Back from somewhere in middle america
This weekend I went up to Omaha, NE to a place called the Baptist Center and All Nations Church. I was a pretty good weekend. I wore me out but it was good. I don't even really know where to begin to talk about it... so lets see...
I left on Friday about 4:30 from school and the drive was uneventfull. I was a little anxious about going up there by myself because I had no idea what to expect. But I really did feel like this was something God was leading me to do so I went...
In the back of my mind I was secretly hoping that something would go wrong and I would have to drive to my friend Allison's house instead. When I got into town I tried to call my contact, Pastor Bob but his cell phone did not work. Hummm... I went anyway with a little more hope I would see allison. But I found the church. I tried to get in the doors were locked. I tried another door but that one was locked too... but then this really cute dog came up to the door wagging his tail. A man opended the door who turned out to be Pastor Bob so it all worked out fine. He was a nice man as was his wife.
That night all I wanted to do was go to bed-- I was exausted. But I wanted to help so, first I helped then bring food over to a family that was having some trouble. The mother had really bad breathing problems and needed help so the father stopped working. They had three kids 17, 14, and 7... there is a lot more to that story but I will leave it at that... It was cool though becuase they were really appreciative and it was nice to help them. It was interesting becuase it was like going to visit a family that lives in the neighborhood where I work... but I never do that.
After we brought the food and stuff to them there was still lots of things to be done so we did not go to bed until after midnight. We had to leave at 6am the next morning to leave for the reservation. That was not enought sleep for me.
This is a picture of the two pastors at the Baptist Center.
On the left are Pastor Bob and his wife Rhonda Besco and on the right are Ron and Alpha Goombi.
They are the ones who do the reservation ministry.
On Saturday I went with a group up to the Santee Indian Rez which is essentally in South Dakota. I was a really interesting experience. It took us 4 hours one way but it was actually a pretty enjoyable car ride. I was able to talk to both of the Goombi's. Alphie is really intersting. She travels around the country and speaks about her Native American heritage and the Native American Ministry. She has had an interesting life and does some interesting things. I also found out that their son and daughter in law (who were also there)(and she is also named kimberly)(that caused some confusion) are starting a ministry in Lawence, KS which is less than 30 minutes from me. They are going to do some work on a few small reservations around there and some work with Haskel University. So, that would be cool if I could help them out. (I also volunteered my musician friends in KC)
It was nice becuase I actually felt pretty comfortable with them. I didn't feel as much like the "visitor" as someone who was there with them as a part of their group. This is probebly becuase the group that I went with was the pastor, and his wife, sons, daughter-in-law, nephew, pastor Bob's wife, and me. So, it was kind of a family affair.
When we got to the reservation we set up in the senior center...
... here is the lovely sign... I probably should have taken more pictures... There was a youth group from North Omaha that had come to help that brought about 12 kids. There were probebly about 30 native kids that showed up. They went though the story of Joshua with them and then split them up by age. I took three 7th grade girls that were kind of displaced. (They were older than everyone else) I did not know what I was doing but it worked out ok. Here is a picture of them when they were eating lunch. They kept taking pictures of me becuase they liked the camera but you have see enough pictures of me...
They look kind of mean in this picture (except for the girl I caught taking a bite) but they were actually really sweet. Here is another girl that was there... there is nothing wrong with her she was just eating candy...
That night went we got back to the baptist center we had a kids reading club with a group of Sudanese kids that lived in an apartment building next door. They were a lot of fun and for the most part really good, polite kids. They were beautiful too. I am used to seeing African-americans that are light skinned. These kids were really dark and were just beautiful. After they went home we cleaned the church to get ready for sunday morning.
After another night of not getting quite enough sleep I went to the (small) bible study and service sunday morning... it was good but it made me appreciate my church in kc...guitar solos and all...
So, that was my weekend... it was interesting and well have to see what happens next. Hopefully I will be able to bring a group up there sometime this summer.
Other thoughts:
1.If this is something that I am going to do I might have to decide to grow my hair out... I think that would be benificial.
2. I need to really believe in Peters vision in Acts 10. I have only been a vegetarian for a little over a year but it is hard for me to think of turning back or making exceptions.
My "fast food experiment"
Another thing that happened during the course of this weekend was my unintentional fast food consumption. Here is a brief overview of my menu. Friday: Lunch-Wendy's Dinner:Burger King (veggie burger)
Saturday: Breakfast--McDonald's Lunch--PB&J sandwhich Dinner--T.V. Dinner Cheese Enchalda
Today: Breakfast--McDonald's Hash Brown and Cliff bar Lunch--Burger King
I feel like crap and I have honestly gained 3 entire pounds. Seriouslly, I weighed myself when I got home.
I feel like crap and I have honestly gained 3 entire pounds. Seriouslly, I weighed myself when I got home.
posted by kd at 3:18 PM
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