reservation - part 3

The most important thing I learned . . .

building relationships and trust

ARE MORE IMPORTANT

than any actual project or activity.

I figure this applies to life as well as mission trips.

World Servants uses a Learner / Servant / Storyteller model

for interacting with others while on a mission trip.

I figure this applies to life as well.

1st - Learner

"Learn about others by observing and listening rather than teaching others

by imposing what you think you already know is 'right' and 'superior'".

2nd - Servant

"Serve alongside others to help them accomplish their goals

rather than leading others to accomplish your goals".

3rd - Storyteller

"Tell your own personal story rather than preaching

someone else's story, ideas, or theories".

Specifics to the Crow Indian peoples . . .

ask before taking photographs,

let the other lead in interactions,

do not compliment something they have or are wearing

(as they may feel compelled to give it to you),

do not make promises of any kind.

 At the carnival . . .

 

Craig saying "Good-bye" à la M*A*S*H . . .

2011.08.06 Mission Trip to the Crow Indian Reservation - part 4 and final

What a "typical" day was like . . .

The 22 of us were on 4 teams.
The teams rotated fixing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The breakfast team served breakfast at 8 a.m. (or thereabouts).

When it was your turn to serve, you also cleaned up.

You went to your morning assignment

which could be Kids' Club in the park in the town of Crow Agency

or a construction assignment.

There were also other camp projects which kept the camp running smoothly.

The lunch team served about noon.

Then, off to afternoon assignments.

Dinner was at 6 p.m.

Evenings could be group activities at the camp,

the community Ice Cream Social,

the community Carnival,

or an evening church service.

The last evening activity was always a short praise service

and a debriefing.

The debriefing was fun and included lots of laughter.

Questions would be asked by our World Servants coordinator, Steve Suhi,

such as

"Who learned something new today?  What was it?"

or

"Who interacted with someone from the community?  How did it go?"

It was lively and definitely contributed to building our own group community.

There were amazing people on this trip.

There probably are on every mission trip.

We ended with a distribution of Barnabus notes.

Barnabus was Paul's encourager in the Bible.

Throughout the day and evening,

members of our team would write notes to other team members.

Slips of paper with starting phrases such as

"You were an encouragement to me when you ..."

"Today you made me smile when you ..."

and

"Today I saw you working hard for Jesus when you ..."

The notes were folded and your name was on the outside.

I always read mine in bed just before sleep.

Sweet.

So . . .

would I go on another mission trip?

Absolutely.

Would Anne?

Absolutely.

What would I tell you if you were thinking about going on any mission trip?

The same thing my sister, jan, told me before Anne and I signed up.

JUST GO.