Greetings in this New year January 2006! Another year has flown on by which means it's time for our annual
newsletter. God was so good to us in 2005 and we pray He richly blessed you as well.
We had a wonderful and busy Christmas. We, again, prepared candy/nut/fruit sacks for distribution. We had approximately 50 at
Christmas services here who received sacks as well as small gifts to the children; the remaining 175 sacks were distributed to the
residents at the two elderly facilities, the hospital, the jail and the youth detention center. (The floor at the Cherry Creek Chapel
has not been repaired, so services are not being held there.) We appreciate all who contributed to our Christmas/Benevolence Fund.
We have serveral praises to share. The Konurs made several trips out bringing folks with them each time. In April Anne and Marjorie
Waggy joined us at the Native Women's Retreat. Anne and Ilhami came in May and brought a small repair team to convert two closets into
a church office so the previous office could be used as a classroom again; and also did some work at the pastorium and to a member's
roof. In August they and others from their Church conducted VBS during the day and led Bible study at night. In November they prepared
Thanksgiving dinner for the Bible study groups and their families. Each time the Konurs come, they visit folks in the community
including inactive members; and to date, we have a couple of members that have returned to Church. We thank God for all that Anne and
Ilhami and the folks they bring out with them have done for us, the Church and community.
We praise God that Bernie LaPlante has returned to Church after years of inactivity. He leads the Men's Bible study and has plans to
start a Youth group soon. Please remember Bernie and his family in your prayers, that God will encourge them; and pray God will bring
someone to take over the Men's group.
We praise God for Bonnie Walter, a teacher with the elementary school, who has agreed to keep small children on Wednesday nights which
will allow their parents to attend Bible study. Ms. Walter is from Huron, SD and goes home every weekend, weather permitting. When she
can't go home, she comes to worship service and plays the piano for us.
We also praise the Lord for Bro. Henry Trull and Bro. Phil Lawrence who brought us powerful messages through their sermons and songs
during our fall revival. We truly were refreshed; unfortunately, the few who went forward didn't continue coming to church. And we
were blessed to have two concerts, one in August and the other in September. If you ever get a chance to see Michael Bright or The
Standridges in concert, do! They have an awesome testimony in song!
We have prayer requests for the Church. As we mentioned before, please pray for another Men's Bible study teacher. We want to get our
Sunday School started again; but, we need teachers. We need a full-time musician--tapes and cds are fine, but a poor substitute for
live music--and music is so important for worshipping God! And pray for this year's mission teams coming out.
We have prayer requests for members and nonmembers: Debbie with health problems; Eveline who has 12 children, 60 grandchildren and
several have health problems, are incarcerated, homeless; Dora with health problems; Darlene needs back surgery and has
children/grandchildren with health problems; Anna and Franco (he has a drinking problem) living together with their young child need the
Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins; Kelly (drinking/drug problem) unmarried with child needs the Holy Spirit's conviction; that
Rikki will rebuke Satan and come again with her husband to Church; and Kenny and family will start attending services on a regular
basis. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will remove the confusion from all the folks on the reservation. There's not one person here
that hasn't had at least one death or some tragedy in their family; yet, they still are not turning to God! We know this is a sign of
the end times.
We get frustrated and depressed some times; but, we know Jesus is comning soon and as long as He wants us to stay here, we must keep
working to spread His Good News. With all your faithful support and prayers, we are encouraged to keep on keeping on! Thank you for
all you do for us and the ministry. We wish all of you God's Blessings for a Happy and Healthy New Year!
