Hey Ya’ll!
We have exciting news! The Lord has heard your/our prayers for land on which to build a church/multipurpose facility! Two weeks ago at Tuesday Night Bible Study (Hope Fellowship) the adults and teenagers and I spent some time praying that God would provide land for us. A few days later Jack Spencer (take a few minutes to read his “backstory” below, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it will be great!), who was at Bible Study the previous Tuesday, called me to say that he wanted to donate up to 160 acres to Sacred Road so we could build a church! You can imagine the shock I went through! I was light headed for 30 minutes.
It turns out that Jack, who is technically homeless, owns about 1000 acres in Washington and Idaho! For the last two weeks we’ve been meeting with Jack and he has been getting the paper work in order, etc. We’ve been looking at maps and talking about different locations and possibilities. We have all settled on a 40 acre property which is eight miles from White Swan. Today Mary, Jack, and I went to property and walked around it, had a great talk, and prayed together about all of this.
Mary and I were both reminded of a quote from an elder in the Yakama Nation Cultural Center which states:
"Good counsel is a mark of wisdom, whether in the family or the circle of society. Good counsel is modest not assertive; considerate of the opinion of others. How we shall proceed together is as important as what we now should do. Good counsel will create a consensus which unites."
Please pray that the Lord would provide good counsel to all who are involved. Jack and I meet with a land use lawyer on Friday to talk about different ways to proceed and the wisest course of action. I feel the tension of living between two very different worlds. In the Indian mind you never refuse a gift. In the white man’s mind you have to do “due diligence” in a situation like this. Traditional Indians don’t want to wait around or waste time once they make up their mind to do something. They want to “do it and get it done with” because death is so prevalent and there is a strong awareness that tomorrow is not promised to us. In the white world you “conduct feasibility studies” which take a while.
Please pray that we are able to navigate this cross cultural transaction in a way that deepens our relationship with Jack instead of straining it and in a way that benefits the overall ministry. It’s a bit of a minefield but it is a great problem to have!
This morning Mary, Jack, and I met and walked around the property he wants to donate (photos above). We had a great visit, talking and dreaming about how the Lord may use this in the future, and prayed together.
For more photos go to our Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sacredroad.
We'll keep you posted on the progress!
Grace and Peace,
Chris
The Back Story on “Wildman Jack”
(first posted 11/07 but don't miss the update at end)
I first met Jack at a Huckleberry Feast at Uncle Sam’s (Sam Smartlowit). Jack was cooking an elk he had killed in the mountains. We hit it off and talked about hunting. Jack’s “Indian name” is He’cus-win (“Wildman”)! He is a wild man. Jack is a big time hunter and fisherman but he gives 95% of the meat and fish away to needy neighbors and family members. He drives an old truck which normally has a bunch of hooves and antlers sticking out of the back and blood running down the side! When he comes by to visit he gets out and reaches in the back of the truck and pulls out and entire elk or deer leg (femur + tibia + fibula+ hoof) and tosses it to my dogs. (Yes, we have elk femurs laying around our yard… one of the joys of living in the country is not having to try to keep your yard looking as good or better than the neighbors, so elk bones are “ok”). Needless to say, my dogs love Jack. Jack is normally dressed in coveralls or jeans and a flannel shirt. He is usually covered in blood from cleaning large game or salmon.
When Jack first started coming to Hope Fellowship (Tuesday Night Bible Study in the longhouse) he was nervous. At first he would only stay for dinner then leave. Then he started staying for the singing time. Eventually he came in with the adults for the Bible Study. The first night someone offered him a Bible but he kept his arms crossed, his chin high, and shook his head. He didn’t seem to want to even touch it (he is very traditional). That week he got so excited about the lesson that he was sitting wide eyed on the edge of his chair, hanging on every word.
The next week he took a Bible then realized he did not have his reading glasses. One of the ladies that attends regularly jokingly offered him hers (which were purple with pink polka dots). I thought to myself, “There is absolutely no way Jack/Wildman is going to wear women’s glasses to read a ‘white man’s book’!” Guess what! I was wrong! Jack put on those purple and pink glasses and read the passage for us that night! Once again he was enthralled with the lesson (we were studying the conversion of Paul in Acts). He asked great questions and made good observations as we discussed the passage. When we finished he came to me and asked if he could take the extra hand outs with him to the sweat lodge to re-teach the lesson to his elders, friends, and cousins! He has done that several times since then and is trying to get them to join us on Tuesday nights. He has been bringing his son and grandson a good bit.
Since then we have roofed Jack’s mother’s home. I’ve had the chance to go elk hunting with him and several of his relatives. And Jack and I have had many good discussions and times of prayer together.
Jack has been working down by the Columbia River all summer in a cannery and we have really missed him. He normally calls me on Wednesday to ask what we discussed at “church” and to say he was sorry he couldn’t be there. Recently, he said he started to go down and sit by the river and pray during the time we are meeting in the longhouse. I told him about how Jesus said he was the “living water” and how, like the “ultimate river”, He brings life to us and is powerful and beautiful. I was hoping Jack would meditate on Jesus as he sat by the river in the future. Jack responded by saying, “Chris, you know I believe it. I believe all you say is true!” I encouraged Jack to think and pray about being baptized since he believes. He said he would and that he wanted to talk more about it with me soon.
Please pray for Jack and his son, Cody, and grandson, Dante. Pray for their salvation. I have a hunch that Jack might be our first elder in the church here one day!
11/5/08 Update on Jack
A week ago at Tuesday Night Bible Study we came to Genesis 19, the destruction/judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. You may imagine, I was dreading teaching on that topic. As it turned out, the concept of judgment is a powerful backdrop against which the Gospel becomes very attractive! I emphasized that God wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah because He is good and that the evil cities deserved to be destroyed. I also explained that we, as sinners before God, deserve to be “wiped out” but that Jesus took our place and was “wiped out” in our stead on the cross. He endured the wrath of God so that we would not have to if we accept the gift of forgiveness and cleansing and transformation that is offered in the Gospel.
As I was explaining the Gospel in this way, I looked up and saw tears running down Jack’s face! He has now said that he believes the Gospel and in talking with his son, Cody, and his grandson, Dante, about getting baptized soon!
