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Green Grass
Our first partnership began in 1985 with the Green Grass Church on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Henry Good Bear, their minister, came and shared with our congregation his vision for the Green Grass Church – a new church building that would be large enough for youth ministries, Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, and fellowship activities. In a spirit of partnership, we agreed to help finance that project. Since 1985, well over 200 members and friends of our church have traveled out there, with each visit helping to strengthen the bonds of friendship between our 2 communities. Likewise, many of their members have traveled out here, and in more recent times, several of their members have taken part in our mission journeys to South Africa, Israel and Palestine. During our visits to Green Grass, we intentionally go out there
without any other agenda other than friendship, and since 1985 we have been
privileged and honored to have taken part in a number of their sacred rituals,
including the Sweatlodge Ceremony, the Sun Dance, Vision Quest, and the making
of relatives, and indeed, several of our members were honored with their own
Lakota names. Recognizing that the Green Grass community is not on the major tourist route that runs through the Black Hills and wanting to affirm and celebrate the beautiful traditional crafts for which the Lakota are known, we established “Tribal Crafts”, a non-profit organization that buys and sells Star Quilts, beadwork, jewelry and other crafts made by our Native American friends. Throughout our Parish House, a number of Star Quilts can be seen. The star on each quilt is “the Morning Star”, the last light in the sky before the dawn of a new day, and thus serves as a symbol of the promise of a New Beginning.
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