Wednesday: Sacrifices, Work Projects, and Hell's Gate

Work Projects

Today we switched gears and had our first day of work projects. Our group (Taryn, Tom, Christian, Masame, and Miranda, along with folks from a church from Maple Valley) was assigned to paint the house of a woman named Kim. The house was a nice yellow, but she wants it a salmon pink color! We were a bit apprehensive to the color change, but once it got on the house, we saw that it actually isn’t too bad of a color choice! We were a bit slow-moving and unmotivated in the morning, but I think that was mainly due to lack of adequate tasks to keep everyone busy. The pink paint came a little before our lunch break, and during lunch, our other adult leader, Colby and I talked with the kids about why we’re here, where God is in these work projects, and how we should do our best work for this woman. After lunch, we saw a completely different group of kids! By the end of our time on day one, we finished almost half the house (well, one coat of paint, at least!). All in all, it was a successful time at the house, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish on our last day of service here in Lapwai.

Hell’s Gate State Park (Isabel Anderson)

Tonight, our evening activity was to the Hell’s Gate State Park in Lewiston. On the bus ride to our evening activity, we sang with all of our hearts, a little off key, but we were having fun! When we all got to our destination, we were a little timid of the water (it was a little cold), even though it was still pretty warm out. After we got in the water, we started a little game of splash wars, which eventually evolved into a game of catch (more like the guys tackling each other)…  On the car ride home Trey, a Youthworks staff member, was our DJ. He knew all the right songs to play, from “Happy,” “What Makes You Beautiful,” and, “Move it, Move it.” We all had the best time this evening!

Sacrifice for the Kingdom

After our evening activity, we came back to the church for Club and church group time. Today’s theme was sacrifices for the Kingdom, where we discussed the sacrifices we make in our lives for God. We say “no” to certain things in order to say “yes” to something greater. We say “no” to a week in our comfort zones in order to be here and make a difference in someone else’s life. We sacrifice time with our friends, family, and pets in order to help people in this place as well as grow in community together. With sacrifice, comes pain, stress, worry, and heavy hearts. But, when we make sacrifices for God, the reward is greater than the risk, and the good outweighs the bad. We ended our conversation by talking about losses we’ve experienced in our lives, people who have gone before us, and those loved ones we miss. It is great to see that we have established an open space where we feel comfortable to open up about our pains and troubled times in our lives.

Day Two of Kid's Club, the Visitor's Center, and a Chat

Today, we have Taryn talking about Kid's Club, Christian discussing our evening activity, and Isabel is talking about the discussion we had at the end of the day, during church group time.

Kid's Club (Taryn)

Today was day two of Kid's Club and it was another amazing day! I worked with Trey, the Kid's Club Coordinator with Youthworks, and we started the day with kid pick-ups. We drove around Lapwai, picking up Kid's Club kids for lunch and Kid's Club. As we were driving around, I thought, "Kids enjoy Frozen, maybe they'd like the soundtrack playing as we drive around." It was a reach, I know... It quickly became a full-on sing along, and one girl, Erin, sang along, word for word, to every song we played.

After pick-ups, we went to the local elementary school for lunch. All kids in the community have the opportunity to have a free lunch in the summer, and our kid's participated in that program as well. We were told that the government pays the school for every kid who eats a lunch. It is really great that Youthworks supports the local community it that way.

After lunch, Kid's Club was ready to go! Kids made crafts, played games, read books, and sang songs. The Youthworks kids completely created the plans for their two days in Kid's Club, and they did an amazing job! To hear one kid say her favorite thing about Kid's Club is "Everything!" and her least favorite thing about Kid's Club is "Nuffing!" really shows how much of an impact this program has in this community.

Evening Activity: Spalding Visitor's Center (Christian)

After Kid's Club was over, we visited the visitor center for our evening activity. Our experience started with us watching a video about the Nez Perce culture. We had the experience of using an atlatl, which is an ancient hunting weapon. We also got to take apart a teepee with a Native American park ranger. The visitor center was a very interesting visit and I would recommend visiting the Spalding Visiting Center.

Church Group Time (Isabel)

I have never felt so content with a group talk. We started with our highs and lows, which quickly led to a deep discussion about our life stories about being bullied or picked on. In our conversation we talked about personal stories and hardships in life. We started to talk about if God has a permanent plan for us or if it is all up to us. This discussion is so hard to put into words, because it was so full of emotion and ambition to continue learning throughout  life.

Day One

Yesterday was our first full day in Lapwai. We were split up into two different crews, but both of our crews were assigned to Kid's Club for the first two days. Our experience for the day was chronicled by Masame Fletcher and Miranda Smith. Enjoy! -Taryn

Kid's Club

Kid's Club was awesome! Tons of amazing kids appeared at the park after lunch, almost out of nowhere but eager to play!  Different sizes and different ages but one thing that was same, they  were an amazingly sweet group of kids.  We enjoyed every second of hanging out with them.  They headed home two and a half hours later.  Intense crafting, reading, gaming, running, and singing must have tired them out. We can’t wait to see them again!

Evening Activity--Cultural Speaker, Pastor Antonio

The evening activity was listening and learning about Nez Perce history and culture.  A pastor from a church in Lapwai came to talk to us.  He was really cool and explained why there is tension between natives and non-natives.  He told us that even within the reservation, there’s all types of beliefs and ideas.  Most of us were impacted the most when he said how grateful he was that we were here.  We were not trying to convert anyone, we just were here to help and love. 

-Masame and Miranda

Nez Perce Trip Underway!

Day the first. We began our day at church, where we received a blessing for our trip. After the end of the church service, we loaded up the bus, said a prayer, and hit the road. Our trip involved a stop in Ellensburg for lunch at Subway or McDonald’s, depending on our preference. We also stopped at a Cougar Mart for snacks. After that, we had a karaoke marathon of the Frozen soundtrack and Billy Joel. By this point, my butt hurt. We soon arrived at the reservation and had a dinner of pulled pork and macaroni and cheese. After our bellies were full, we had club, where we all went upstairs for some games and worship. We sang songs, and were posed questions such as “Where have you seen god today?”  We got to meet many new people and had lots of fun. Overall, this was a good day, and I had lots of fun.

Sammy Fletcher

PS... I made this: