Volunteers in Mission Trip to Northern Cheyenne Reservation

Dear CCUMC Family,

            You were all in my thoughts and prayers this past week during my time on the Northern Cheyne Reservation in Montana. I left at 4am on Sunday morning in order to meet the other missionaries that I was traveling with at the Harrisburg airport to catch our 6:30AM flight. We spent the majority of the day Sunday traveling, and when we finally touched down in Rapid City, SD there was still a four hour drive ahead of us.

            The part of the reservation where we were staying was four hours by car from the airport, and as we drove through the vast expanses of rolling plains it was almost like being in another country. Looking out of the car window I could see for miles and miles. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, with an enormous sky that seemed just so much bigger and bluer than here in Pennsylvania.

            The small town where we were working had only about twelve houses in it with a population of about fifty people. Seeing how minimally these people lived made me realize just how much abundance I take for granted at home. Many of the people in the town had no running water, large holes in their roofs, and broken windows. The houses were hot in the scorching summer heat, and I could only imagine how they stayed warm in the bitter Montana winters.

            While in Montana we worked hard to help some of the people’s whose homes were in the worst condition. We put on a roof, fixed windows, hung doors, and tried to make sure that people had running water. Sadly, I wasn’t particularly useful when it came to building or doing work on the homes, but a willing heart and an extra set of hands can always find something to do when working to serve God. I learned to use a hammer, a drill, and a sawsal. I was also became an expert at holding a ladder, handing tools to people who needed them, and running to get things.
It was a great joy to do Christ’s work in a place that was so desperately in need. The small community in which we worked was incredibly isolated from the rest of their tribe as well as from the rest of country. In this small town of approximately fifty people there were three abandoned churches. During our time in Montana, we were the only physical representation of the church. Our presence was a physical reminder that, no matter how small or how isolated the people may have felt, that God still cared about them.

Although we helped multiple families during our time in Montana, I think that perhaps I may have gotten even more spiritual fulfillment than the people who traveled across the country to help. Before this trip, I had always been afraid of power tools because with my low vision I was afraid of hurting myself or losing a finger. But on this trip I was reminded that when I put faith in God, that God will give me the strength to find a way to do anything that needs to be done.
Perhaps you have a disability or something that makes you feel as if you cannot overcome the challenges that are before you? Whatever you’re dealing with, whether its sickness, a physical ailment, mental stress, or simply the heavy burden of life, please know that you can do all things through Christ, who grants us strength (Philippians 4:13). God loves you. No matter what, Christ loves us. We have so much for which to give thanks.

May God Bless & Keep You,
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-Pastor Rebecca