Intern Handbook

I got my Intern Handbook in the mail today! I'm excited and flipped through it, looking over different parts. I won't have time to read it till later, because now is crunch time for school, so I've been busy this week reading and writing papers and the next two weeks are full of work, and then I have finals, graduation, then heading to Washington on the 20th.

Wrong Address

(This is an amended post)

I've become aware over the past 2-3 days that the little envelopes I sent out have the wrong address. Originally, the reply cards had the right address, but the wrong zip code. I messed up by putting the wrong street address on the return envelopes. Strangely enough, some of the letters have gone through with the wrong zip code & address, but some haven't Here's the right address:

Sacred Road Ministries
22116 SE 51st Place
Issaquah WA 98029

I'm so sorry for any confusion or problems this may have called - I hope people are reading this and it helps you out if you've had any troubles. Also, you can email me at jtsavatewa2002@yahoo.com or call me at 478-737-4178 if you have any questions/issues. I'm also sending everyone the correct address through the snail mail. Again, I apologize for my mistake.

Good Search

I wanted to let ya'll know about a new website I just found out about. Goodsearch is a website that donates 50% of its ad revenue to a charity, and it lets you choose the charity you want to receive the money. It doesn't have as many returns as Google does, but it uses the Yahoo search engine and is pretty good (I never thought I could use 80 thousand webpages anyway). Sacred Road Ministries is one of the charities you can designate to receive money every time you do a search - every search gives $ 0.01 to a designated charity. So far, Sacred Road has had $2.01 donated because of searches.

I really like that you can give money to charity and let your web searching do some good instead of fattening the pockets of the Google people - they seem to be pretty good folks and run a good business, but I'd rather that ad revenue go to a good cause. I can also use goodsearch to justify my wanderings on the internet, b/c now I'm not just wasting time, but raising money for charity! :)

Check goodsearch out - you can even make it your default search engine for your search browser. Seriously, check it out - just click the blue underlined text.

Yakima vs. Yakama

The Yakama are officially known as "The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation." Yakama used to be spelled "Yakima" but was changed in 1994. Some older works spell the name Yakima and a large city in central Washington is spelled Yakima, but current custom is to spell it Yakama because of pronunciation rules.

As a confederated nation, there are actually 14 tribes that live on the Yakama Reservation. The Sioux and Iroquois are similarly structured in that the commonly used name refers to a confederacy/nation made up of several smaller tribes. I'm not sure how the 14 tribes on the Yakama reservation get along, but it appears that they have one government that represents all the different tribes. The 14 tribes once lived on 11.5 million acres in central Washington but ceded most of the land after some wars in the 1840s and 50s with the USA, and now live on a 1.2 million acre reservation near Mt. Adams in South-Central Washington. I'll hopefully learn more about their history and inter-tribal relations and I'll post more in the future, maybe after the Summer.

Letters

After much travailing and no paper cuts, I sent off all of the letters today. No doubt some of you will receive them by Friday/Saturday and this could be the first post you see - sorry not much info here. If you want a more detailed explanation of things, check out the first two posts.

Support Letters

School has been very busy and I'll be sending out my letters tomorrow. I started filling out the addresses by hand but I was informed by a friend that my writing is crooked and looks like a 2nd Grader's. I'm going to buy some labels and print them up, and they should be good to go tomorrow.

The Yakama People

I haven't received any new information but would like to further elaborate on what I'll be doing. Sacred Road is focused on "Mercy Ministry" and ministers to the Yakama people through "Word and Deed." To those unfamiliar with these terms let me explain. Mercy ministry is the formal term for those who minister in "word and deed." Ministry in word and deed seeks to follow the ministry of Christ by reaching the lost through sharing the Gospel in word and deed, through verbal communication and action. Throughout the Gosepls, Christ not only talks to people addressing their spiritual needs, but also works to address their physical needs. In Acts, the early church provided for those in need. The Old Testament is full of instances of God providing for His people and the prophets often chastise Israel for not taking in the stranger, providing for the needy, feeding the hungy, and comforting the widows and orphans.

Sacred Road Ministries was established by the Pacific Northwest Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America and the Granberrys lead Sacred Road and live on the Reservation. Sacred Road's mission is:

"The plan is to lovingly respond to the physical, emotional, and social needs of our neighbors in order to address the deeper spiritual need. We believe that the truth of God and the love of God work hand in hand in this way to establish and build His Kingdom."

The need on the Reservation is great as the Yakama people are not just poor but are in many ways a broken people. They, like many of the other tribes, are stuck in cycles of poverty and dysfunction, and it can be seen in the following:

* The average life expectancy for those on the Reservation is 39.
* Infant mortality rate is twice the national average.
* The dropout rate for grades 6-12 is 65%
* 30% of teens in White Swan are homeless
* Lost vision and hopelessness
* Alcoholism and drug abuse
* Broken and dysfunctional families
* Neglected and abused children
* Crime & violence
* Suicide

I don't have all the specific statistics, but I've read their blog for the past two years and it's not a good situation on the Reservation. On the Reservation, death occurs regularly and many of the people have become numb to the death of loved ones, accepting it as just a part of life. Sacred Road is engaged in a long-term mission project that will take place over many years. I encourage you to check out their blog to see some specifics of what they're doing and read some of their stories. They're very heart-wrenching and in them we see the immense influence of sin in this world and also moments when God's grace reaches down into that. This blog post by Chris especially illustrates what they are working towards.

I am greatly priveleged to come alongside Sacred Road for the summer and help bring the light of Christ into the darkness, and the darkness cannot resist the light. For Christ came into this world "to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found." Finally, I greatly appreciate your prayers and support and you can email me at jtsavatewa2002@yahoo.com if you wish. For a final thought, consider this: three million Indians live in America and only 2% of them are Christians.


*UPDATE* Today I received info from Sacred Road - a waver form, background check form, a sample support letter, and a what and what not to bring list. I should begin sending out letters on Monday (the 23rd).