Rosebud Reservation

The mission trip to the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota was one that I will remember. I had a wonderful time ministering to those around me, whether they be a student on the trip or someone from the Rosebud community. I got to attend this trip with the Alcester Baptist Church in Alcester, SD and it was so fun getting to meet new people who only live a few miles away.

On the drive to Rosebud, I got to travel in the girls’ van and have some fruitful conversations. It was inspiring hearing all of the stories and testimonies from those on the trip with me. You can learn a lot from people if you just take the time to sit, slow down, and listen. When we got to the lodge that we were staying at, we unpacked and relaxed at the lodge for a little bit, then as everyone arrived at the Lodge we made our way to Corn Creek.

At Corn Creek, we got to play tag, do chalk, play basketball, and do bubbles with some adorable kids. I think the kids’ favorite part was playing tag while getting a piggyback ride from us. There was one young kid, whose name was Riceton, who was very shy. It took him a while to leave his mom’s side but once he saw his opportunity to play some basketball he took it. as I played with Riceton he would just give me nods to the questions I was asking him, but by the end of the night, I had him responding with some short phrases. I think it caught him off guard that he was actually speaking to me. I enjoyed playing with Riceton and I thought it was beautiful that as I got to show God’s character to him, he started to warm up to me. As the day went on, we had a wonderful time playing with the kids until it was time for Church. During the Church service, we got to do some worship and hear a message from Mrs. Arlee and her brother. They spoke about what Jesus had done for us on the cross and it was a very powerful message. I will never get tired of hearing the Gospel. We also took communion together and it was so sweet! After Church, we played with the kids some more and then went to hike the butte where they had put up a flagpole with the American Flag on it. We hiked up there to see a beautiful view and replaced the old flag with a new one. It was a wonderful moment praying for our country and raising a new flag! Once we got off the butte, we headed to Mission, SD to do a scrimmage, but before the scrimmage, I got to go back to the church and just thank Arlee for all she and her family is doing in the community!

The scrimmages were quite fun to watch as the girls won theirs, and the boys lost but it was a very well-played game. The school in Mission has some very talented boys basketball players in their student body and it was fun to watch everyone compete.. After the scrimmages, we made our way back to the lodge and did a girls debrief while the boys did their debrief at the church they were staying at. Then we all headed to bed. I was exhausted from the day, so I went to sleep faster than I expected.

On our second day, we had an amazing breakfast and then headed to Mission once again for our first day of basketball camp. Before all the kids came to start the camp, the team all had devotional time together. We discussed what characteristics Jesus and an athlete share and the students were divided up into groups to share with the judges’ panel (Pastor Scott, Karla, and I) why they thought an athlete and Jesus shared the specific characteristic they chose. All of the groups did a beautiful job and they were all correct with their answers, but we chose the team who decided that Jesus and an athlete both are/need to be humble. After discussing with the students some more and sharing scripture with them we prayed and got ready to start the camp.

The basketball camp was quite a fun time. We had a young kids’ section, an older kids’ section, and then ended with a high school-age class. We also had a Bible room that I got to run where the little kids got to come in and hear about Jesus. On the first day, I taught about a verse in Corinthians that speaks about how we are made new. I taught the kids about how God makes us new and then we got to color some butterflies! On the second day, I got to read the kids a story called Shelby’s bad day. This story was about a girl whose name was Shelby and everything about her day just seemed to go wrong but she kept a smile on her face through it all. Shelby’s friend noticed how she reacted to her bad day and ended up wanting to give her life to Jesus after Shelby explained that she was a Christian. While I read this story to the kids, they got to do scratch-off crosses that had beautiful colors as you scratched away the black. I also got to speak with the kids about salvation and what it looks like to be a Christian.

While I was in the Bible room, the rest of the team was doing basketball drills and scrimmages with the other kids. All of the kids enjoyed basketball and had a fun time learning new skills on both days of the basketball camp. 

After basketball camp on the second day of the mission trip, we got to meet the family that was missionaries on the reservation and they were such a cool family to meet. I got to speak with them for a while about missions and what I was wanting to step into and they got to share with me how they got to where they are. The couple wasn’t from South Dakota but they felt called to be in this area and share God’s love, their simple obedience is something I will be taking note of. It’s important to just simply say yes when God is asking you to do something and trust that He is with you in the process. The testimonies of people’s lives will forever astound me and I will continue to learn from them. We all then played kickball outside before a big storm came in and we went inside for a coed debrief of the day. Pastor Scott shared a word with us and then we spoke about the growth we saw in ourselves during the trip, highlights from the trip, and how we saw God move. We also did shoutouts and I got to share my testimony of how I’ve gotten to where I am with ministry. I loved getting to encourage the students to step out of their comfort zones and take steps of faith to further God’s kingdom.

Overall the Rosebud mission trip was one of many layers and I loved the role I got to play in growing God’s Church on the reservation.