Piedmont sister parish visit:
Standing Rock mission project
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| Deacon Walt
Wilson (on ladder), paints a home as Father
Mark McCormick (with his back to the camera)
and Benjamin Little Bear assist. |
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Members of Our Lady of the Black Hills (OLBH), Piedmont, recently planned a mission trip to their sister parishes on the Standing Rock Reservation: St. Aloysius, Bullhead; St. Bonaventure, McIntosh; and St. Bernard, McLaughlin. During the week of June 25-30, 26 missionaries led Vacation Bible School (VBS) and painted houses.
Word
of the trip was spread during the Ministry Fair, announcements
at Mass and in the bulletin, and a presentation to the
Knights of Columbus and their spouses. Organizers hoped
to recruit missionaries and enlist all parishioners that
wanted to help. Support options for parishioners included
baking, becoming a prayer partner, a fleece blanket sponsor,
or donating supplies and money.
Twenty-three
individuals baked three dozen cookies each. Half of the
treats were used for snacks at VBS and other half were
brought as a gift to a powwow in Bullhead. One parishioner
made 100 breakfast burritos for the missionaries.
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| Vacation
Bible School in Bullhead |
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Other parishioners were able to volunteer
as prayer partners. Each missionary was paired with someone to pray for them
as they prepared for and completed the mission trip. Photos of the missionaries
and their partners were hung in the narthex for others to see and pray for.
The fleece blanket project started during VBS at Piedmont.
Families were asked to sponsor a Bullhead VBS child. Sponsorship included $16
for supplies to make the blankets and the time to pray for the child. The blankets
were then made by the children at OLBH VBS. Twenty families sponsored 30 children.
Each child that participated in the Bullhead VBS was given
a blanket. A photograph of the child, with the blanket, was given to the families
so they may continue to pray for the child.
The missionaries who went to the reservation, painted, scraped,
sang, taught, cooked, and cleaned. Bullhead also held a powwow for the group.
Many of children who received the blankets wore them to the event where the
missionaries were presented with a star quilt that now hangs in the Piedmont
church.
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