FORT YATES, N.D. — While Virginia was mired in record summer heat, almost 400 Virginia Baptists escaped to North and South Dakota to show love to a people group steeped in history.
By plane, truck, van and automobile, volunteers from several dozen Virginia Baptist churches traveled 1,800 miles to be the hands and feet of Christ to members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a nation of Native Americans who live on a reservation that spreads for 2,300,000 acres straddling North and South Dakota.
Volunteers completed construction projects, taught Bible studies, led activities for children and youth and conducted basic medical services at seven sites around the reservation in order to build relationships.
Joanne Jenner and Mike Whiddon, members at Walnut Hills Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., prepare lunch to serve about 100 people in the school cafeteria at Bullhead, S.D. (Photo by Michael Clingenpeel)
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The partnership between Virginia Baptists and Standing Rock began almost 20 years ago when Bob Hetherington, director of missions for the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association, and his wife, Judy, traveled to Standing Rock. They returned two years later, then started bringing volunteers from the RVBA in 2004.
Three years ago Judy Hetherington, who died this past February, spoke to an annual gathering of Virginia directors of missions and asked Woman’s Missionary of Virginia to become involved in order for Virginia Baptists to have a year-around presence at Standing Rock. WMUV accepted the challenge and started promoting specific projects.
Almost 140 volunteers from RVBA churches worked at Standing Rock the final week of July. An additional 240 volunteers from around Virginia followed the next week. They deployed to seven communities on the reservation, three in North Dakota and four in South Dakota.
Standing Rock is bordered on the east by the Missouri River. The expedition of Lewis and Clark sailed past the land on their way to and from Oregon in 1804 and 1806.
It is home to the Dakota and Lakota Bands of the Sioux Tribe. The current reservation was created in 1889. When Sitting Bull, the spiritual leader of the tribe, objected to the treatment of his people at the hands of the United States government, he was arrested and killed. The tribe fled and, on Dec. 29, 1890, the Seventh Cavalry massacred 300 tribe members at Wounded Knee and left their bodies in the snow.
According to the reservation’s tourism board, about 17,000 people live on reservation lands, 10,000 of whom are enrolled as members of the Sioux Tribe. Virginia Baptists work primarily with the Native Americans on the reservation.
Hetherington, who was at Standing Rock last week, described the resistance of tribe members to allow their culture to be changed by guests to the reservation. For this reason the partnership with Virginia Baptists strives to build relationships.
“The focus is on people, not on changing systems. Our work is one on one. We have worked hard at respecting people and culture to break down those perceptions.”
The key, Hetherington told volunteers at an orientation session on Aug. 1, is to offer “the touch of faith. We come to represent Christ to individuals and to touch their lives for Jesus Christ.”
Boots and Jackie Marsh moved to Cannon Ball, N.D., a community of 850 people on a bluff above the Missouri River, in 2003. He is pastor of Tipi Wakan, which means “sacred tent,” one of two Baptist preaching points and ministry centers at Standing Rock. Pastor Boots, as he is known by everyone in the community, agrees with Hetherington.
“Use everything you can to build relationships. Some days and in some places it shines light in dark places.”
For two weeks the Virginia volunteers used everything they could to build relationships and trust. Teams of 20-40 people traveled each day to seven sites, where they set up shop at a community center or school. They served a free lunch and dinner, in some cases to over 100 people who flocked to the site from local homes. They played games with children and youth, taught a Bible story each day and completed a wooworking project.
At Bullhead City, 40 youth and adult volunteers from Walnut Hills Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Va., taught oregami, built coat racks and used 10 laptop computers from an anonymous donor to play learning games. At Little Eagle, volunteers from Hatcher Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., built a pinewood derby track and helped children build and race cars. At Porcupine, volunteers from Victoria (Va.) Baptist Church taught sewing and made and flew kites. At each of the sites children and youth were given a pair of shoes.
A medical team with four nurses drove to all seven communities during the week. While volunteers gave away popcorn and snow cones, the nurses did blood pressure checks and glucose tolerance tests, gave pedicures and taught dental hygiene. They also gave away troothbrushes and toothpaste, lotions and first-aid kits.
During the week a construction team painted a house trailer which will house two Virginia Baptist Venturers, long-term volunteers who will live in the Cannon Ball community at Standing Rock for up to two years. They made repairs to the First Baptist Church in Fort Yates, painted a house in Little Eagle and made repairs to the buildings at Tipi Wakan.
When asked whether it would be more productive to send money to Standing Rock rather than volunteers, Hetherington replied: “We could, but people need the love we share.”
Both the RVBA and WMUV plan to continue the Standing Rock partnership next year. Maria Lynn, adult missions coordinator for WMUV, says they hope to move toward teams that work on special projects and targeted purposes throughout the year, not just for two weeks each summer.
Michael Clingenpeel is pastor of River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond, Va.