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