St. Augustine's Ministry to Native American Students at Creighton

This is a guest post written by one of our members, Rita.  She was raised on the Winnebago reservation & currently works with the Native American students at Creighton University.  Below she invites us into that ministry.

The beginning

Five years ago, a ministry began at Creighton University when one of our church members envisioned a volunteer tutoring program for Native American college students.  The Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs at Creighton University welcomed this assistance and the journey began.

Our Students

Dozens of students have been tutored and mentored during the last five years. Students have weekly appointments and are given email access during the rest of the week.  Two of the students were assisted throughout the last four years and have completed their undergraduate studies. Most of the students are from the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota.

Projects

Our other projects included a writing workshop, a presentation workshop, a theology study group, and a beading class. We also provide packs of healthy snacks to the students during finals week.

Following the request of one of our Pine Ridge students, Dylan Fills Pipe, we are considering a mission trip to repair historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. The church is maintained by Dylan’s extended family, and services are held monthly. The community considers the church to be a sacred site based on the belief that the bodies of Native Americans were taken to this mission church after the Wounded Knee Massacre of1890. Don H. is organizing the repair project and will begin with an assessment of the church condition.

            Our congregation also established a Native American Book Fund for those students who cannot afford to buy their books.  Their scholarships do not cover the cost of books, and they do not receive financial support from their families.

Volunteers

            To date, our volunteer tutors/mentors include Father Mark, Don H., and Rita M. We welcome the assistance of others interested in this ministry- please contact the Parish Office.

In Appreciation

            The following is a letter written to our congregation by one of the students:

            St. Augustine’s Church,

I would like to say thank you all for your support and for helping the Native American students at Creighton University. You don’t know how much that means to us. Through your support you show that you believe in and care about us. Thank you for your community members and all the help that they provide to us, whether it be academic support, moral support, encouragement, and just being someone to listen to and to give feedback when we are having a bad day or when we need someone to vent to.

We would also like to give a big thank you for your donation to the Native American Student book fund. It is comforting to know that if we as students don’t have the funds necessary to pay for books that we don’t have to be discouraged. With your help we can continue our dreams of pursuing a college degree.

I would also like to thank you all for helping out my church back home. It really means a lot for me personally because I have grown up always going to that church; I was baptized and confirmed there. It is a big part of my family and I know that the community is very thankful in your efforts on helping with repairs.

Thank You

Dylan Fills Pipe

Seventeen hours in the car gives you time to think.

This week's scripture readings (http://www.lectionarypage.net) are about wisdom. Solomon was known  for his wisdom. Paul tells the Ephesians to live wisely. Every faith tradition has its own library of wisdom literature -- accumulated advice from those who have gone before.

Yesterday Jill, Forrest, and I left Omaha at 4:00AM and drove straight through to Baton Rouge, LA, where we arrived at 9:00PM, a little road-weary but otherwise in good shape. During the drive I had a chance to reflect some on what was going on and what was just ahead, and decided I want to give my new college student son some advice, even though I know he won't listen. Or maybe he will listen but not really hear it. Will he follow it? That thought made me laugh, and the more I thought about it, the more I understood that the advice I want to give him really amounts to things I would like to have known myself at his age. Maybe that's all wisdom really is -- just advice we wish we could have given ourselves when we were young.

So -- I started to think about what advice I would give the 18 year-old version of me. Things like:

• You're going to be afraid. Don't let that freak you out, and don't go to all that trouble to mask your fear. You don't have to be the funniest guy or the loudest guy or the drunkest guy. In the end, the fear is still there. Take a little time and reflect on what it means and where it comes from. You have no idea how much trouble that will save you.
• Focus on a goal. There is an easier way to do things. When you lose focus you end up making everything so much harder. Don't quit. You can do this. Hard work is just as important, or maybe more important, than natural gifts or personal advantage.
• You know, a plan wouldn't hurt you. You don't have to just let life happen. You can be intentional. 

I don't think I ever once listened to my parents' advice. I was too smart, right?  I ignored a whole lot of biblical advice, too. I wonder what would be different if I had been more willing to hear it? 

What advice would you give your 18 yr-old self? 

In the Abstract...

Some things are easy to take or to think about in the abstract, but much harder to face when they are a part of your actual everyday life. Like babies. Or taxes. Or death. Or God.

This week's OT lesson has David's armies engaging the armies of his son, Absalom, in the Battle of Ephraim, where 20,000 lose their lives. Stop & consider that. Twenty-thousand! A slaughter! An atrocity! But the text skips right over that number to relate the very real and very poignant reaction David has when his own son is killed that day. "The king was deeply moved [when he heard of the boy's death] and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my own, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son." We often read about death on unimaginable scales, but it is a single death of one we love that drives us to our knees. It is normal and it is healthy and it is human.

So also is it human to find the idea of God quite acceptable in the abstract, but much more difficult in the sense of a present reality. We argue for hours over whether or not God exists and who God loves or hates, and just what it is that God requires of us. But what if we were face-to-face with the living God? This is the reality of our Gospel for this week. Some, upon facing a man claiming to have come from heaven to earth (abstract to reality) are understandably skeptical. "We know God," they say, "and you are not God." But denying reality doesn't change it.

I pray to a God I don't see and wonder if I am heard, or if this, too, is an abstraction.

But then I encounter Christ with my senses and I find myself in the presence of something very real.

Reflection on Sunday's Sermon

Last Sunday we had the privilege of hearing Father Mark's annual sermon on sin.  (Go listen to it again or for the first time- he posts all his sermons on his YouTube Channel.)  He only does this once or twice a year- most of time he preaches wonderful happy sermons on love, living in community- but a few times a year we gotta hear about sin.

I'll be honest- these sermons are hard for me.  Maybe it's the memories of growing up in a conservative southern church, maybe it's just the reality of the it topic- but typically I just want to avoid these Sundays.

This Sunday was a little different & I quickly found myself absorbed in what Father Mark was saying.  The message I came away with was "stop blaming others for your sin."  It's you.  It's all you, but it's not you forever.

And for the first time, I understood the hope that is in forgiveness- the potential transformation of those horrid, stomach churning feelings into a serenity found through acceptance.

What did you take away from Sunday's sermon?  Please share your thoughts with us- you can always post anonymously here.

1 in 5

USA Today published an article that states 1 in 5 Americans select NONE for religious affiliation when surveyed.  The article states- "Young people are resistant to the authority of institutional religion, older people are turned off by the politicization of religion, and people are simply less into theology than ever before."  Furthermore, "10% of American adults became NONES after growing up within a religious group."

What do you think is contributing to this lack of religious affiliation?

Why do you think those who grew up within a religious group are disassociating with that group as they age?

FaithWeaver Friends!

A new and exciting program for our youth began last week!  It's called FaithWeaver Friends and is being led by Vicki Sohriakoff with a team of dedicated volunteer teachers.  The program is designed to help kids connect their Christian faith with their real life.  Activities include: journaling, making crafts, playing games, and working on projects.  Children from preschool to fifth grade are invited to attend!  The fun begins at 6:30 and ends at 8:00pm. 

Dylan is 8 years old, and was kind enough to answer some questions about the program:

What did you learn at the first meeting of FaithWeaver Friends? 
"Don't be afraid to follow God."

How many kids were in your group?
"Five."

What was the most fun thing you did?
"Follow the leader at the game station."

Are you excited to go back next week?
"YES, I'm excited to see what things we are going to do."

Tell me one thing other kids should know about FaithWeaver Friends:
"Kids should know it is fun."

There you are, folks.  A firsthand account of the very first meeting of FaithWeaver Friends at St. Augustine's!

If you are interested in volunteering as a teacher or getting your child involved, please call the church or e-mail Vicki for more information! 

Christmas Pageant

It's been awhile since the St. A's Christmas Pageant, but I just can't get it out of my head.  It was amazing, sensational, and so easy for parents!  (I like that last part best!)

The Christmas Pageant for this past Christmas was called a No Rehearsal Pageant and was researched by Sandra Squires.  When asked why she chose this particular pageant, she said, "I read the pageant, and I laughed out loud.  So I took the idea to the Christian Formation Committee and they approved it.  It is called a "no rehearsal" pageant, and I did have moments of panic about that since all the stress rests on the behind the scenes adults, but that is what I wanted so the kids could just enjoy it."

And enjoy it they did!  Luke Cudly was kind enough to answer some questions about the pageant.

What part did you play in the pageant?

"Head Shepard"

 

What was your favorite part of the pageant?

"Leading the others down the aisle."

 

Did anything really funny happen?  If so, what?

"Yes. The narrator made funny comments to the kids. He was very funny."

 

Were you nervous?

"Yes."

 

Would you like to do this kind of pageant again?

"Kind of. It was fun."

 

Luke mentioned the narrator.  The role of the narrator was to guide the characters through the play.  Remember, this is a no rehearsal play.  The children showed up, dressed in their assigned costumes, and did what the narrator told them to.  It was important for them to listen to the narrator as they were to act out what he was saying.  This left a lot of room for interpretation! 

 

This type of pageant could not be done without the help of some adults.  Sandra was asked about those wonderful adult volunteers and she responded, "I knew we had few people in the congregation who could do the role or Narrator, and Jim Tomanek, a naturally funny man, agreed to do it.  I also knew that Summer Murray had really good acting skills from a Christmas play I had seen her in a couple of years ago.  So I got them on board early.  I also knew I needed a costume person, and Robin Proctor (BLESS HER HEART) agreed to be head of costuming. Mary Wells, who also can do anything, offered to help and I asked her to be in charge of props and work with Robin on costumes.  They are the real unsung heroes in this entire process."

 

Sandra herself did quite a bit of background work to ensure that this really was low stress for the children.  As a parent of a children in the pageant, I had no idea what all went into it.  I sure was enlightened when she explained the process to me.

 

"We signed kids up for parts for about 3 weeks ahead of time, pulled them out of Sunday school to find costumes for them (Robin and Mary had to make a lot of costumes since the kids were pretty young).

I talked to the middle school and high school kids about being wranglers a couple of weeks ahead of time, and they were great.  They also helped with the dressing, supervised the kids who were coloring and doing things to keep busy while we were getting everyone ready.

I met with the kids after church the Sunday before the pageant to show them where they would be sitting in the church and sort where they would walk to the front.  It was then I assigned everyone colored bracelets, including the wranglers, so they would know what they group was to sit with.  That was just an idea I came up with to make sure they knew who were the other people in their group.

Then the morning of the performance, we asked people to come at 9:15 to get dressed, and they were really good to do that.  I had announced for a couple of weeks in advance that we could take kids the day of the performance who were visitors, and we did get a few of those as well.

When it was time to go into the church to seat them, I called all the kids together, and we prayed, which we do using "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."  We sang, "He's Got the Whole Pageant in His Hands."

 

I have to say, this pageant was a hit with the congregation as well as the children.  Were you there?  If so, please share your thoughts in the comment section.  We'd love to hear what you thought of the whole thing!