Mission Trip to Pine Ridge, South Dakota

Next Thursday, June 7th, seventeen folks affiliated with our congregation will journey to Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Here is the article:

Seventeen people will be representing First Presbyterian Church on a mission trip to Pine Ridge, SD! The caravan will leave on Thursday, June 7th and return on Sunday, June 17th. A few will fly, the others will have a wonderful cross country drive, but all will enjoy learning more about our friends in Pine Ridge, their culture, their history and their goals. Cultural education is part of the trip, so half the day will be spent working and half learning and sharing. Gary Barrigar and his grandson Sloan, Lee Herrin and her sons Ian and Pat, Susan Allen, Devonna Coleman, Ed Speer, Lynn Williams and daughter Alison, Glynda Ramsey and daughter Merideth, Rebecca Nunley and daughter Kirby, Pat Buck and Donna and Robert Schwind will be making the journey. It’s a nice mix of people and ages!

The trip is organized through Re-Member, non-profit group dedicated to cultural education and material assistance to the Lakota Nation. Re-Member was organized in 1998 and hosts individuals, mission groups, school groups and corporate groups who choose to spend a work/vacation at the Pine Ridge Reservation. They host workers for 34 weeks a year, from the first of March through the end of October.

The goal is to create positive change in one of the nation’s poorest areas through relationship-building. Volunteers participate in a variety of projects from renovation of homes to transportation of material goods. They also tour the reservation with visits to the badlands, Red Cloud Museum and Cemetery, the Wounded Knee Memorial and the Singing Horse Trading Post. Volunteers also spend time with the Lakota people, learning about their spirituality and their culture. Wish these 17 well as they travel 1500 miles to share with and learn from the Lakota people.