From June 19-26, I had the honor to serve alongside 11 other Immanuel congregants at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, SD. As many people have hopefully seen, I asked our mission trip participants “what does the mission trip mean to you” and subsequently gave them 1 minute (max) to formulate their answer. Every response came from the heart and the common denominators among the answers was a variation of service and helping our brothers and sisters in Christ. I posed the question but didn’t really take the time to think of my own answer until the night before we came home. For me, the mission trip meant seeing God at work on a continual basis. It sounds simplistic and obvious, but I believe that is at the heart of all of it. Meeting the residents who we were helping, building relationships among the other churches who attended and seeing the growth in our youth who participated was all God’s work. Nearly 80% of the residents of Rosebud live at or below the poverty line. It is a far cry from Batavia and I truly believe what we saw helped put much of our daily stresses in perspective. There is much need everywhere, even in our own backyard. But there was something very special about serving in Mission, S.D. Maybe it’s the history and how the Lakota Sioux ended up in South Dakota or the role of family in their culture. They are very proud of their heritage and were grateful for our help. I personally was grateful for the opportunity to serve and am very excited for my next trip up there. See participant video here.
2021 Youth Mission Trip
by Matt Cassidy, Director of Student Ministry
From June 19-26, I had the honor to serve alongside 11 other Immanuel congregants at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Mission, SD. As many people have hopefully seen, I asked our mission trip participants “what does the mission trip mean to you” and subsequently gave them 1 minute (max) to formulate their answer. Every response came from the heart and the common denominators among the answers was a variation of service and helping our brothers and sisters in Christ. I posed the question but didn’t really take the time to think of my own answer until the night before we came home. For me, the mission trip meant seeing God at work on a continual basis. It sounds simplistic and obvious, but I believe that is at the heart of all of it. Meeting the residents who we were helping, building relationships among the other churches who attended and seeing the growth in our youth who participated was all God’s work. Nearly 80% of the residents of Rosebud live at or below the poverty line. It is a far cry from Batavia and I truly believe what we saw helped put much of our daily stresses in perspective. There is much need everywhere, even in our own backyard. But there was something very special about serving in Mission, S.D. Maybe it’s the history and how the Lakota Sioux ended up in South Dakota or the role of family in their culture. They are very proud of their heritage and were grateful for our help. I personally was grateful for the opportunity to serve and am very excited for my next trip up there. See participant video here.