South Dakota Bound

We feel like we've told a lot of people what is happening in our lives but we know that most of you haven't heard all the many different ways God has been at work and so we want to praise Him by telling you all the awesome deeds He has done for us.
First of all, He worked in both of our hearts, in His time, to be ready for His call for us to bring His Good News to the kids on the Rosebud.
Then through an e-mail from Robbi (the PLYC Coordinator) we heard about Child Evangelism Fellowship and a class called “Teaching Children Effectively”. We thought we would have to travel to St. Louis, Missouri for this class but it turned out there was one available in Zeeland. What a wonderful blessing this class has been. Through it we have gained confidence that we can give the Gospel message to the children in an effective and fun way. If you would like to be trained in this manner you can take this class (in fact you can get college credits) – Contact Gayle Hoven at Child Evangelism Fellowship (located at City on a Hill).....the phone number is 616-748-6026.
Our next big concern was to purchase a trailer to get all of our belongings out there for the year. We really didn't want to buy a new trailer but weren't able to find a used one that was the size we wanted. The week we were beginning to panic, I happened to talk to Jodi Reimink and shared our “one concern” and she said her father-in-law had a couple of trailers and she would have Bob talk to him. To make a long story short, Don Reimink has offered us his 7' x 16'
trailer for our use for the year---no charge. God is so good!! We left the Reiminks' home that day in awe of God's provision!!
Our home has also been taken care of. Holly and Dennis had had their home for sale for several years and it finally sold in March. They will be living in our home while we are gone and will build later. Dennis, Holly and Clayton are having fun filling the barns with animals. JJ
Now on to what we will be doing upon arrival in South Dakota...........
We will be living in my Aunt Melva's beautiful home. She is in a nursing home at the time. Aunt Melva was one of the main cooks for camp and also a big supporter of camp (and us) through her prayers, ideas, and love and also her concern for the native people.
We will begin our assignment with summer camp. Kirk and Laura Vander Molen (and family) and Sue Pfnister will be joining us this year. After camp we will work with the pastors in the different Indian settlements trying to get the camp children involved in the churches in their area. This will be something to be worked on through-out the year.
As the school year begins we will start a Release Time similar to the one held in Sandyview. This is where we will put our CEF training to use. The particulars of this RT will have to be worked out with the local school, but we know it is allowed because the Lakeview School is the only one on the reservation that doesn't have this type of activity.
We will end our year with another summer camp.
As we set up these programs during this year we hope that there will be someone to continue on for years to come. We pray that God will move someone in this direction.
We want to thank you for all the wonderful support! We see it in so many different ways – Bibles, coffee cans, safety glasses, ice cream recipes, belt parts, winter hats, interest in what we will be doing, a trailer, prayers and financial help. Your love and concern means so much to us. Thank you!!
And so we leave you with some prayer requests.........
Pray that God will watch over our family that we leave behind and the new one that will arrive after we leave.
Safety as we travel.
As we write this, we still don't know if the school grant money will be given again this year. Pray that the funding will again be available for 2 weeks of summer camp.
Pray for the children's hearts to be open to God's Gospel message during Release Time.
Pray that God's love will shine through us.
Also pray for the many other opportunities we have as we come in contact with the native families.
Pray for a continuing effort amongst the Lakota Sioux of the Rosebud Indian Reservation.
Again........... we say thanks!! We hope to set up a blog page (or whatever the computer term is) where you will be able to follow all of the happenings for the year to come.
In Awe of our Lord,
Gary and Barb Peters