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Reflections Pine Ridge Mission Trip Excelsior Covenant Church |
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DAVE GOSEN 2004
Not having been to Pine Ridge before, but only hearing about it, I did have a preconception of what it would look like. My preconception was not far off, but the rez was less desolate, more naturally beautiful than I had imagined. Not the physical structures, but the natural landscape. It was/is beautiful country. With the Indian's view of the Great Spirit and that they believe the Great Spirit is in every natural thing, living and nonliving thing, I have a difficult time reconciling why there is an abundance of trash, abandoned cars and general junk on the rez. They are a very spiritual people. It as a pleasure to meet and hear the stories of Geraldine, Budger and Jasper and to be a part of the relationship that has and is being developed between these people and the people of our church. It gives me a satisfying sense of purpose to see the appreciation of Father Ben who now has an opportunity to rent a nice home and, with luck, generate some income for his church. Mountains are moved one small shovel at a time. While the needs of the people living on the rez are enormous and we are but a few individuals, the sense of reward in being just one shovel for God is great. . .whether it is in painting or repairing a home, building a deck, or making one child smile and understand that the world is bigger than what they see every day. At one point Geraldine thanked us for using our vacations to come here and offer help and bring programs for the children. The children on the rez do not get to take vacations. It struck me that we are their vacation. |