Chanku Waste Ranch 2013....The End.

FRIDAY, DAY 5 of CAMP: 

Day 5 of the camp is always the shortest yet hardest on some of our teens.  Camp ended at noon instead  of 3:30, due to the fact that so many of the campers & their familes participate in the Sundance or take trips to Rapid City on the weekend. The actual day of camp went well, with 32 campers in attendance.  Caleb Murray concluded the camp day with sharing a lesson that he wrote on the Resurrection from Matthew 28, and did a great job! 

As usual with the last day, the tearful goodbyes are considerably prolonged and we had several tear-streaked faces on our teens for the remainder of the day.  They did gain extra time with some of the campers when the bus to take them all home ran out of gas on the way!  You would think the extra 30 minutes gained from waiting for gas to be delivered  would have been enough to say goodbye, but there were still saw cars lined up behind the bus waiting for the kids to eventually and reluctantly exit!  

After camp ended we took a short trip to Wounded Knee Memorial,  the sight of the massacre that marked the last conflict between the US Cavalry and the Souix nation.  Wounded Knee's location on the Pine Ridge Reservation drives much of the tension that still exists between the Lakota and white's to this day, 123 years later. 

Some purchased authentic jewelry from natives across the road, and almost all were completely smitten with the adorable newborn puppies that were for sale as well.  There were a few pleading calls made to parents as a last ditch effort to bring one home with us, and I'm still searching the cars and backpacks thinking one just might have been smuggled home! 

After Wounded Knee we started cleanup and packing the vans and trailer, and then paused around 7:00pm to join to the local teen youth group that meets out at the camp on Friday nights.  We enjoyed a time of fellowship, sports and a BBQ, followed by a bonfire, then a team meeting for  our own teens. The night was short, falling into bed between midnight and 1:00, and waking at 5:30 am for breakfast and last minute cleaning, then departure.  

SATURDAY, SIGHTSEEING DAY!

Saturdays following a trip usually are a day of rest and fun for the team, after a long week of little downtime.  The mornings activity included a 1.5 hour tour through Wind Cave, the 6th largest cave in the world. It carries cultural significance for the Lakota as tradition holds that their people originated from Wind Cave.  Following a picnic at Wind Cave, a short trip down the road took the group to Evan's Plunge, a Hot-Springs Water Park.  The enjoyed various water slides, games of water volleyball, a lap area, an outdoor and indoor swim area, hot tubs and some tried to wow us with their strength on the swing rings that went from one side to the other! 

We were delightfully exhausted after the swim time, and headed out for dinner at Pizza Ranch before continuing on to Murdo, S. Dakota where we stopped for the night for another very short night! 

SUNDAY, HEADED HOME!

Sunday morning came quickly, waking at 6:00am to be on the vans by 7:00am.  We made great time, arriving back at the church by 7:30 pm.  Everyone was pretty exhausted and all are ready to be home!  

Thanks for all your prayers!! We greatly appreciate our support 'staff' back home!! Until next time....

Chanku Waste Ranch, Day 4

Day 4 of camp was off to a start with 32 campers arriving on the bus.  It was another very hot day with no breeze.  Thankfully, we haven't had any dehydration issues thanks to the water police! Randy Raw does a fabulous job of hounding, I mean reminding, people to drink more water!  It is a great thing, and easy to forget in the busyness  of camp activities. 

The camp on Day 4 included a far more attentive group for the lesson and story time, and overall a normal day at camp.  Normal is good here, it means few behavioral issues, little or no breakdowns and generally no problems, always a good thing!!

The two Youth Pastors were pretty proud of themselves for figuring out how to move the tarp (for shade) that was stretched between to vans.  Other youth leaders called it the 'lazy' way, but Conrad & Matt were pretty adamant that it was not lazy, but rather an 'ingenious' way to move the tarp without disassembling! The jury is still out on that one…

Team Member Spotlight, Tessa Russell, Hope Bible Church 

This week has been great! I feel like the last few days have brought me closer with the kids, and that they are just now starting to open up and ask better questions.  My favorite part of the week has been sitting one -on-one with those kids that are really interested in learning what we're teaching.  

For the past 2 years two of our Team Sponsors have been known as Luigi & Mario. The name was earned partially because Stan was called Mario by some of the kids, and partially because Stan & Randy both are for some reason always called when a plumber is needed.  

Stan is also known as our 'Video & Camara' guy; he spends alot of his time following the various groups around and capturing the memories and highlights of the camp.  He also does a great job of compiling those photos into a short slide-show that we are able to show the campers at the end of each day.  The campers LOVE seeing themselves on the screen, and it serves as a great reminder to our teens of all the nitty-gritty happening all over the camp, not just in their own group.  

As alluded to in a previous posting, Randy Raw is also known as our 'Camp Cook.'  He does a fabulous job with very minimal resources, (no running water, in fact no sink! no stove or oven!)  He makes great use of Dutch ovens, large roasters and the grill.  We have ate very well this week!

So, here is your dual Team Member Spotlight, on Mario & Luigi!  We love you guys!!

Stan Shollenbarger, 3rd year as a Staff Team Member (Mario)

"Every year has been different, this year has been a lot of learning because there are a lot of new kids.  But this has also been one of the smoothest years because the prep was done early & that allowed the camp itself go smoother. Spending time with our youth group is a fantastic, tiring, full-filling week that is very fulfilling to see kids grow in their own faith while trying to share their faith.  I get a great amount of joy just being in a supporting role and being able to help serve with the teens and grow in my faith with them this week." 

Randy Raw, 5th year as a Staff Team Member (Luigi)

This year our youth staff was really good about being servant minded, when I was cooking they were really good about asking questions.  They really love the kids, and their focus is building relationships with the kids. It is rewarding to see youth who actually desire to do that in our culture today. I agree with Stan that this year is probably the smoothest year yet.  For me, the Lakota trip is a great opportunity to serve God through serving others.  

Chanku Waste Ranch, Day 3....Water Day!

We are now officially halfway through the week of camp!  It is crazy how time flies by.  Our days and evenings have been full, leaving very little downtime for rest or relaxation.  Overall, the teens have been doing a great job of handling the pressure and the crazy paced schedule.  By the middle of the week fuses are starting to shorten, exhaustion starts to set in and patience starts to dissipate.  Please keep this is mind as you are praying for the team, we could all use extra prayer at this point in the week.

Day 3 began with 48 kids lining up for water, granola bars and name tags!  Water Day is usually the highlight of the week for the campers as well as the teens! This year did not disappoint with a giant water slide, water balloon station, and a mud pit tug-of-war as just some of the water fun.  We were all thrilled that we were doing water games since yesterday  turned out to be the hottest day of the week; scorching sun with no breeze.  (yes, we all wore sunscreen & had water bottles!)

What was supposed to be Mud Tug-of-War turned into just a Mud War!!

One VERY large tarp, a few hay bales, water and soap suds = one great water slide!

Spotlight from Molly Shollenbarger, Grace Bible Church, 3rd year
Team Member

I was able to talk to a lot of kids about the Gospel and see a few excited about what they heard. I was  privileged to teach again this year.  It was great to see many of the kids grossed out by the story of the 10 plagues, or see them drawn in by the story of Lazurus.  It is not like what you teach kids at home; many of the kids back home grow up hearing Bible stories often and so they aren't shocked by them anymore. The kids have so much energy and it's contagious! The piggy back rides never stop and horsie races never end. The team atmosphere among Grace & Hope teens has been great, we act like family and I can go to any of them for anything. There is always something to laugh about at any meal, and so many good memories Like Sheep Mountain. The best part of trip is the first day of camp when you see the kids again and they remember you, give you nicknames and are excited to see you. The worst part of the week is definitely Friday, when we leave the kids.

 

Spotlight from Matt Ediger, Youth Pastor at Hope Bible Church 

The Lakota trip is both fun & challenging. Fun because we have opportunities that we don't have back home in some ways, like being able to spend this much time together as a team getting to know one another.   The amount of time spent together also creates a lot of teachable moments about life in general when you see how people really act when they are constantly around each other.

The trip is also challenging for the same reasons; living with people you don't normally live with and seeing different sides of people you don't normally see.  As a leader talking to people, you hope they understand that you have their best interest at heart and are truly wanting them to become more like Christ.

Shae Vogt, Hope Bible Church, 1st year Team Member

This trip has definitely been a culture shock for me.  When passing out the flyers for the camp and going back to pick up the kids for camp,  I was overwhelmed with how they live. Back home sometimes I feel as if I'm in the lower end of financially, but here you see just how little other people have.  It also seems that they are much happier with less than I am. I would definitely like to come back on this trip!

 

Chanku Waste Ranch, Camp Day 2

Tuesday, day 2 of camp started off with 44 kids piling off the bus and vans!  It is always a great thing to see the kids returning day to day AND bringing friends!  Here on the reservation, it is not uncommon for kids of all ages to be left alone at home for long periods of time, or to deal with serious alcoholism or drugs in the home.  Camp is often a nice reprieve for these kids and something they come to look forward to. 

Day 2 of camp was very similar to Day 1, but with a slight twist.  We started the day by passing out personal water bottles, sunscreen and granola bars, since many of these kids live in a constant state of hunger. After 'breakfast' we broke the kids up by age group, making 3-4 different age groups. 

Typically there are 3-4 teen counselors with each group, and 1-2 adult sponsors with each group.  After breaking into age groups, one group will head out to game time down on the field, where there is a basketball court, a small jungle gym, a soccer field and plenty of space to run around. The other groups head to Bible lesson time, crafts or activity stations.  After 40 minutes or so, they rotate stations, stopping by the water pump to refill water bottles and a quick pit-stop at the bath-house. 

Tuesday activities included the addition of two fun stations, a team building obstacle course and an archery station.  Campers enjoyed figuring out how to get their entire team across the suspended 2X4's to the other side, and it was quite the healthy competition over in the archery pit! 

Taking the campers home following camp took a couple interesting turns; Unreturned car keys temporarily stranded one of our groups down the street at Sharps Corner Baptist Church, so another group rerouted after dropping off their kids.  At the same time they were stranded, a group from Texas hauling a few loads of donations pulled in to drop off supplies. 

The time connecting with others on a missions trip from Texas turned into additional helpers for the camp time!  Several of the Texas group have pitched in and helped out in the kitchen, bagging up cookies, sandwiches and carrots. One of our vans also ran into team members from FaithWorks, doing work projects in a neighboring reservation village…and some of these team members are from Columbia! Small world...

After all the commotion, we enjoyed a fabulous Ka-bob dinner fixed by Mr. Raw, our wonderful in-house 'roughin-it' camp-style cook. Randy is the king of simple, no-fuss, but quite tasty cooking.  Without the use of a stove, oven, or even working sink, we have enjoyed Fettucine Alfredo, Chicken Pot-Pie, Biscuits and Gravy, and look forward to Spaghetti & Meatballs, and a grilled feast later this week!  (He also is trekking down the hill to the garage frequently to retrieve items from the fridge & freezer.)   The evening activity was a quick trip out to Kuny Table, a mesa nearby with great views. It is so peaceful and quiet out here, and the views can be absolutely breathtaking.  

More updates tomorrow, about how today, Wednesday Day 3 of Camp went!!  A quick preview, today is WATER DAY!!! All the campers are SO excited about getting doused with water in a variety of games!!  I'm sure pictures tomorrow will be a hoot!

 

Team Member Spotlight, Keely Frey, 2nd year (Hope Bible Church)

"This trip is something I look forward to every year, it is truly life-changing for me. I enjoy watching the kids grow closer to God, and love the opportunity to be surrounded every day by all the Christians on the staff and team that's here.  I also think the food is awesome!!  A funny fact: Everybody makes fun of my bunions and laugh at my obnoxious singing in the shower!" 

Team Member Spotlight, Emily Murray, 1st year

"Before coming on the Lakota trip I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I halfway expected the kids would behave badly, but I have been proved wrong! They actually are pretty awesome! Hanging with kids all day is lots of fun! Funny fact about me: I endure endless ginger jokes.  I already look forward to coming back next year."  

Night life in South Dakota (Missions Trip style night life that is!)

Yesterday ended with a few big sighs, a few 'wow, glad that's over!' and several 'I'm so tired!' comments.   Day 1 of camp went really well, even though there are inevitably kinks to work out every year, no matter how much you plan.  Our newbies feel much better with the first day of camp under their belts, and the whole team is a little more relaxed as it's all coming back to them!

After the rather lengthy day of Camp, several of our teens and adult leaders accompanied the campers home, filing out of the driveway in a large red van, a large gray van, and a giant white school bus.  In the morning we send out those 3 vehicles, one to the South, one to the East, and another to the West, hitting different villages on the reservation, in order to bus kids into the Camp for the day.  The farthest away route pulls out of the drive at 7:15-7:30am in order to pick up all the kids and be back to the camp by 9:00am.  At the end of camp, everyone piles back in to the vehicles and heads back home, some of our group doesn't return until 4:30-4:45pm. 

Day 1 is always difficult, adjusting to the new schedule, and by the end of the day our teens are often pretty worn out.  We gave them just a moment or two of down time to collect themselves and rest….momentarily being the key word.  I find that the phrase 'The work is never done' is very accurate on missions trips.  Last nights task included fixing part of the roof on the Activity Building that was torn off in a mini-tornado just last week.  Most of the team was still out dropping off campers, but the 1-2 boys we still had at the camp enjoyed a little roof action, but let me tell ya, we have some mighty strong women in our group!!  The ladies carried the bulk of the metal sheeting up to the building. 

Shortly after fixing the roof, a storm was headed our way.  All around the camp in a large circle you could see the rain falling from dark clouds, and could hear the thunder rumble and the lighting strike.  It is interesting how different storms are out in the wide open spaces verses back home in a neighborhood where very little unblocked sky is seen.  On the one hand the storms are so intriguing to watch, yet on the other hand, the lack of trees to stop the wind and the sand storms from blowing is a bit unnerving and at times a bit scary.  We camped together in the activity building until the storm blew over.  

The highlight of the evening was a trip to the nearest Gas Station, Common Cents.  Yep, you read that right!  Out here the views are beautiful and breathtaking, and the quiet is incredible…but there is NOTHING close by, save for the gas station about 15 minutes away.  Our teens became used to running across the street to the gas station in the past few years when we operated the day camp out of the local church, so this year when everything has been moved out to the camp the one thing they 'really miss' is the quick trips across the street for a candy fix, or a slushie fix!

All in all, we have AWESOME teens in our youth group, don't we!?  They have all been SO great at jumping in where needed, and not complaining about experiencing very little rest.  The are great about realizing what needs to be done, who needs extra help and spending quality time with our campers. 

Team Member Spotlight:  Rachael Sherman, 1st year Team Member

"The campers have been wonderful, it's been a delight serving them and I'm glad that I've gotten to know my teammates better! Lakota rocks!!"

Preparing for Camp....Day 1

As usual with missions trips, the days just seem to fly by!  Rewinding a couple days…

Friday, Debi, one of our teens and Josiah & MacKenzie left early morning to start the trek up to South Dakota.  Travel was safe and fairly uneventful .  After a break in the travel for the night they hopped back on the road Saturday and finished the journey, arriving at Chanku Waste Ranch around 8:00 pm.  They were stuck in dark heavy thunderstorms with very high winds for the last 50+ miles but the Lord had his hand on them and protected them all the way in. 

The team from Hope Bible Church in St Louis arrived in Columbia Friday night, and the Hope group plus our team from Grace pulled out of the church parking lot on time at 6:30am, with another group of 2 traveling about an hour behind them.  Despite heavy winds, the day of traveling was also safe and pleasantly uneventful for them.  The team arrived around 9:30pm Saturday night.  By this time the wind and rains  had been steadily pouring for a few hours, turning the dirt/gravel driveway into a massive mud pit.  The van + trailer was stuck in the mud for a little while, and the white van was nicely imbedded into a row of mounds of mud….it was still there Sunday morning.  :-)

On Sunday we went to church at Sharps Corner and then passed out fliers to several nearby communities: Sharps Corner, Evergreen, Porcupine and Manderson. We spent the rest of the evening getting our game plan ready for the first day of camp.

Fast-forwarding to today…Monday, and it's Day 1 of Camp.  Total camper attendance today  was 39.  Your teens are putting what they learned and studied for the past few months into practice with crafts, games, and Bible lessons/singing.  Some have found the time invested over the past few months was well worth it, and some have realized it is much harder to hold the attention of a room full of kids than expected!  

Thankfully the temperature today has been great, lower 90's with a fabulous breeze!  Will post details of Day 2 tomorrow! 

On the Road

Our Lakota team pulled out of the Grace parking lot at around 6:45 this morning! Debi took off yesterday ahead of us, and Sara and Heather with Hope are on the road too, about an hour behind. We should all arrive at Chanku Waste Ranch this evening to begin our week of camp! Please continue to be praying for safety while we travel.We also heard from Pastor Brennan that he will be out of town this week while we're leading camp. It was a little disconcerting at first, but also humbling that he trusts us to lead camp in his absence. Pray for wisdom and grace in both running the camp schedule and working with the kids (Mike and Monica played a big role in maintaining discipline among the kids last year).

We will hit the ground running with church tomorrow morning, then preparation for camp and passing out fliers to invite kids for the week.