Back --- and the dust is flying!!!!

Marti and Tim....






















Sawyer and his "puppy"....




















Holly....looks happy with her new slipper sox!!

























Came with lots of snow to play in.....




















and left with flood warnings!!

Brennan, Colton and Trenton opening gifts.....

We had a good trip back from Michigan. Quite uneventful and that is good!! It was great to see everyone again and to be able to enjoy our grandkids and family at Christmas. The weather was really something. From coming in with a "blizzard" right behind us and dumping a pile of snow to leaving with all the snow completely gone and flood warnings out. But that's Michigan.....it was said that they had more sunshine the afternoon of the 4th of July than they had had all the month of December.

Gary came to the house this morning and said --- "you better come and see what's going on --- you don't want to miss it". Well they are trimming the angus bulls for the sale in February. They get a hair cut that really beats all!! We'll have to tell you all about it some time.

Last night we awoke to the sound of the wind......and it's been blowing the dust all day. I was reminded of the dust storms during the Depression. We have dust seeping in by the windows right now and this house is pretty solidly put together...... I can see how terrible it must have been back then --- how badly the dust must have been in the houses back then. I'm told that the walls were full of dirt --- not insulation --- but dirt. I can believe it!!!!

The sun is shining nicely and it's really not too cold out but I just heard on the radio that we have wind gusts of up to 65 mph. No wonder it's coming in the house. The snow (that is left) is black with dirt! We've decided that a trip to town for some caulking is in order!!

We are preparing for our next visit to the JDC..... we hope to show them the "Jesus" film. We will be contacting the Director concerning this film. Pray that everything will work out and also pray that hearts will be touched by this special film.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

Gary and Barb

Never know where to begin......

We haven't updated this for a while so there is so much to tell......

The Christmas party was very chaotic ---- we had approximately 42 kids working at the tables.....making their gift jars and decorating their bag to take all the goodies home in. But we had great help and even though panic struck a couple of times...."oh no! we don't have enough oatmeal.." it all turned out good in the end, and we are pretty sure the kids had a good time. It's possible that some heard the Christmas Story of Christs birth for the first time that day.

Our grandsons are still having a great time. They do admit to being homesick "a little bit at night". They had a blast playing in Dwights big round hay bales. Going in and through where they weren't stacked tight and so on. However, when they came in from the cold they weren't so happy. Those hay bales are full of "cheek grass" and the seed heads stick to everything they come in contact with. So their hunting suits and stocking hats are FULL and it takes hand picking to get them off!!! Not exactly their idea of fun.

We visited the JDC on Sunday and met with 7 kids. One gal, Winter, was hurting inside because her favorite uncle had just passed away from lung cancer and no one in her family told her --- the funeral was over and she didn't get to go. Another gal, Gina, will be moving to Oklahoma and going to an Indian boarding school in January. She said she was glad to go because she would get away from all the trouble on the reservation. Another gal, Jalynn, had been released a week or so ago but was back in. She had sassed ?? a judge (probably more to it than that) and ended up back in the center. We told her about the passage in the Bible that says we are to obey those in authority over us. We tried to do this instruction in a "fun" sort of a way but assured her that it was something she needed to do. Another gal admitted to alcohol abuse...... We also heard that one of the boys was told he "had to leave". (The guards have told us that some kids don't want to leave.) He had been there for 200 days. He was one of the boys who knew the answers on our review time and also one that we had so much fun with.....he also loved our snacks and always asked for more. We are very concerned for him.....where is he now --- are things OK wherever he is...... We can only leave him in God's hands....but we do hope that as we drive through St. Francis that we might spot him and be able to make contact with him.

????? Is there more you should be told about. Time goes by so fast ....what have we forgotten.....

Oh Yes! School in Todd County was canceled for Monday and Tuesday of this week because of the bitter cold (the buses wouldn't start).....so that meant we didn't have Release Time this week. We feel bad because we had a special little gift for the K-4 kids and now they won't get it until after Christmas. Plus our lesson was about the Wise Men.... Those are disappointments that the kids also share because we know they love to come to "Promised Land".

We hope to leave here for Michigan on Friday morning. Gary has been watching the weather reports and it looks like a storm will be going in front of us. So please keep our travels in your prayers.

Thanks!!!!! Gary and Barb & Trenton and Austin

So much to share!!!!

We took our two grandsons - Trenton and Austin - back with us from Michigan and we have been busy ever since!!! They have totally taken to hunting everything that flys or hops.....pheasants, turkey, grouse and jackrabbits. Grandpa is having as much fun as they are!!! And I stay busy cooking ---- we have eaten wild game every night for a week now!! NO!!! not the rabbits! I draw the line there.....plus it's reported that some have a disease.

Release time has gone well....everyone has enjoyed an Ice Cream Sundae for good behavior.......topping of choice, whipped cream and a cherry for good measure. We will be having a Christmas Party for the older kids that we are involved with this coming Saturday - the 13th. We have a lot of help for this and it should go good. The kids will be putting together a "soup in a jar" and "cookies in a jar" for their familes and receiving some type of family fun game.....along with the donated blankets and slippers, and could be more that I'm not even aware of. So many people are sharing the love of Christ with the kids. :-)

Saving the best news for last....... We went to the JDC tonight. The lesson was on Noah and it is a powerful lesson ---- maybe you'd like to hear it sometime :-)
We had about 17 kids tonight - 6 girls and the rest boys. All 6 girls stayed to ask Christ into their hearts. Cheyenne had already prayed the week before and she remembered but it's good to have her stay --- reinforces it for the other girls. It is so awesome to see their smiles knowing they are now a child of God. It is ALWAYS a joy to go to the JDC --- we have a lot of fun with the kids.....many have been there from the beginning of our time there. We always get handshakes from the boys. The guard who prayed to receive Christ has been there for the past few lessons. He said some of the guards don't want to be there but he enjoys it.

As we left tonight for the JDC the sky looked VERY threatening!!!! And as we got just north of St. Francis it started to snow. The roads became terrible!! But it was a short storm and by the time we got to the JDC it was done...but had left 2 inches of snow behind. The trip home was on VERY icy roads......no salt trucks out here. They do put down some sand on the steep hills near town. We got behind a couple of cars going 5 miles an hour. Gary couldn't stand it!!

We ask you to pray for the girls. We never know how long they will be there -- but we talked about the fact that God knows their hearts (and they nodded in agreement)... and we leave them in the hands of a loving heavenly Father.

Gary and Barb

So much to share!!!!

A Sweet day -- in several ways

We had a grand day at Promised Land again this Tuesday. As you can see the K-1 kids get just as close to me as they can. (a side note for my relatives.....does that look like mom sitting there or what!!!??? Knew I looked like mom but not that much!) Anyway....... We had another little boy - Kendall - ask Jesus into his heart. He was sitting right next to me and I could just about feel the Spirit at work in his heart. It is so amazing to be used by God!!!!

This was the day that we were all waiting for.....ice cream sundaes.....this was a treat that was promised the kids if they were all good--all the time. This was the first day for the little gal - Liv - on the left. She wanted to come all along but her mom never got the permission slip back to school....FINALLY she got to come. And on the best day too yet :-).


Thanks again for your lavish support!!! Keep lifting everything up in prayer!!
Gary and Barb

to Michigan and back again.........

We had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving visiting with our whole family.....Yes! even Rick was home from the Netherlands. And a nice bonus was meeting Tim's (Marti's financee) parents who came up from South Carolina.

Meeting with our church family was also GOOD! Such awesome support from everyone!!! And a special thank you to Sally Hulsman's Sunday School class for the big cards for us and the bookmarks for the kids out here. They put 6 REAL special verses on a "spot" of paper and hung them from ribbons. It will be so much fun to share these with our group of the same age.

Traveling back to South Dakota was something......!!!! We started out after dinner with snow right away, but nothing too worrisome. We got through Chicago in fine shape....and we were very happy to be heading west because the east bound traffic was tied up for about 9 miles. We continued on with sloppy wet snow --- Gary drove all the way and that made me very happy!! By evening the temperature stayed at 34 degrees so we felt rather confident that ice was not forming. We made it to Iowa City and decided to stop -- driving at night is not something either one of us enjoy. Oh! and if you did know --- we took our two oldest grandsons (Trenton and Austin) along with us -- they will stay until Christmas...... So the boys were real happy to know that we had landed at a motel with a pool.

Morning brought BAD roads. All the slop had frozen and there were spots that were awful!! From Iowa City to Des Moines we counted 70 cars in the ditch....some were in worse shape than others.....some had rolled....some had gone down into steep places and so on. We KNOW that God was watching over us once again because we made it through all the bad stuff and on through to dry roads where I could take over driving.

The boys got to bed rather late because excitement is high :-) so this morning has started rather slowly. And now they have gone "down the hill" with Grandpa to have a tour of the ranch. It looks like it will be a beautiful day as you can see with the glorious sunrise.

At Release Time today we will have the younger groups and we will be having ice cream sundaes today. This is the treat that was promised for good behavior.

We cannot say Thank You enough!! All the prayers that are being lifted!! We praise God nightly for his faithfulness.

Gary and Barb

JDC - a visit we always look forward to.

Today started out in a very beautiful fashion!!! ------Just to let you know - we have this type of beauty out here a LOT!!! :-) Also -- a better picture of the Detention Center.

At our noon meal our devotions were on Romans 12:9-21.....some really hard things to hear-----"love those who persecute you"..... But we felt that it would be a good place to start with the kids at the JDC.....Not directing this passage at them necessarily but that the Bible is full of directions for us on how we are to live our life for God. And so we headed back to the JDC with a little bit of a direction for our visit with the kids that have prayed to receive Christ. When we arrived we gave the guard a list of the people we wanted to see. He took it and left ....but then came right back. "You want to see a guard??!!" Well, yes we did. But unfortunately he was not working that shift. But we had to laugh at his response. Two of the kids were no longer there....Tiana and Nicole. But we were able to see the other 4. After seeing some of them several times they are much more open with us....not that they share a lot about themselves but it just seems like they feel more comfortable with us....we get a lot more smiles! We had told the kids it would be good if they would begin reading the Bible in the book of John. Jalynn had read to chapter 8 and Robert had read to chapter 15.......he said "I just kept going". He also said that he was in a part that was about "how to live". Cheyenne and Lelana were still not real comfortable with us it seemed.

We might not get to see these kids again. We will miss 2 weeks with them while we go home to Michigan. But we did get several of their addresses and so hope to communicate with them in that way.

Thank you for keeping these young people in your prayers. :-) See some of you real soon!!

Love to all! Gary and Barb

Wanbli Wiconi Tipi - JDC

It's Thursday and we were able to go to the Juvenile Detention Center once again. We always get there and want to get a good precise count of the number of kids....... but for some reason it never happens. Plus it's different every week. But we had approximately 16-17 kids there tonight. The lesson was on Enoch and how he had a close friendship with God..... "Enoch walked with God" We asked "How can you be a friend with the Almighty God - Creator of All things??!!" Well, Enoch would show us how. The Bible verse for the night was Colossians 1:10 Then you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. The kids really listen --- every time! They aren't afraid to look at you and let you look at them. We also listened to a song by "Broken Walls" - a group of Native American singers who use the native sound and drums along with a Christian message. The song talked about "the River of Life that's flowing from his throne. Won't you come on in and see - this river will set you free". When we gave the invitation to ask Christ into their hearts there were
seven hands that went up. One was the guard!!!! Three of them were kids that had already prayed to receive Christ the last time we were there. But we discussed it with them.....Robert said " yeah, I really wasn't sure if I had to again " But it was still something he wanted and so he indicated it again. We gave them Bibles of their own and asked them to begin reading in the Book of John. Gary asked them to read a chapter a night and when we come back in 3 weeks they should be about done....(Jalynn checked that out...how many chapters there were).

One of the young men who had indicated he wanted to pray to receive Christ didn't stay with the rest of them. It could be that the thought of the peer pressure was just too great for him.....because I had noticed how intently he had listened..... maybe next time. Please pray for him -- sorry but we don't know his name - but God does!!

The guard said that he was pretty much "traditional" (I took that to mean traditional Lakota)... but he wanted to know God more. And so I told him that he had to truly believe that Jesus had died for him and rose again and that He was the only way for salvation. "Do you want to do that?" He said "Yes".

So if you would add these names to your prayers....Cheyenne, Tiana and Tom.

When Gary and I leave there we are so in awe of God and the work he is performing in these young peoples lives. We feel so overwhelmed that we can be used in such a way. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!

Thank you!!!! Without your prayers....... we hate to think what would be!

Gary and Barb

sharing a discovery I made......

Just a little tidbit----- I'm probably way behind everyone.......but I discovered that if you clip on the photos on our blogspot they will instantly enlarge and you can get a better view of them.

Love to all!!! Barb

The storm in Parmalee.......

This morning as we were listening to the news on the radio we were told that the community of Parmalee has been without power since the storm last week (Thursday, Nov. 6) and it is expected that they will be without for 7 to 14 more days. Parmalee is on the Rosebud Indian Reservation -- to the north of us about 20 miles. They asked for lamp oil, batteries and food.

We were just given a large donation of small blankets from the Love, INC store and the Overisel Reformed ladies had been busy knitting and crocheting slippers. We vividly remembered how cold it can get without electricity and so we decided that Parmalee would be a good place for some of these blankets and slippers. There was also meat left in the freezer from this summers Prairie Light Youth Camp.

We loaded up our truck with blankets, slippers (not all of what we were given), 3 hams, 8 packages of ham lunch meat, approximately 15 pounds of hamburg and 20 pounds of Canadian Bacon.....not a lot of food but any little bit helps. One of the gentlemen said "ham and add beans".. We brought it to a little building in Parmalee that serves as a church. It is the only building in the community that had heat -- where they were cooking hot food and giving out the donations. Everything was very much appreciated.

The photo above is what the wind did to the power lines coming into Parmalee.

Please pray for the community of Parmalee. They are a community that has been wracked with 5 or 6 suicides of young people this past year, and this only adds to their pain.

Thank you for your awesome prayer support!!! God is GOOD!!

Gary and Barb

Before church on Sunday morning - November 9

The trees were covered with frost this morning and with the sun shining on them they were a beautiful sight.

These deer were there at 10:00 in the morning as we headed to Valentine to go to church at the Assembly of God. Is he magnificent or what!?!-----right next to the road - proud as can be! As we came home at 1:00 in the afternoon.....HE WAS STILL THERE!! same place!

This herd of mule deer were still in South Dakota (the top photo was in NE)..bedded down on the east side of the road......it looks like they are permanent fixtures for the day also.

These beautiful pheasants must have kept warm overnight on the haybales. And now were enjoying the sunshine.

The roads are a story in themselves..... You do NOT want to meet anyone in these areas ---- unless you've got your backup skills down pat!!

This is just west of us ......

We want to share some photos of our Sunday morning. We took time out early in the morning to witness some of God's beautiful creation and some of the winter "wonderland" - which can come in all shapes and forms. Some good some not so "good"....but awesome nun-the-less. We also saw flocks!!! of grouse and lots of jack rabbits.

We did not have church in Lakeview because of the bad roads and also because the pastor who was scheduled to come out (and I am not sure how far he had to travel but many come from the east side of the state) is in his 80's and the elders of Lakeview decided it wasn't wise for him to be traveling on these roads.

We hope you enjoy ........

Gary and Barb

WINTER!!!! Has arrived

The top picture was a scene out of our window on Wednesday....Gary driving some of the calves back to their corral... a rather chilly day with some blowing snow...... The bottom picture is the scene out of our living room window. We have a blizzard warning until Friday morning. We have been hearing a freight train all night......haven't seen it yet but sounds like it's still coming.. Gary was thinking he might just have a day inside....no school today so Dwights son Robb is available to helpout with the ranch work. HOWEVER, Dwight called and they went out to get 230 head of cattle to the west about 5 miles.....They went with the big tractor and pickup. These are mostly older cows who know that east means home and so they should come quite willingly.

I'm afraid that if this keeps up we will not be going to the JDC this evening. It's too bad because they probably don't have school either today....and it will be a long boring day for them. Please keep them in your prayers!

Oh MY!! I just looked out the window and saw a bird flying....wondered why it looked so strange....!!?? have you ever seen a bird fly backwards. It was a hawk trying to go against the wind....but it finally gave up and turned with the wind.

YES! Winter out here could be very interesting!!

Love to all of you! Barb

Some more ranch news.......

A very happy hunter. South Dakota is known for good pheasant hunting and Gary is having a good time proving it to be true. And BONUS!!!!......I have fried several of them and they are delicious!!!

We decided that our blog needs some color again.... So hope you enjoy this beautiful sunrise. It was a gorgeous day!!!!

When we aren't busy with kids - Release Time - JDC - kids over on the weekends....we stay busy with some type of ranch work. On Monday we were asked to help one of the ranchers with a big cattle round up. We were picked up at 6:30 a.m. and headed to a spot north of Rosebud. We were with a group of 4 or 5 on horseback and 4 of us on quads. When we got the cattle close to the destination there was a small creek down in the bottom of a draw. I didn't attempt to cross the creek but Gary did.........well - he got stuck. Luckily, a cowboy with his lariat was nearby and did the job....pulled him out!!!! What a hoot!! All total - we put on 25 miles (on the quads) during this drive. Went home whipped!

There is always an adventure just waiting.........

B & G

Sunday - November 2

I was thinking that I had updated this concerning our return to the JDC on Sunday. But obviously I hadn't.

When we arrived and told the guard that we would like to visit with 4 of the kids.....we were told that we were not on the visitation list. Oh Boy!! But one short phone call and we were on!! As Gary said - "that was a God thing"!!

We visited with all of the kids - one at a time. Robert hadn't gotten a Bible out of the library yet (we had noticed that they had an abundant supply of Bibles when we took our tour)......so we talked about that and he said he would like one of his own. And we have one for him - so will get that to him this coming Thursday (along with one for the other 3 also). We also talked about where he lives and the wonderful pastor that is in the area. He knows David Marshall and has even played basketball with him and his sons and has gone to his church. We encouraged him to continue going to that church.

Two of the girls were rather distant. Not real good eye contact. But we had a good visit with them also....prayed with them and I (Barb) was able to give them a hug.

The other little gal - Nicole - had her father visiting her and we could overhear much of their conversation and so we knew that she would be going to a treatment center. Her and her dad seemed to have a good relationship. When we spoke with her....I asked why she had to go to a treatment center ..."for my anger". After the treatment center she will be going to a boarding school for the remainder of the school year in another part of the state. I said something to the effect that that might be scary for her.....tears came to her eyes and she said "yes and I don't want to leave my friends". We gave her our address and told her to write us with her new address and we would write back.

We gave all the kids our phone number and told them they could call anytime. We continue to see these young people in the JDC as nice kids....but kids that have made too many wrong decisions in their young lives.

We ask that you say a few special prayers for all of the kids in the JDC that we come into contact with. Ken and Sally, Rick and Carla (our company from MI) were able to take a tour that evening. They were told that the kids are given the choice to go to the basketball court or "go to church".....they chose to come to our "church". So there is a desire there.........to hear about God.

Gary and Barb

O LORD MY GOD - WHEN I IN AWESOME WONDER

God is so wonderful. Thursday night we went to the JDC (Juvenile Detention Center) once again.. We have been there three times now. We had decided not to offer an invitation to receive Christ right at the get go.......but rather let the kids get to know us a little better. Gary gave the Bible lesson - it was on Cain and Abel -- their offerings and how Cain did not have a "right heart attitude" when he made his offering to God. Gary gave an invitation at the end. The kids are all asked to bow their heads and close their eyes (no looking around). "If anyone would like to ask Christ into your heart, please show me by raising your hand." We both saw 3 hands come up.....but when we asked those who raised their hands to stay - 4 kids stayed. One boy and 3 girls. It was so wonderful to hear these young people repeat the sinners prayer with us. And to see the look in their eyes.

Please pray for Robert, Lelana Su, Nicole and Jailyn. We asked them "whose child are you now"....."Gods"....."Jesus' ".....

We hope to go back to the JDC this Sunday afternoon and hopefully talk with these 3 again. We warned them that they might be mocked..... But just that fact that they raised their hands and did this amongst their peers speaks volumes!!

While we were with the kids, Ken and Sally Kreuze and Rick and Carla Kraker (who are out for a visit this week) were taken on a tour of the facility. They found it VERY interesting!! So if you have more questions you can seek them out and I'm sure they would love to share what they learned!

KEEP UP THE PRAYERS - they are THE most important thing about all of this. We feel that prayer is the reason for all that is happening. God DOES hear!

Gary and Barb

Prayer is so very important!!!

Last week our meeting with the JDC kids went so well again.

Everything is going so well......

Prayer -- your prayers --- are what is making this all happen!! Without prayer nothing would go well. The devil has had such a strong hold on the reservation for so long. But God is at work here in so many different ways. WHY??? Because so many prayers are being lifted. Not because of our work......we are just a small part of the big picture. We are blessed everytime we go and work with the kids. Seeing those eyes focused on us and the lessons.......seeing the smiles...hearing the thank you......getting that hand shake (at JDC)........feeling God's presence.....

Without your support --- your prayers --- none of this would be happening. And so we ask for you to continue your prayers!! NEVER feel that they are going out void!!! God is hearing and God is in action! We can hardly believe that we are getting to be part of this. KNOW that you are a big part of it also!

We can't thank you enough!
With love, Gary and Barb

A Day in the life of Ranch helpers / Ministry Workers....

What a day!! We started out the day helping my cousin Dwight vaccinate approx. 250 calves that he does "background work". Not sure that's the exact term but these are calves that belong to another rancher who has Dwight take care of them for the winter. The vaccinating process went very well and we were done by 11:00.....just in time to make sure we had everything packed up for Release Time.

Release time went good! The little K-1 are so precious....wanting to get as close to me and the flannelboard as they could. In a way it was rather distracting to the story telling --- so many little bodies --- so excited and wanting the best seat in the house. The 2nd - 4th graders.....it shows that they are older and I can still see Mark Long listening so intently to the lesson. It just warms your heart. One boy - Tyler - asked Jesus into his heart. Tyler was all smiles. And oh! do they sing.....I can't wait until they know the whole song....."I'm gonna take God's promises and hide 'em in my heart, so I don't forget I'm gonna hide 'em in my heart...." We gave all the kids a Bible. We were given money by one of our visitor/relatives and decided to use it to purchase Story Bibles for the K-1. One little girl (Faith, who told me she was at a 2nd grade reading level) was reading it as she went into the school building. We gave the 2nd - 4th graders an Early Reader edition - made possible by another good friend of the Boy Scout family.

We got home around 4:00....so I started getting supper ready to put in the oven. About the time to put it in the oven Gary came in asking "you want to go round up some calves?" Twenty of the 250 calves had broken through the corral (a big story in itself) and 7 were still missing. Dwight knew where they were - just west of us about 1 mile. So we headed out with the quads (in the rain) to get these delinquents. They were in with the neighbors herd of cattle so they had to be separated. They did not want to leave these new found "moms"and so it was quite the rodeo getting them separated and then to keep them from going back into the herd. We finally got them back to the ranch and into the corral.

We are enjoying ALL of the work we do and it is so good to stay busy. God has blessed us with health and strength - a beautiful place to stay - and many good neighbors that make us feel welcome.

We look forward to November 20th when we will be coming home for a visit and for little Sawyers baptism. It will be so good to catch up on all of our family and friends!!!

Love to all of you!!
Gary and Barb

And more overwhelming opportunities......

On Wednesday and Thursday a couple of guys by the name of Rick and Mick were out in the area doing school assemblies during the day and in the evening they would have a Pizza Blast party. You can find them on their Website: www.rickandmick.com. They are internationally known....have been all over the world with their program.....and it was great. We did not go to the school assemblies but were invited by my aunts sister to come and be Counselors at the pizza blast. On Wednesday we went out to Valentine and enjoyed a hilarious program. There was an illusionist and then Rick and Mick......and a group from the school who put on a "grecian urn" skit. Let me tell you there was a LOT of water squirting around as these men became a fountain......and then a bunch of people in the crowd were also recipients of the water...... How I wish we had had our camera along to get a movie!!!

Then on Thursday evening they were at the Todd County High School. We arrived late for the program but were available again as counselors.

Many people came forward at each invitation and we were able to go over the 4 Spiritual Laws with them. It is so overwhelming!!! Gary had all 5 of his chairs full and he went over the booklet with them and they filled out the response card. Then when the chairs emptied a little girl came over - Alexandria - and sat down and said "now it's my turn."

God is at work here on the reservation.....some would say that these people have heard this message over and over again and they respond over and over again. But perhaps it's going to take hearing it over and over again before it finally hits home and they fully understand. We must NOT grow weary in giving Gods Good News!!!

Another bonus of going to the TCHS pizza blast was that we got to see MANY kids that we have been in touch with.....and met a few parents.

God Bless!

Juvenile Detention Center

This picture isn't the greatest.....part of the building is covered by the "hillside". This is the Juvenile Detention Center (Wanbli Wiconi Tipi) --- a beautiful facility -- housing at this time about 20 young people. It has 47 available beds. It is a very new facility -- I believe it was finished in 2004. We had a tour of it on Wednesday and were VERY impressed with the programs they have for the young people. We asked if they would allow us to come in and do a religious program with their young people. "We would love to have you come and help us with our youth." And so we started immediately....last night (Thursday - October 16) from 6:00 - 7:00 we gave the "kids" our lesson on Creation. Again we wanted to start right at the beginning. We had a lot of fun with these kids....joking and laughing. The guard that brought them to the room was invited to stay and he did - so we knew things would stay under control.

I (Barb) went over a Bible verse with the group - Hebrews 11:3 It is by faith that we understand that the whole world was made by God's command. In the CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) way of doing things --- we should repeat the verse several times to get it "into their heads and hearts". So we worked on getting it said loud enough "so the guard down the hall could hear it". It worked pretty good because they said it pretty loud several times. Then Gary introduced the lesson with his snowshoes -- something he had made -- but only God can make something out of nothing......

After the lesson and singing the song How Great Thou Art, we went over the Review Questions. We had warned them ahead of time that we were going to check to see how well they listened. The very first question was "What does the word Genesis mean?" I thought that was a tough one!!!! The young man in the far corner shot his hand up....."beginning". I was very impressed. Gary had only mentioned that in passing right at the beginning of the lesson.

We passed out finger jello :-) and cookies at the end and sang one more song.

I really look forward to next week. You could tell that these kids have heard God's message before....one knew that we have to repent in order to go to heaven and everyone of the twelve questions got a correct answer from someone! Now they just need to change that head knowledge into heart knowledge. Perhaps we can bring them a step closer.

Please keep this group in your prayers (sorry no pictures of these young people - as you can understand it is not allowed).

Thank you once again for your awesome support!

Gary and Barb

CORRECTION

My goof!!! I shouldn't do things in a rush!!! I got the wrong picture of the 7-8th graders and missed one of our young people.

Marissa on the far left also asked Christ into her life.

THANKS! I will try to slow down and make sure on what I am posting! Barb

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSING FLOW

7th and 8th Graders ---Clayton (2 years ago), Floyd (Tues.), Timothy (2 years ago), Miles (did not yet), Jailyn (Tues.), Kelsey (this summer) and Shania (Tues).

Daniel, Jasper, Rodney, Tyra, Vera, DonShay, and Kelsey

5th and 6th Graders ---- ALL of them asked Jesus into their hearts - plus Matthew (who we didn't get the new full group shot because of our excitement).

It is so awesome being in service for God!!! We are so in awe of what is happening with Promised Land. This past Tuesday we had the older groups. Words just can't tell you what it felt like with the 5th and 6th graders. EVERYONE asked Jesus into their heart. We are posting their photo again just so you can see and pray for each one.

These kids are so serious about what they did. And again it is so wonderful that we will be able to hopefully nurture these young people. Pray for us that we give them God's word in a clear and truthful manner!

The sad thing......we don't have Promised Land next Tuesday because it is an inservice day for the teachers.

For those of you who have been praying so faithfully.....THANK YOU!!! YOU are the reason this is happening. You are praying for the kids and for us and God is hearing and answering your prayers. Please, Please keep it up!!! We can't do it without prayer!!!

Gary and Barb

P.S. If you have been praying for us just "being out here....and all that".... Rest assured that that prayer has been answered too because we are happy here. We MISS our family and friends but we know God is watching over them all and so we are good with that. Winter could prove to be lonely.....we shall see......

Sweet Sweet Sunday

Sometimes God just seems to be extra good :-). We went to pick up the Left Hand Bull children to come to church with us and this morning we had an added blessing......Mark came along. Last year he was one of the kids that I "sat on" (figuratively) for some poor choices I felt he had made (along with 2 other kids). On the way to church we got to talking about what adventure they had had this weekend and they said they had gone hiking again. I said they would have to show Gary just where they went because we needed some trails to hike on...... Mark said "you got time this afternoon?" YES! We made sure we had the time. We went hiking just north of their place - down in the canyons. There are deep washout that we decided must have gotten as bad as they were because of the cows making deep trails and then the rains washing out the sand. We had a grand time - just enjoying the kids' company and letting them show us "their" trails.

On another page.............My Aunt and a part of her family are here with us for about 10 days. She is much more alert and able to enjoy her little great grand twin babies (15 months or so). They sit on her lap, give kisses, and just make life interesting!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Please pray for our Promised Land on Tuesday. We will be meeting with the 5th -6th and 7th - 8th graders.

Gary and Barb

Promised Land Blessings......God is SO good!!!!

We wanted to share our Roller Coaster Ride with the Kindergartners and 1st graders.....hope you can open it!!!! That was a RIOT!!!! Those kids are about as cute as they come!!!! One little girl asked (as she got into the 15 passenger van) "is this a limosine?" and then someone else had the roller coaster idea......

GOD is SO GOOD!!! We had 8 (eight) K-1 kids ask Jesus into their hearts. And then we also had 7 (seven) 2nd-4th graders ask Jesus into their hearts. And now it feels so good to know that we will be able to nurture those little ones to come to know Jesus more and more as we meet with them week after week.

Please pray for these little ones.

Gary and Barb

Relatives from Michigan and more........

Holly, Vera, Diondra, LenaBella and LouAnnWe had a fun time visiting with 2 of Gary's cousins, Dale and Barb and Sharon and Dwayne. They arrived Thursday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday Sharon, Barb and I (Barb) drove through the reservation picking up several girls to come to our place and do a craft. We ended up with a good number......5 girls. We worked on a plastic mesh / yarn craft. The girls caught on right away and did very nice work. I really couldn't have done it very well without Barb and Sharon to help. We all kept busy threading needles and so on. Diondra still had to finish her scrapbook and she handled that very nicely on her own.

It's so nice to be able to go to the kids' home and meet their families. Sharon purchased a very nice necklace that one of the moms had made from seed beads.

So if you ever want to come out and visit the beautiful prairies......come on out....we have plenty of room for visitors and we will put you to work. :-)

Gary and Barb

5th and 6th, 7th and 8th graders

These are the 7th and 8th Graders.....

And these are the 5th and 6th graders.....

Today we had the older groups for Promised Land. Once again everything went very good. Time flys when you're having fun and that hour really went fast. With the older groups it's harder to tell whether or not they enjoyed Promised Land.......you know.....they're at that "be cool" age. But we know they heard God's message because they were very attentive. Our message this week (and last week with the little ones) was based on Psalm 139: 14-15. And the Bible Verses were from Jeremiah. The K-4 had Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love. And the 5th - 8th had Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. We wanted the kids to know right away that they are unique and special to God.

It's really neat to have a young man sitting in the group who you know has no (or very little) knowledge of God...because his "mom" (she is actually an aunt but to this young man she is mom) sat down at Family Night and told us his story. Pray for this young man.....he seems to be a really nice kid but has had a tough life so far.

Thank you again for all of your support.

Gary and Barb

Another fun Saturday with 4 boys......

We headed out to Grass Mountain hoping to pick up the Gary boys...Joseph and Robert Gary. These boys don't have a phone at their house so we really can't plan ahead. Yes! we found them at home and they wanted to come along for another adventure and "could Shiloh and Lowel come along too". That was just what we wanted --- just 4 boys to build another catapult....a little bigger this time. Well, they got it a little bigger......but not necessarily better. They did get one good 50 foot shot but couldn't duplicate it again. By the way they are shooting zucchini (we are about sick of eating zucchini!!)

Gary said Joseph has "really got a head on his shoulders".....figuring out what had to happen right along side Gary. The other 3 boys grew tired of all the trying, I think, and they were in the house.......Robert asked if there was anything he could help with. So I asked if he wanted to help make pizza for supper..."Yes!" So while Gary and Joseph brainstormed....Robert, Shiloh and Lowel and I made pizza. They pressed the dough out and everything....did a great job and loved every minute of it.

We are finding out that these kids are really different when they come to our house....then what they are with all of their peers at camp. We are liking what we see.... REALLY nice kids!

Promised Land Kids

2nd, 3rd and 4th graders

Kindergarten and 1st grade

Promised Land has begun!!!! Hurrah!! We had a fun time with the kids. They are a sweet bunch. We don't work with Kindergarteners very often so we wondered how that would go. What fun!!! It went great. And the one we were told was trouble with a capital T was just as good as all the rest of them!

Thank you for all the prayers!!! Keep them coming. Next week we will have the 5-6 and 7-8. Many of these kids from K-8 come to Prairie Light Youth Camp and we all recognize each other. It's so neat to hear "hey, I know you."

Tonight the school is having a Family Night and we have been invited to the Sub Sandwich supper. We will be introduced and if there are any questions for us we can address them.

Gary and Barb

Sunday, September 14----a day full of kids

Charles, Clayton, Jeremy and Holly by the car looking at a photo album of her last year at camp.....

These are kids that came to camp several years ago...

Sunday morning we travel west toward Spring Creek and picked up 4 children for church..... Tyler, Clayton, Jayden, and Tillia Left Hand Bull. Tyler and Clayton have been coming to Lakeview CRC for the past year - enjoying Sunday School and now a little sister and brother came along. They went home full of smiles.

We don't have church in the evening because Lakeview is without a Pastor right now and so it makes for a long day. About 4:00 I called a young gal who had been in our camp group a year ago. She had called "Ms. Marlys" and said school was going good but the weekends were so boring. Marlys told Holly that we had been having kids over of and on and would she like to come some time. She said "Yes". I was thrilled to know that!!!! Holly and I hadn't gotten along very good at our last meeting (that's a long story)......and I was afraid she wouldn't want to see me........ Anyway, we decided to go to St. Francis and pick up her and her brother Clayton for the rest of the afternoon. We ended up with a car full. Another brother Jeremy came along and we then went to pick up Charles.

We had a FUN day. The boys built a catapult that threw a huge zucchini 35 feet across the yard. Holly and I hung out.....she made some flipflops and we went for a short quad ride and came upon 2 mule deer....we got so close you could see their eyelashes!!!! Holly really enjoyed the ride.

We ended the day with burgers on the grill. Jeremy is a young man full of questions.........He said he was stressed out at school and so we shared with all of them that if they have Christ in their hearts and put all their trust in him as their Savior that He will always be there for them. But they have to be willing to admit that they are sinners and come to Him to change them. He also asked...."is it OK to kiss before marriage"......WOW.....got into some real good discussions because of Jeremy. And because we were eating supper or driving in the car when he asked.......everyone heard our "advice".

Now we would ask that you put Promised Land in your prayers .....we will start tomorrow afternoon at 1:00. Thank you!!!

Gary and Barb

FINALLY "Promised Land" (Release Time) all set.....

We knew that Release Time had been approved by the school board, but still had not been contacted by anyone to begin Release Time. I decided that I should go to school around recess time and then maybe I could talk to the head teacher at Lakeview School. I know the secretary and so while I waited for recess she asked if I wanted to visit the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade room (all in the same room). "YES!" I recognized 5 of the kids from camp but 7 of them recognized me :-). It was a good experience for me to see how the teacher got them to respond to some of her rules....we will be able to use them at release time !!

Anyway......we had asked to have the kids released to us on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon......but there was a conflict on Thurs. because they have roving teachers for music, PE, and band and these activities have all been scheduled. That made it next to impossible to have the kids on Thursday. They didn't have anything extra on Tuesday so that was real good. We decided to have the K-1 and 2-4 on one week and then the following week we will have the 5-6 and 7-8. This will put a lighter load on us as far as the lesson preparation goes. And I think we will be more likely to keep up with our other activies with the older kids we have been meeting with because we shouldn't feel too much of an overload.

So you can all pray for us on Tuesday.......we have been told that one of the kindegarten kids is a REAL challenge.....temper tantrums and biting.....they have already decided to send the aid along for that hour. Thank you Lord :-)!!

And on another note............We went to my cousins football game. The other team drove 160 miles (one way) for this game. That tells you how sparsely populated this area is. The game started at 2:30 because Cody does not have lights. Disappointing game....our Cody/Kilgore team lost........

Thanks for the support.
Gary and Barb

GRASSHOPPERS EVERYWHERE...........

Our area was invaded by grasshoppers this year. As you walk on the grass hundreds of them hop out in front of you. This is a photo of the rascals at work and our rhubarb plant after they have been munching.........

We are sure that the cold weather will put an end to them this year........but what about all those eggs they have laid......will it be a repeat next year?? We are afraid so.

Gary tried some insect spray on some of the bushes....but we didn't find any dead ones so we figure they aren't afftected by the spray.

Barb

WEDDING NEWS

Our daughter Marti is engaged to a young man who came all the way out to South Dakota to ask our permission. We enjoyed his visit very much and feel he also enjoyed his time here. He even got in on a little bit of cattle chasing on the quads. Feels like he is part rancher already :-) He did do a bit of lieing.......He told Marti that he was in Kansas City on a conference....she knew nothing of his visit. But she has forgiven him...... :-)

We are very happy for both of them.

Gary and Barb

Saturday was a day of fun and much, much more....

Saturday was a beautiful day.....partly cloudy, cool, no wind --- a perfect day. It was the day the boys would put the tower up and be able to climb around on it. At about 1:40 we headed out for the first of our pick-ups. We expected Tyler Left Hand Bull -- but his brother Mark who had helped build the tower said he was going to a movie with a friend. However, when we arrived.....3 boys came out....Tyler, Mark and older brother Joe. GOOD DEAL we need a lot of muscle to pull this off. When we went out to Grass Mountain to see if we could find Joseph Gary and his brother Robert.....we had a real interesting time. We made our first stop at the Gary home....no the boys weren't there but possibly next door. So we drove over to the neighbors house...nope not here....but maybe the green house up the hill. So we drove over to the green house. First person I saw was Shiloh - a boy who had been at camp..... Robert Gary was also there but both boys said they didn't want to come. However, a young boy that we didn't know said he wanted to come. We told him he could come if his parents said he could -- so he went in the house. As it turned out all three of the boys came along....Shiloh, Robert and Lowel. Two of the boys we had hoped could come weren't able to make it----one was watching kids but wants to come some other time and the other wasn't home. Two other boys were brought to our place by his mom and stepdad - which saved us a lot of miles. This weekend we put on 133 miles, Last week we put on 160 miles. We also had two of the boys from the Lakeview church help too.

We had 3 girls come to do scrapbooking.

I did a lot of praying for safety as I watched those boys begin to climb on the 20 foot tower. And God was faithful once again. The boys had a wonderful time and all went well. We had a supper of hamburgs on the grill, jello salad, chips, cheese curls, peaches and brownies for dessert. Everything was devoured which always makes me happy!!!! We then went outside for a Bible Lesson on the lawn.

Last weekend when the boys were here building the tower, one of them asked Gary if he could roll in the grass. This weekend we had 10 boys rolling in our green grass. We take something as simple as grass for granted -- and get sick of mowing it.....Most of these boys don't have grass on their yards -- just dirt.

We noticed that when the boys would come in the house they would leave the door open. When we pick them up and drop off we noticed front doors are open Shiloh and Lowel didn't even have a door knob.

When we stop for gas I notice on the pumps that the person before me put in 2.75 Gallons, looking on the next pump I see 4 Gallons. I don't think we have a clue how these people live from day to day.

One of the boys in our house stood in front of a china cabinet looking at the fancy tea pots inside, wonder what he was thinking. Kinda makes me feel bad, guilty, thankful, blessed, and wondering why. Many houses we visit have windows boarded up or no windows at all, and large families in small homes. Kids come to our house and ask -- do just two of you live here? Cassie says they have four in her bedroom.

On a side note of interest.......trees are hard to come by out here. Anyway nice straight ones. The corner posts were fence posts from one of my cousins, the X braces were from Leadville, Colorado and the platform logs were cottonwoods from nearby Nebraska. Took some time just to gather the material. But it was all worth it!!!

Hope you are enjoying our posts.......we enjoy sharing our fun with you!

Gary and Barb

Has to go to School Board....

We received an email today saying that Release Time has to go for approval from the School Board. It's not a matter of "can we do it" because other schools have a release time, but rather a formality. I know that things don't move too fast on the reservation......so please pray that things will happen in a speedy fashion....and that we will be able to begin "Promised Land" next week if at all possible.
Thank you so much!!

Gary and Barb

Dry weather causes stronger winds...vise versa

We were told today that the dryer the conditions get....the stronger the winds blow. It has been very windy again and YES it is very dry. In the evening we run the sprinklers for two reasons....one because it is so dry and the other is because the grasshoppers don't like the sprinkling of water on their veggies. When we arrived this July the ranchers were saying they had never seen it so green.....and it was beautiful.....but now it's back to normal. Brown is what we see now. However, we were told once that the cows still do good on the dry grasses and there is still plenty of that.

Apparently the Todd County School system is having trouble with scheduling (at least at the high school level). But that involves Ms. Lucas who is also in charge of the local Lakeview Elementary School were we are wanting to have Release Time. And so we wait.....

Yesterday we had 2 girls over for scrapbooking and 5 boys came to build a tower. Then we all sat down to some homemade pizza. :-) They cleaned up all the food.....and we had brownies for birthday cake (Mark Left Hand Bull turned 15) and then we took them home. We left with the kids at 6:45 and got back home at 8:55......2 hours traveling the roads on the reservation. Distance is totally different out here.......and that doesn't make sense because a mile is a mile.....Guess I should rephrase that......The reservation is large and kids live from one end to the other........ But we traveled through some amazingly beautiful country!!! Some that we had never seen before. It's quite interesting taking these kids home..... "Turn here....no that's not our house keep going....." So we continue on this 2 track.....open a gate surrounded by horses...and we still don't see a house. Finally we catch a glimpse of a house on the edge of the canyons....beautiful location. "That's our house". The house isn't anything glamorous but the location certainly is!!!!

Yes, as some of you read (in the church overview) it was our anniversary yesterday.....40 years of togetherness. Thinking we'll stick it out for a while yet
:-) :-)

The church had a potluck in honor of Pastor Leiter and his wife (Winnie) who are retired as of today. They will be missed very much.... Winnie was a SS teacher and also taught at the Lakeview School. Pastor Leiter always had very powerful sermons. Pray for the congregation as they vote next week on a replacement.

Thank you for your support and prayers............Gary and Barb

Coming along slowly...........

We have to remember that we are on the reservation and time is a bit different out here. Sometimes that's good.....sometimes that's not so good. We were hoping that Promised Land would begin next week....but we are beginning to wonder if that will be the case or not. The gal in charge is "checking out the policies of the other schools"..... So it sounds like no permission slips will go out this week......and we feel that we need those in order to take the kids off the school grounds. The teachers were talked to a while back and everyone was excited about the program..... But the powers that be have to get all the ducks in order......and that moves slowly...........

Meanwhile, we are staying busy working with the local ranchers as they work with their cattle.....getting ready for fall. The other day we helped as 171 cows were given an ultrasound check to see if they were AI (artifical insemination) or bull bred. Quite interesting..... What did we do??? Well I (Barb) was the secretary ---- recording the cows new ear tag number and whether AI or bull bred. Gary put fly spray on each cow as she came through the chute. It got very exciting as one cow decided to go out the side (where the vet was working)...bounded into the tent where the ultrasound equipment was stationed....and then went out the side door of the tent. Thankfully the vet and his assistant and the equipment were spared any injury. The cow??????? Well that ended up being quite the rodeo getting her back into the chute.....but the cowboys won!!!! (on this note --- a prayer request----- A couple of weeks ago this vet accidently dropped one of those large round bales on his son....breaking his back. So far the son has phantom feelings in his legs but is paralyzed from his waist down.)

We were asked to help the same crew tomorrow (Friday) again....This time an hours drive to the west.

Please pray that our Release Time will begin soon. We are ready!!! And getting excited ----but then those let downs when it doesn't happen....

Thank you so very much for your prayers and support!!!

Gary and Barb

Prairie Winds

Have you ever heard that the wind howls......well it is howling right now on the prairies!!! We have had wind for the last few days.....about 20 mph with gusts up to 40+- . I took a walk this morning and YES the wind DOES howl. Makes us wonder just what it will be like this winter.....-20 degrees with winds at 40 mph????? But we take each day as it comes.

Yesterday morning we watched a doe leave her twin fawns behind in the weeds in the pasture just west of us. We could see them off and on during the day so we knew they were staying put. At dusk we got to see the doe come and retrieve the two. Mama made a graceful jump over the barbed wire fence and we wondered how those little ones would make it. Well, the fence is 3 strands.....so inbetween the bottom and middle wires.....no problem.

The land really needs a good rain....things are getting very dry. But it is still a beautiful sight.....all the hay bales and the cattle "on a thousand hills".

I have been preparing a lot of "stuff" for the beginning of Release Time which we have dubbed "Promised Land". It really seems that God is directing my thoughts and preparations are coming along very nicely.

We will really cherish your prayers once "Promised Land" begins. Thank you for your support!!

Love, Gary and Barb

Week of Visitors

This past weekend we were blessed with visitors from Michigan. Hazel and Paul VanKoevering - Gary's sister and her husband came to visit with us. We always enjoy giving new comers directions to our home. There are no street names, no house numbers.....you just follow the directions we give and come in faith. But so far everyone has found us with little difficulty. Luckily everyone has arrived in day light. I would even hate to have to find our road from the west entrance in the dark.....and that's the way everyone comes in.

We have sent a "letter of intent" to the school concerning Release Time, and we are told that the teachers are excited...."oh boy, one more hour to plan". We have asked to have the kids on Tues. and Thurs. afternoons. There are 4 classrooms in Lakeview Elem. ----- Kindergarten through 8th grade. So we will take 2 classrooms on Tues. and the remaining 2 on Thurs. We have asked for at least an hour each time (doing only 1 classroom at a time --- So we will be doing our lessons 4X). We forsee this as a very busy two days with preparation days needed also. Please keep Release Time in your prayers. We are just so thankful that we had the "Teaching Children Effectively" class through Child Evangelism Fellowship. We truly feeling this was a wonderful blessing from God!!!

We did have more girls over for scrapbooking and they really seem to enjoy it and ask when we will do it again. The hard part is not being concerned with the miles that we have to put on to accomplish this......I put on 160 miles for the round trip getting the girls and bringing them home. (And then the next day we had a flat tire.....) Oh Well, "comes with the territory" we are told.

Our days remain full (for the most part) helping my cousin with his ranch work. Moving cattle, fixing corrals etc.......but it's rewarding work and they do need an extra hand. Gary also was able to fix a four wheeler that was stuck in 5th gear. He found the broken part and was able to get the parts needed in a couple of days.....and succeeded in getting it all back together and running again.

We DO have long distance service now!!!! Thank you for prayers concerning that. That was quite the task ..........

For those of you who haven't heard ---- we are grandparents again. Holly and Dennis had a baby boy born on August 15 ---- Sawyer Marvin Kroeze. A real cutie!!!!! :-) Mother, baby and family are all doing well and have returned home again.

Thank you again for your support !!!

Gary and Barb

Back from Colorado

We had a fun time in Colorado with everyone. We did some hiking in the beautiful area around Leadville. Would post a picture but as of right now things aren't working as well as we would like. Our camera is being sent out for repairs and ......................



We have been called on several times by one of my cousins to help out with cattle work.....moving them to different pastures, vaccinating calves, etc. It's always an interesting job getting the cattle through the chute. Tomorrow (Monday) we will go out again with a different rancher to round up a herd and vaccinate and spray cow and calf pairs. We enjoy being of help to all of these ranchers as there is always a shortage of help out here.



We haven't worked with the kids since we returned from our trip. Things go rather slow because our phone problem is still unresolved. However, we do have plans in the works so hopefully these will all work out. School on the reservation starts in a couple of weeks. But there is also a fair and rodeo in Rosebud this coming weekend and so that will involve a lot of the kids.



A couple of prayer requests:

We would ask for prayers for the Lakeview Church as they continue to search for a new pastor. Pastor Leiter will be leaving at the end of this month for retirement. He will, in fact, be moving to the Hudsonville area.



Also pray for Kathy Tinant (a member of LCRC) who was just diagnosed with colon cancer. They have caught it early but it is of the type that does not respond well to treatment.



I believe that's all for now. Thank you again for your interest, support, and prayers. They are all important to us.



Gary and Barb

Week of July 27-31

Gary has been helping my cousin with some ranch work lately. He enjoys getting dirty again! He helped take some of Dwights corrals down --- they are wanting to put in railroad ties as posts and then the new fencing. It's hot work and they have plenty of time to get it done so it gets put aside for more important work. He has also been helping Rob (Dwights son) tinker on some mechanical problems.

You heard (via prayer chain)about my problems with the long distance service out here. It has not been resolved as of today. If you aren't up to date on that problem......it has to do with having a South Dakota phone and a Nebraska address. The other problem is that we are keeping my Aunts phone service (keeping the old number) and so we are not on the account and can NOT make any changes to it. Robbi and her husband don't know the password either so that makes for more time consumed resolving that...... I tried to get a "reservation phone" but you have to have proof that you are living on the reservation and we really don't have that. That would get us a cell phone that can call any South Dakota number for free but nothing outside the state....which would really solve our dilema....... So keep that in your prayers. Every kid we want to call is long distance and it is costing us about $.26 a minute.

On Wednesday we had 2 girls over to do some scrapbooking. We had hoped for 4 but ended up with only two. But we had a real good time. They were here at our home from 2:00 until after supper. We had burgers and homemade potato salad and zucchini from our garden. They had never had zucchini but were willing to try it -- and they said it was good. They are both real sweet girls...very polite and well mannered. They were Miki Colombe and Diondra Bordeaux. They asked when they could do it again.....I think next time we will go to the Community Center at church and hopefully have more girls next time. I wasn't sure how it would work and wanted to keep the first time small......but it went great so we will move on to bigger numbers. Oh! and by the way if you want to make potato salad the Native way you only put potatoes, eggs, and chopped pickles in it - dressing is mayo, mustard, sugar and a little pickle juice.

We will be heading to Colorado this Friday. Bruce and Glenda are "babysitting" Jamie and Amy Peters children ----- and they need LOTS of help :-) so Ken and Sally Krueze went with them and we will be joining them until next Thurs.

That's all for now. Thank you for prayers and support!

Gary and Barb

The week of July 21-26

We have decided to up-date once a week now unless things really get to hopn' around here.

Wednesday evening we went with Pastor Leiter (of Lakeview CRC) to St. Francis. He has been visiting some of the Native families in the area and he asked us if we would go along. He is concerned with the fact that he is leaving (retiring as of Sept.) and the contacts he has made might get lost. We stopped in at 5 different homes. We were invited into John Swifts' home - Pastor had never been there before......... At another place we visited with Anthony. He was a Vietnam veteran and had just had shoulder surgery. He was very friendly and Pastor Leiter said he and his wife had a lot of questions about God. We also stopped in at Lynelle Hairy Shirts home. Her grandson Jon Knox lives with her and he was one of our campers. They go to church in St. Francis but have expressed an interest in a Bible Study. Lynelle's sister wants to come also but she has a very busy schedule working at the hospital.

On Saturday evening we took 10 young people to a "Rap Concert" in Mission. It was put on by "Life Light" - a Christian organization out of Sioux Falls. The message the rapper gave was really good and 5 people answered his invitation to receive Christ into their lives. I guess we really aren't "rappers"!!! but the kids really like to get out and this was a good place to take them. We had the 4 Lakeview girls stay overnight and then we all went to church this morning. They are all members of LCRC and also my cousins girls.

Some of you probably still have your "kids pictures" from last year. The ones we took with us to the concert were: Mark and Tyler Left Hand Bull, Jesse and Timothy Cordier, and Jon Knox. We are hoping to have a scrapbooking party with some of the girls but that date hasn't been set up yet. We do hope to get a new set of photos sent out to you ......I just have to get busy and do it!!!! It is a wonderful way for you to be involved in the lives of these kids and we hope you will continue praying for all of them!!!! So if I fail to do this REMIND ME!!!

Thank you for your continued support and prayers!!
Love. Gary and Barb

A try at posting some photos...

A storm was headed our way. This is taken from our back porch. We never had rain during the two weeks of camp. And it was a very good thing because it doesn't take much rain for the roads to get just terrible. As Gary says "like driving on snot".

Joe really didn't want to make the picture frame....but once he got started he did about the nicest job of anyone. Actually there were 3 boys who did an awesome job!! This was a frame that stated "Jesus Loves Me"



Captain Nemo -- when you see Kirk ask him about it.....everyone was in stitches!!



















Kids all lined up for the bag races. Seemed like Kirk kept coming up with more instructions :-)















Gary, Barb and Chris had their faces covered with shaving cream and then the kids (teams) got 10 shots each with a squirt gun to see which team could wash our faces the fastest. Barb's team won..










David Marshall, Lakota Pastor of a little church in Horse Creek - just south of White River. He spoke to our 7-8th graders. What a powerful message he had for everyone!!! Pray for him and his church.









Rocket Launchers......It was a very windy day but they were able to hit a target several times and really had a "blast".












"suck hard and run"......relay game





















Sue helping Jailyn with her belt. The kids really did a nice job on the belts and were able to take them home the same day.