Good Morning! I'm Clarisa Johnson! So, this was my second year at Pine Ridge and I went last year, mainly because I was looking for a way to serve others after going to Mexico the summer before. So I went last year and I came back from Pine Ridge with a heart for the Lakota people, but after awhile my brain forgot the pain that I had seen. This year came around and I decided to go again because I had made a commitment to the people, and soon enough I had traveled from main stream America into what felt like another nation and my heart remembered the pain.

I started everyday by helping out with the kids program where we had anywhere from five to ten kids. We would make crafts, give shoulder rides, and just love them unconditionally. They were all a little rough around the edges but they all wanted and needed to be loved. Then, In the afternoons a few of us would go join Tom, Li and Lindsey at Pine Ridge elementary for tutoring. We worked with kids that had been labeled special ed, but after about five minutes you could tell these kids were bright. The only things that made them special were their family backgrounds and the potential hindrance of a learning disability like ADD. We played learned and through each other we started to understand each others culture. We were only with them three days, before their mid session break, but we will still continue to communicate through the summer, as pen pals.

Through the week it was sometimes hard to see God's plan for us and the Lakota people, but I could see God in these kids eyes. I can see it in Tyler, Coco, Samantha and Adaniya. All odds are against them, and they continue to survive and surprise us. Many kids had been scattered among the four winds after Geraldene was convicted and by the grace of God, we were able to find them, give a little gift, listen and end with: I Love you, Jesus loves you and it meant the world.

Sometimes it is hard to be hopeful about Pine Ridge, but I think of Mother Theresa saying, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love…and knowing that our part in the relationship with the Lakota may be the first in a long line of steps to healing, and I know that God has a plan in all of this. I know our church will keep our commitment with the Lakota people, and I thank you for your continued support. Please continue to pray for hope and healing in Pine Ridge and I thank you again.