Wow! What a wonderful week this has been! All of the kids are so amazing, energetic, and loving!! Having them ride on our backs all day was a little tiring, but SO worth it! A lot of the times they don’t get love and guidance at home, so we made sure they had the time of their lives! It was really cool for them to be able to look up to us like we were a part of their lives. People took the kids home from Kids Club and it is so sad to see the houses all torn up and worn out. It makes us realize how thankful we are to have a good built house and have all of the things we need in it. There were some kids who came to Kids Club hungry because they hadn’t eaten since that yesterday lunch from Kids Club. That made us really see how lucky we are to have food available to us at any given time. There were days when we went to Bob and Mary’s. They have this huge warehouse that they built and that they live in full of things that people can come and get whenever they need. We helped paint some rooms and got to talk to Mary about her stories. They are really great people! Everyone in the community is so welcoming and loving. All in all, this trip has been such a great experience and it was great to get away from our lives and our phones ;)
- Avery & Anna
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Samantha and Kaia’s Journey
Hello!
This is Kaia and Samantha. We have been on the senior high youth trips together. These trips include Kenosha, Montana, Houston and now Pine Ridge. We have also been on a mission trip to Haiti together. Through these trips we have felt called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Together we have grown a special friendship and grown in our faith at the same time.
We are so very thankful for our fellow seniors. The seniors on this trip have been together since our freshman year and have grown so much closer through FLY. From being involved in senior high alive and the summer trips, we have built a strong faith family. We can definitely say that we will have these faith friendships and memories for life.
This trip in general will be one that we will never forget. The theme for this week is storyline. Through the week, we have had devotional time in the morning to prepare for our mission work. Some mission work we did was painting at the park and helping out at Mary and Bob’s. Although these tasks seem small, they had a great impact on the community. We (Samantha and Kaia) also experienced kids club in both Haiti and Pine Ridge. Although both were very different, they had the same impact on the children that came. At kids club the goal was to make the children feel loved and cared for because they are generally not getting that at home. Kids club provided something to look forward to for the kids. It has been a blessing to create bonds with different kids. They have so many strengths that will help them make an impact in their community.
When at Bob and Mary’s, we got the opportunity to talk and visit with Mary about her story. She talked about having a foreign exchange student when her daughter was a senior. Years later she told us that her daughter had visited her foreign exchange student. This was very cool to hear that Mary’s daughter and exchange student were keeping in contact for many years. This really hit home for the both us because we have a deep connection with Natsuki ( a foreign exchange student who stayed with the Sueker’s this year). Kaia was impacted by this because it was a great realization that even though people are miles apart, they can still stay connected. It is crazy how Mary’s story was so similar to our experiences this past year with Natsuki. These God’s moments help us realize that even though our lives seem different, there are so many more similarities.
In the moment, it can be hard to realize your impact when serving. However, when we look back, we are able to see how the pieces fit together to form the whole story. Although this sounds like the story is over, this is not the epilogue. Our stories will continue as we go back to our community. We will strive to love like Jesus and let his light shine through us all. This week we learned that “Jesus cares more about the sacrifice of the giver rather than the size of the gift.” sometimes we feel as though we don’t have enough to give but, Jesus can make any size gift into something extraordinary.
This trip has been bitter sweet because it is our last trip together as First Lutheran Youth.. We are so thankful for all the experiences we have had on these trips and so blessed for the friendships we have made. If we had not have gone on these trips we wouldn’t have been as close of friends as we are now. It is important to have faith friends to lean on in the good times and the bad. Thanks to FLY for helping set a firm foundation to carry with us to college.
This is Kaia and Samantha. We have been on the senior high youth trips together. These trips include Kenosha, Montana, Houston and now Pine Ridge. We have also been on a mission trip to Haiti together. Through these trips we have felt called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Together we have grown a special friendship and grown in our faith at the same time.
We are so very thankful for our fellow seniors. The seniors on this trip have been together since our freshman year and have grown so much closer through FLY. From being involved in senior high alive and the summer trips, we have built a strong faith family. We can definitely say that we will have these faith friendships and memories for life.
This trip in general will be one that we will never forget. The theme for this week is storyline. Through the week, we have had devotional time in the morning to prepare for our mission work. Some mission work we did was painting at the park and helping out at Mary and Bob’s. Although these tasks seem small, they had a great impact on the community. We (Samantha and Kaia) also experienced kids club in both Haiti and Pine Ridge. Although both were very different, they had the same impact on the children that came. At kids club the goal was to make the children feel loved and cared for because they are generally not getting that at home. Kids club provided something to look forward to for the kids. It has been a blessing to create bonds with different kids. They have so many strengths that will help them make an impact in their community.
When at Bob and Mary’s, we got the opportunity to talk and visit with Mary about her story. She talked about having a foreign exchange student when her daughter was a senior. Years later she told us that her daughter had visited her foreign exchange student. This was very cool to hear that Mary’s daughter and exchange student were keeping in contact for many years. This really hit home for the both us because we have a deep connection with Natsuki ( a foreign exchange student who stayed with the Sueker’s this year). Kaia was impacted by this because it was a great realization that even though people are miles apart, they can still stay connected. It is crazy how Mary’s story was so similar to our experiences this past year with Natsuki. These God’s moments help us realize that even though our lives seem different, there are so many more similarities.
In the moment, it can be hard to realize your impact when serving. However, when we look back, we are able to see how the pieces fit together to form the whole story. Although this sounds like the story is over, this is not the epilogue. Our stories will continue as we go back to our community. We will strive to love like Jesus and let his light shine through us all. This week we learned that “Jesus cares more about the sacrifice of the giver rather than the size of the gift.” sometimes we feel as though we don’t have enough to give but, Jesus can make any size gift into something extraordinary.
This trip has been bitter sweet because it is our last trip together as First Lutheran Youth.. We are so thankful for all the experiences we have had on these trips and so blessed for the friendships we have made. If we had not have gone on these trips we wouldn’t have been as close of friends as we are now. It is important to have faith friends to lean on in the good times and the bad. Thanks to FLY for helping set a firm foundation to carry with us to college.
Going into the last day ....
As our last day starts up I find many things to be thankful for. The youth and adults for their servant hearts and loving kindness to each other and the community. The leaders from Youth Works who are doing an awesome job guiding us. And the community of Wanblee... who has welcomed us, taught us and opened themselves to us. God is always good! We are tired but we are filled. One more day to make a difference, humbly do whatever needed to walk with and learn their stories. We may be different. But we are the same in many ways. Wherever we are... we are called...we are called to love first. The Lakota have reminded us of this.... it’s a core part of their culture and it is a blessing.
So.....hopefully (with internet willingness...ha!) you will read more from our participants.
So.....hopefully (with internet willingness...ha!) you will read more from our participants.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Mid-Week Thoughts
We’ve experienced so much already, and come to love these people and this community. We’ve built our relationships with the Natives, with FLY, and with God. Work projects have been an eye-opening experience as we were able to go out into the community and see it firsthand. It makes us appreciative for all the things that we have in our lives. The people here have so much less, yet they are filled with love and gratitude. These projects also give us the opportunity to work together as groups and build relationships that will last beyond this week. Kid’s Club has been life-changing too. Most of these kids go through more than we could ever imagine, and yet their smiles don’t show it. The love that they’ve shown to us has been so inspiring. We’ve also learned so much about this culture, which is not something that we knew too much about before coming here. The hardships that this community faces daily has completely opened our eyes. The experiences and the knowledge that we are going to be taking back with us is going to be something we carry with us forever. Thanks for all of the support you have given us because this opportunity has been life-changing.
Bailey, Bryce, Mason, Makenzie, Gabbi, and Anna
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
June 25th: Our Second Day!
After a great day of working on the service project and the kids club we had an amazing speaker and an awesome worship. Jerome High Horse was are amazing speaker. He was talking about his life and all the difficult times he has been through. He works so hard to not just provide for his family but for others in his community. One of Jeromes main points was that everyone with the same complexion was family. He talked about how in this community they care for everyone as family. He told us a story about when he lived in California he had a friend talking about people with the same complexion in not the best way. He told him that he was his family and if he was going to talk about him that he was also talking about him self also. The friend was very confused but he understood where he was coming from.
He took a part of are lives and showed us that we need to care about more than just ourselves and more about our community. He put his vision in are eyes on how he wants the world to be and we took all that in. He went through a rough time in the past few days. He had to go to a funeral in which this amazing women committed Suicide. They didn’t know exactly why she did what she did but her family decided to call Jerome and wanted him to speak at the funeral. He went and told us all about it but the biggest thing that stuck with me was that he was going to morn her death like she was a loved one. Since as he said before the same complexion he considers them as family.
Another big part of my day was worship. We sang amazing songs and really hit us hard. We all went to the place in are hearts that meant the most to us and sang as loud and as proud as much as we could. I love how the songs we sing are so familiar that they mean to much to us. We love worshiping God and to know that he is with us. We also did a prayer after singing the music that let us express the feelings we have been bottling up inside of us and made us feel way better. We carry so much silently and it burdens us and holds us down. We appreciate Gods presence and the love he has for us. God’s love frees us from this burden so we can love others
- Izabella Hunsley
He took a part of are lives and showed us that we need to care about more than just ourselves and more about our community. He put his vision in are eyes on how he wants the world to be and we took all that in. He went through a rough time in the past few days. He had to go to a funeral in which this amazing women committed Suicide. They didn’t know exactly why she did what she did but her family decided to call Jerome and wanted him to speak at the funeral. He went and told us all about it but the biggest thing that stuck with me was that he was going to morn her death like she was a loved one. Since as he said before the same complexion he considers them as family.
Another big part of my day was worship. We sang amazing songs and really hit us hard. We all went to the place in are hearts that meant the most to us and sang as loud and as proud as much as we could. I love how the songs we sing are so familiar that they mean to much to us. We love worshiping God and to know that he is with us. We also did a prayer after singing the music that let us express the feelings we have been bottling up inside of us and made us feel way better. We carry so much silently and it burdens us and holds us down. We appreciate Gods presence and the love he has for us. God’s love frees us from this burden so we can love others
- Izabella Hunsley
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)