Dear Tapestry Family,
This past January Joan had the opportunity to visit the Lakota Indians on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The experience in itself was life changing for her, but there was something greater that was life changing:
3rd world poverty in what is supposed to be the most developed country in the world. Now we’re going to do something about it.
What: Children deserve a childhood so we’re going to give it to them. For a week Joan, Bill, Martha, Will and I will be running a free Theater Day Camp out of Pine Ridge Retreat Center. However we simply won’t be playing games and putting on shows with Children. These are children who have lost their voice, and although they have a puppet ministry to assist in their worship practices, They don’t know how to say what’s on their hearts. So we’re going to help them learn how. We’re going to develop the existing puppet ministry so that they can share the Lakota culture, and hopefully begin the healing process on some very deep, and very old wounds.
How you can …
…Pray. We need prayer for three things.
• Healing – while many of these children haven’t experienced personal trauma the community suffers deep wounds and scars that long to be healed.
• Faith – While many of those we’ll meet are Christians, I ask that you pray for continuing faith in their lives, faith so strong that they don’t believe God loves them, they know it.
• Revelation and obedience – There are a lot of uncertainties going into this. Please pray that God would reveal His desires and plans to the team, as well as to those we’ll encounter. Also pray that those who receive this revelation are obedient to it.
…Help. We will be hosting fundraisers including a yard sale, a cookout, and an exhibition/auction of Joan’s artwork that was inspired by her initial trip out to Pine Ridge. Money from the fundraisers will go towards
• $5.00 per child for Love Feast
• $5.00 per child for Camp
• $200 to renovate the old and construct a new, travelling puppet theatre.
• $10.00 per person per day running the camp and staying at Pine Ridge Retreat center
• $400 per person to travel to and return from Pine Ridge.
We’re also collecting any donations of puzzles, gently used toys, and board games. Additionally we’ll be collecting any donations of winter gear, from coats and boots, to hats and gloves.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. Once we get going on Friday, July 30, you can follow us on twitter (http://twitter.com/justapen) and on my blog (http://justapen.wordpress.org). In the meantime you can keep track of our progress on the first giving page (www.firstgiving.com/southdakotamission).
Thank you all for your prayers.
Seiji Yamashita
The Tapestry Church, which receives and process all donations for the South Dakota Mission trip is a 501(c)3 non-profit. All donations to the Tapestry Church are tax exempt.
