31 Days of Progress Day 14 {a little late} :: Get Informed

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Diane Sawyer spent 18 months learning about the children of the Lakota Sioux that live on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  I already knew that the needs are great. After visiting the reservation 18 months ago, a family from our church felt so strongly that God was calling them to help the people of Pine Ridge that they developed a relationship with a mission church there.  The led several teams from our church over the next year to visit and reach out to the Lakota people. My daughter went on two of those trips and learned more about serving those in need.  This summer my friends moved their family permanently so that they could devote themselves full time to ministry “On the Rez”. They did this without any kind of formal financial support…just trusting that this is where God wanted them to be and work for Him.

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The special pointed out that as many of 80% of adults living on the reservations suffer from alcohol addiction. The suicide rate is twice the national average. I don’t want to start a discussion about what has happened to Native Americans, but I do know that these are God’s people, too…and they need hope.  The stories we saw last night were heartbreaking, but we also saw hope for the future in the young people.  They have big dreams.  But, as one young boy put it, their road to these dreams is not paved and pretty.  Their road is muddy and difficult.

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There are so many needs in this world, including right in all of our own backyards.  ABC has provided information about how you could help the children of Pine Ridge.  I know a missionary family who could also use support…if you would like some information about how you could help my friends reach the Lakota Sioux, use my Contact page or leave your email address in the comments {make sure you use something like (dot) and (at) to disguise your address from the “bots”}.

Just getting the word out about a need that is personally known…I think it is good for us to keep the discussion going, so that we don’t forget in our extreme wealth {and even in our tightest times most of us reading this are EXTREMELY wealthy in relation to most of the world}.

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