Kerrin and Veronica loading 32 food boxes!
Kerrin has been a big help to us for the last three years or so. She has driven teenagers from the youth group in her church three hours round trip every Tuesday Night to help with children's ministry at Hope Fellowship! She was also a project coordinator on worksites to help facilitate the summer ministry teams that came to serve last summer. Most importantly, she is our sister in Christ.
We are so grateful for her and countless others who have sacrificed time, energy, prayer, money, tears, sweat, and more here in White Swan with the desire to see God's Kingdom grow deeper and wider and stronger here in this dark corner of Creation. I don't use the word "sacrifice" lightly. However, we all find, again and again, a simple truth that we already knew: "You can't outgive God".
I wish I could express our deep gratitude to each one of you who have "prayed, given, and come" to be part of Sacred Road. You have made and are making an eternal investment in His Kingdom. Thank you for all of us. He will reward you!
~ Chris
Kerrin writes, "It was as if I had driven through a curtain of darkness. Defeat, discouragement, and despair dropped onto me when I turned onto the Reservation to help with the Christmas feast earlier this month. Even though I have spent quite a bit of time on the Rez, the intensity of that particular spiritual attack took me by surprise, and it was with a sense of urgency that I started praying for the feast and the families on the Reservation. After awhile, the oppression lifted and I continued on the way to the feast reminded anew that a battle is being waged in Native America and Jesus came to set the captives free.
"The smiles and laughter at the feast, the welcoming hugs given to me by my friends on the Rez, and the miracle of hosting a feast to celebrate Christ’s birth in a longhouse, filled my heart with joy. It was with a much lighter heart that I left the longhouse that evening, grateful to have even a small part in the ministry occurring on the Yakama Reservation. As I went to leave, Mary Granberry told me that they were going to be filling and delivering food boxes the next week and asked if I would like to come help since I was on vacation from work. I quickly agreed and left knowing I would be returning the following Monday.
"As I drove onto the Reservation last Monday on snow covered roads, I looked forward to spending time with the Granberrys and Veronica, and being able to serve our First Neighbors. I had come fresh from a Young Life Discipleship Weekend where we had been discussing what it meant to be “Incarnational”. That is too large a concept for this particular entry, but for me it basically means that we should live and treat others as Jesus did when He was on Earth, and be so filled with Him that we kind of splash His grace and love onto others. The verses that spoke to me about what it means to be “Incarnational” are found in
Matthew 25:37-40:
37'Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
"Practically, the Granberrys, and everyone involved in Sacred Road Ministries, whether by prayer, donations, past team members, or part of the staff, are involved in exactly that! It was so much fun to go to Costco and Wal-Mart with Chris, waiting while 55 gift cards were swiped, and to then come home and stuff the food boxes assembly-line style in the living room of their home since it was only 7 degrees outside! Then when we were all done, we grabbed the handy list Veronica had compiled of which families were to receive what, completely loaded up the 15 passenger van, and headed out to visit 11 homes in White Swan.
"At each house we visited we were welcomed like family, even me who didn’t really know most of the people by more than sight from Hope Fellowship. I was incredibly touched as we were hugged, asked to pray at some of the homes, as hands were clasped, Merry Christmas was wished, and tears flowed. It’s hard to describe the significance of my experience that night. It truly felt like Christ’s love was flowing all around me from the Believers on the Reservation. Each of their homes was truly a light that shone in the darkness. It was such a strong contrast to the oppression that I had felt entering the Rez just two weeks before, making the light given off by these families even more powerful. It is moments like last Monday night that keep me filled with hope in the Power of the Almighty God, and His ability to transform the Yakama Reservation, and in awe of how He is already doing so."
