A Snapshot of the Week

The days are flying so far on the reservation.  As many of you know, Emily, Rachel and I are spending 3 weeks here this summer -- working alongside the staff and interns at Sacred Road. 

What an incredible experience we are having.  We are seeing so much of the "behind the scenes" work of the ministry.  This summertime is a flurry of activity with mission teams arriving every other week and many preparations happening during the weeks in between. 

I don't even know where to begin, but here is a snapshot of our week so far: 

Emily and Rachel are helping at the worksite which is at the new church building this summer.  Rachel is helping prepare crafts and skit props for the Kid's Club (VBS). Thank you for praying for her as she continues to recover from pneumonia.  Emily is working outside (in the 100 degree weather) caulking and helping with various other projects outside. 

I have been shadowing Mary Granberry the past 4 days.  I am amazed at the many ways the Lord is using her in this ministry.  Her home is a hub of activity -- interns and staff coming and going throughout the day.  She fields phone calls/texts from the staff, interns and people in the community during the day, not to mention the hours and hours of food planning and preparation. 

When I arrive at her house each morning at 8 a.m. the day has already started.  The "manterns" (the male interns) and Granberry family are usually finishing up breakfast and packing lunches for the workday.  Mary is making lists, hanging laundry, and preparing for the day.  Each day is different depending on what is a priority.  On Monday we visited two appliance places to research ovens for the kitchen of the new church building.  We stopped at Cash and Carry before heading back to her place to prepare the evening's meal as well as get ahead with some food preparation for the week.  One day I bought 70 loaves of bread at the nearby Franz bread outlet.  Another day we helped a mother in the community who needed a way to get to the DSHS office and Mary treated this mother and her son to lunch as well as helped supply the mother with a box of food.  The needs are great in the community.  Many people do not eat regularly.  Some do not even have power or a refrigerator. 

My days have been filled with cooking and food preparation.  I am learning a lot about bulk cooking!

Around 3 p.m. every day Mary's car is loaded up with the evening dinner to take to the Harrah Church where the mission teams (50 people from teams this week) will eat dinner after the Kid's Club (VBS). 

We put the food in the oven or where it needs to go and then scoot out the door to the Kid's Club where we spend the next two hours loving and playing with the beautiful, precious children of the Yakama reservation. 

Bible Story Time at Kid's Club

Kid's Club is one of my favorite times of the day.  We drive up and it is so fun to watch children suddenly appear from the housing project.  Two Sacred Road vans pull up with more children to join in on the fun.  I look around and see children enjoying crafts, bubbles, kickball, jump rope, four square, chalk coloring, water games, snacks, a Bible story, and songs.  The time flies and for two hours these children enjoy a safe, loving environment that I hope carries them away from their burdens of life.  What a blessing and joy it brings to my heart as I see the children being loved by the mission teams, interns, and Sacred Road staff.  The children's faces light up.  I hear about children who are opening up week by week and I see them answering questions at the end of the Bible story.  The Bible stories this week have been about how Jesus healed people.  The children are told that Jesus heals our hearts too and cares for us.  I watch the seeds of the Gospel being dropped onto the Yakama reservation.  And I feel very blessed and happy to be here.