Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Excelsior Covenant Church

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Excelsior Covenant Church

Excelsior Covenant Church has a calling to partner in benevolence with people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This partnership began in 1998 and will continue as long as the Holy Spirit leads, guides and directs. All-Church Summer Mission Trips: Each summer beginning in 1998 we have sent teams of 18-51 individuals ranging in age from 7-77. Over 200 people from ECC have had a glimpse of the intense, difficult life the Lakota people endure. Our week in Pine Ridge consists of: Construction projects (roof repairs, wheel chair ramps and decks, outhouses, playhouses, playgrounds, and numerous misc. home repairs) Summer School Tutoring Children s Program Friendship Ministries Teen Ministry Elder Home Visits Cultural Activities Fall Healing and Renewal Retreat: In the Fall of 2004 we hosted our first non-denominational weekend retreat for clergy and church leaders. The purpose of these gatherings was to encourage & support existing ministries on the reservation. Over the years we have felt led to also welcome non-clergy, and broaden the retreat by making it more inclusive. For this reason, in 2013 the annual retreat for Clergy and Church Leaders became a RETREAT for HEALING and RENEWAL, centered in God s Word and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Prison Letter Writing Ministry: This ministry began in the fall of 2007. It grew out of friendships made during our annual summer trips to the Reservation. It is a Christ-led effort to continue friendships begun in years past with Lakota people now in prison. A hand of friendship, encouragement, and hope in Christ is extended through letters. Exploratory Health Care Trip: In April 2008 we sent a medical/ dental team to the reservation who met with medical and dental personnel at the Indian Health Services (IHS) Hospital in Pine Ridge and the Kyle and Wanblee Health Care Clinics to explore the possibility of sending medical and/or dental volunteers to the reservation. Any realizable outcome of this trip is yet to be determined. Women s Spring Retreat: In the Spring of 2009 we held our first annual Women s Retreat in Pine Ridge. An invitation is extended to all women to come explore and experience God s love. A spiritual director, psychologist and massage or art therapist are available to encourage healing of the women s hearts, minds and bodies.

The PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION is home to the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe. The reservation is located 600 miles from Minneapolis in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border. It is comprised of 2.8 million acres, making it the 2nd largest Reservation in the United States. The Reservation is divided into 9 districts: Eagle Nest, Pass Creek, Wakpamni, LaCreek, Pine Ridge, White Clay, Medicine Root, Porcupine and Wounded Knee. For the approximately 40,000 Lakota who live on the reservation, there is one medium- sized grocery store in Pine Ridge Village and a small convenience store located in each district. The Reservation is tribally governed by an elected President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Council members representing all 9 districts. ECONOMIC REALITIES: 80% of residents are unemployed. There is little industry, technology or commercial infrastructure. 35% of the residents are younger than 18 years old. And 61% of these children live below the Federal poverty line. If the Oglala Sioux Tribe were to equally disperse revenues from the Prairie Wind Casino to all enrolled tribal members, each resident would receive 15 cents per month. HEALTH AND WELL-BEING REALITIES: Infant mortality rate is 5 times higher than the US national average. Diabetes was virtually unknown in the early history of the Lakota. Today diabetes is 800% higher than the US national average. A Federal Commodity Food program is active but supplies mostly inappropriate foods (high in carbohydrates and/or sugar). Life expectancy is the lowest out of anywhere in the western hemisphere, except for Haiti, for men it is 48 years, for women it is 52 years. Alcoholism affects 8 out of 10 families.

With humble hearts, a servant attitude and Christ s unconditional love, Excelsior Covenant team members are committed to Serving the Word in a way that is relevant to the culture, will render reconciliation, and results in the building up of relationships. The historical record of missions among the tribes of North America has been a saga filled with enormous potential and great failures and sadness. Grief in the fact that so many of the early missionaries were unable to recognize and embrace the intrinsic God-given value of the people to whom they were sent. Instead they saw only uncivilized, barbaric savages who needed not only to be saved from their sin, but forced to reject all their old unnatural ways of life to embrace the superior ways of the white man. The effect of this cultural bigotry has been that today, among the hundreds of tribal groups around the world, Native Americans are perhaps foremost among those who have never seen the rise of an indigenous movement or a wide spread revival. This has been and continues to be a great loss to the Body of Christ. Mission Frontiers, Sept. 2000 by Richard Twiss Our ultimate goal as the Body of Christ must be to make the Gospel indigenous to every people on earth. This is what we see in Revelation 5:9. Jesus is being worshipped in heaven because by his blood He purchased men and women for God from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. To make the Gospel indigenous means to present it in a way that is normal and natural to the people we are trying to reach, not foreign or strange. No person on earth should have to join another culture or speak another language in order to follow Christ. The tragedy today is that most Native Americans do not see the Gospel as normal, natural or even good news. Rather, it is often seen as a foreign import, the White Man s Religion, forced on them in order to conform them to the dominant outside culture, take their land and control them. It should be no surprise to us that so few have come to Christ. Mission Frontiers, Sept. 2000 by Rick Wood

ECC All-Church Mission Trip Pine Ridge Indian Reservation June 13-20, 2015 We seek to reveal Christ in a way that is relevant, reconciling and relational. MARCH 22 MARCH 22 Kick-Off Pine Ridge Jug Fundraiser Information table and forms available all Sunday APRIL 21 Team meeting #1 Sun. 7:00pm MAY 3 Team meeting #2 Sun. 7:00pm MAY 31 Team meeting #3 Sun. 7:00pm JUNE 7 Commissioning Sun. Worship Service JUNE 12 Pack Up Fri. 10am Noon JUNE 13 Head West Sat. Arrive 5:30am Leave 6:00am SHARP! JUNE 20 Return Sat. 7:00pm The cost for the trip is $200 per person ($500 family max). Space is limited to 30 persons. Registration will close when we have 30 applicants with paid deposit OR on May 3rd, 2015, whichever comes first. Applications will be accepted on a first come first serve basis with priority given to those currently attending Excelsior Covenant Church (ECC). Persons not attending ECC will be considered if space is still available after the May 3rd deadline. Thank you for your understanding.

HOW CAN YOU BECOME INVOLVED? Become a team member Take a mini jug to your home or office and collect change for our Change for Pine Ridge fundraiser Become a matching or significant funds donor for our Change for Pine Ridge fundraiser Click on the giving tab at excelcov.org and donate to the Pine Ridge Ministry Donate food or supplies for the mission teams Become a prayer partner Inform yourself and then help raise awareness of the plight of the Native Americans today, especially those living on reservations. SUGGESTED READING: Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown One Church Many Tribes by Richard Twiss Speaking of Indians by Ella C. Deloria Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson The Grieving Indian by Arthur H. with George McPeek Questions? Contact any of the Pine Ridge Committee members: Steve and Peggie Carley, Dennis Harvey, Bob Hanson, Krista Larson, Jim Mazurek, or Jim Turnquist. Excelsior Covenant Church 19955 Excelsior Boulevard Excelsior, MN 55331 952-474-2537 www.excelcov.org