since then

Much has occurred since I updated last. (my bad.)

real quick:

• Bruce and Linda Farrant, mentioned earlier, have left us to see other ministries to Native America. They were a real encouragement to myself, and to Sacred Road.
• Mike Williams, a counselor from Birmingham, AL, has been here for the past two weeks to encourage Sacred Road's staff and to help them better process their experiences. He's great.
• My dad stopped by for the weekend and was a real encouragement to me. I love you, pops.
  

Three churches from across the country-central Florida; Jackson, MS; and eastern Seattle- have come and gone. They continued work up at Camp Chapperal (which is going slower than expected), and were able to clean up around the Longhouse before the annual Huckleberry Feast last Sunday. The team from outside Seattle was also able to begin a Kid's Club at Adams View, a housing project about 10 miles east of White Swan, in addition to the usual Club at the Totus Park project. Sacred Road hopes to continue this for the rest of the summer, and hopefully next year as well. The teams were a real encouragement to Sacred Road and, as always, were able to help us better love the people here.

The Huckleberry Feast was this past Sunday and I was able to attend with the Granberrys and the other interns. Chris was thanked by many for his work around the Longhouse, but also for his continued work in the community. He was thanked publicly by a women in the community and asked to say a few words during the open mic time. The Feast was beautiful (and delicious)and we were able to take home several bag-fulls of fresh berries. It was neat to be welcomed to one of the Yakama people's oldest traditions.

On a sadder note, please pray for a young girl named Latisha (left), her brother Andrew, and their sister Tianna (below right), who lost their mother in a car wreck last week. All three regularly attend the Totus Park Kids' Club and have been to Bible Study. They were in the car when it happened, and are all nursing minor injuries, in addition to being very much in shock- as evidenced by the casual and forward way in which they talk about the incident. I have also realized that the people of this community deal with loss differently than I do. This is no doubt because it is both physically and emotionally impossible to handle the frequency of death in this community. Please pray for the these three young children and their extended family.

Also, Nita (below left), her brother Billy (right margin), and their mother Leah were injured in the same accident. Please pray for them. Billy has a broken joint in his thumb, and staples in his head. They all stay in Totus Park, and Leah had begun her own Kids' Club when we were absent.

Similarly, Stacy (see below) is still looking for a stable place to stay and has lost two of her close friends this past week. She found out about the second death hours after returning from the funeral of her best friend. Please pray that God would give her peace and that the Granberrys would know how best to encourage and support her. As I said, death is common here. (the average life expectancy is 39 yrs.) Pray for comfort for the Yakama people during this time, as many hearts are heavy- including mine. (more to come...mshaw out.)