Christmas Letter 2011

     As I think back on the year there are so many good stories I could tell of how the Lord has been at work.  It has been a year of growth.  This past summer we sent five full teams to work down on the Warm Springs Reservation as well as having 5 teams up here in Yakama.  Our team also grew.  This fall two families joined our full time staff.  The Yarbrough family with their four girls joined us from Birmingham, AL and the Dempsen family with their two girls joined us from Kent, WA.  Our youth group has also seen growth.  I started the year with one d-group (discipleship group) discipling two high school girls and now I have two d-groups with a total of nine middle school and high school girls.  

Here are a few highlights that come to mind when I think over the past year:

• Early in the year, thanks to the generosity of the Church around the world, Sacred Road was able to purchase a house with 38 acres that is going to be our Church building.  

• This summer a group of girls from the youth group worked with me and Bob, a man who volunteers with the ministry, to build 21 picnic tables for the new church building.  

• I spent a week last summer with one of the girls from our youth group serving on a team in Warm Springs, Oregon.  

• This fall, after discussing with my 6th grade discipleship girls about how we are all apart of God’s family, one of the girls said, “Heather is only our sister in God’s family, but in real life she is our cousin.”  This made me smile, because in “real life” our only family connection is through Christ.  

• The week before Thanksgiving, Veronica and I made a Thanksgiving dinner for all the d-group girls in the youth group.  15 girls were able to come!  During the meal one of the girls leaned over to another girl at the table and said, “Isn’t this the best-est food you’ve ever had?!”  

• In the fall one of the d-group girls asked if we could have a Christmas party where we exchanged secret santa gifts with all the youth group girls and decorated Christmas cookies.  In November we drew names for each other and in early December we were able to have a Christmas party like she had planned.  It was fun to see her take some ownership in the youth group and want to plan something fun for all the girls.  

• One of the ladies in the community that helps us serve our meal for Bible study every Tuesday night came the night of our Christmas program and baked 15 dozen cookies.  She stayed in the kitchen the whole night helping us serve desserts.  At the end of the night she said, “This was a lot of fun.”

I am so thankful to the Lord for another year he has given me to serve here on the Yakama Reservation, which He has made possible through your many prayers and financial gifts.  

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         John 1:14

 fall kid's club

Latisha and me and her volleyball match

Eileen's 15th Birthday at Old Country Buffet

D-group girl's Easter basket exchange

Kassandra at d-group craft night

Veronica's surprise birthday party

Me and the girls with one of our 21 picnic tables

Christmas Deliveries

     For the past five days the Sacred Road staff has been making lists, checking them twice, and loading 15 passenger vans with boxes of food, wrapped gifts, boxes of chocolate, blankets, and Walmart gift cards.  By the time the vans are finally loaded I am verging on a bad mood, because my hands and feet are numb.  We load up in the vans and drive down the cold, dark streets until we arrive at destination number 1.  We crawl out of the vans, hands loaded with gifts and chocolate.  It is very cold outside until the front door of the house opens and a blast of hot air rushes out to greet you along with smiling faces.  Sometimes the visits are short other times the last more than 40 minutes.

      One thing I have noticed in particular this year are the hugs I have received.  They come in all varieties.  Small children hug out of thankfulness, a lot of the elders hug because of our mutual love for the Lord, others hug because they have not been forgotten, and some hug with tears smearing onto your shoulder, because of all of the above reasons.

     Last Night Joshua, Veronica and I made a stop that changed my perspective on Christmas deliveries. We were going to an elderly lady's home.  She is in her 70's and her daughter, who is in he 50's, lives with her.  When I knocked on the door with an arm load of gifts  I heard a voice telling me to push the door open.  I did.  On the other side they were waiting for us with camera in hand taking pictures as we brought in the food and presents. They invited us to please eat dinner with them.  So we sat around their dining room table and enjoyed eating chicken and rice while we caught up on their family and they caught up on the ministry.  Joshua then had a chance to pray for them and their family.  After that they wanted to give us a tour of their newly remodeled house, stopping at every picture along the way to point out which child or grandchild was in the picture.

     There were a lot of first for me while I was there.  I had never had someone take my picture while doing deliveries, I had never eaten a meal in a native home, and I had never been given a tour of a native persons home.  I kept thinking that this is what we do- we take pictures with people, we feed people, and we share our lives with them.  They were showing how much they loved us, and not just the three of us who were there, but the whole Sacred Road staff, and everyone who has ever served on a team with Sacred Road.  What a blessing to be a recipient of such love!  What a way for God to surprise us with His love!

  

Christmas Morning on December 8th

Last night as I plopped down in the arm chair in our living room and surveyed the mess around me I could suddenly relate to the opening scene of the movie Father of the Bride.  George Banks sits back in his chair looking at the ground littered with confetti and cups of half drunk beverages, and plates of half eaten cake in every available surface.  That was the scene Veronica and I  were staring at last night when we got home from dropping off the 12 d-group girls.

The idea started a couple of months ago when one of my d-group girls asked if we could have a Christmas party for all of the d-group girls.  Her idea was to do a Secret Santa gift exchange, decorate Christmas cookies and listen to Christmas music.  So that is what we did.  We started the evening with dinner.  Then we finished tying ribbons on the clay ornaments, which they had made and  glazed preciously.  After that we decorated lots of Christmas sugar cookies.  Lastly, we had our gift exchange which was the highlight of the evening.

 I couple of weeks ago at our d-group girls' Thanksgiving dinner the girls all drew names for each other.  The last couple of weeks Veronica and I have been taking the girls to shop for their gifts.  Last night we had a secret wrapping room and they each took turns wrapping their gift.  When the time came they each took a turn giving their gift to their girl.  It was so fun to see them exchanging gifts with girls that they don't necessarily get along with.

When it was all said and done I could not have been happier.  It really looked and felt like Christmas morning in our house.  I think in the past three years of being here, it was the most I felt like family with the girls.  I love that Jesus can do that.  He can bring an unlikely group of people together and build relationships between them that feel like family because of a common bond in Jesus.

Decorating cookies

Justine and her cookie

The gift exchange

The gift exchange

Fall Update

Greetings,

I am coming to you with a thankful heart.  I am so grateful for my team who supports me financially and through prayer, my team on the field with me, and the team of people that are a part of Hope Fellowship.  Lately I have been overwhelmed with the needs of the community and I felt like I do not have enough hands to hold all the people that want to feel loved. On Monday we had 55 kids at our Halloween kids club.  Last night at Bible study we had 95 people.  During both occasions I felt like there were not enough hands to hold all the people  that needed attention and love.  I am reminded that the Lord takes our small offering and he multiplies it to be enough, just like the small boy who brought this lunch to Jesus.  The Lord multiplied it to feed thousands of people.  I see this happening through the whole team of people who are a part of Sacred Road's story.  I also am reminded that the Lord knows the needs of each child, youth and adult here in White Swan, and not one of them is forgotten.  

We are now in the middle of our third fall of youth ministry.  I love the fall.   I know that the youth look forward to a lot of the fun things we do in the fall.  We started off the fall with a trip to the Yakima State Fair with our discipleship groups.  Most of the night was spent on the rides.  It is a good thing I am not afraid of heights or mind going upside down.  We  also have enjoyed going to White Swan High School football games. Also, a lot of our youth girls played volleyball this fall.  It was fun to have a fan section for our youth, when no family came to watch them play.  One other tradition that the youth girls also enjoy in the fall is our pumpkin carving day.  This year we had nine girls carving pumpkins.  To read more about it visit my blog heathergerman.blogspot.com.

One last highlight for the fall is the Corn Maze, which we are still anticipating.  Tomorrow, Thursday, October 27, we will take about 35 youth to a giant corn maze where we will roast hot dogs and s'mores and then try and get lost in the maze.  The youth look forward to this event all year.  If you would like to sponsor this event or any of our youth events you can donate on our website .  

We are also looking forward to, and have started planning for our Christmas ministry.  There are six different ways to be a part of the Christmas ministry:

    1. Donate desserts for the Christmas Program

    2. Donate gifts for the Christmas Program

    3. Donate food for food boxes

    4. Donate gifts for "Adopt White Swan"

    5. Donate Walmart gift cards

    6. Donate funds 

If you would like to more about how you can be involved in Christmas feel free to email me.  

Prayer requests and praises:

1. Pray for the event tomorrow night at the corn maze with our youth group.  Pray that everyone would be safe and enjoy the time together.

2.  Praise that we have had so many people coming to Bible study.  Pray for our staff as we can serve and love everyone that is coming.

Thank you for all of your prayers.

Love, in Christ,

Heather 

Sacred Road Ministries

(509) 930- 5903

heathergerman.blogspot.com

sacredroadministries.com

Pumpkin Carving

This Friday Veronica and I held our third annual Pumpkin Carving with the D-group girls.  We had nine girls plus two of our fellow Sacred Road team members, Neena and Miranda, helping out.  As soon as we rounded up all the girls we drove to the nearest produce stand where there were hundreds of pumpkins to choose from.  After much thought, mainly from me, all the perfect pumpkins had been chosen and we headed back to the house to carve.  An hour and half later we had a row of pumpkins disguised as bats, ghosts, spiders, and smiling faces.  For some of the girls that we have been meeting with for several years now, it was another page in the book of many good memories we have made together.  For our new sixth graders it was one of the first memories we made in our relationship.  I think everyone would agree a good time was had by all.

Getting ready to pick pumpkins

The Perfect Pumpkin

The before picure

Making sure the pumpkin arrives safely

Carving!

The finished product

The After photo

Support Our Youth!!!

October means one thing for the Hope Fellowship Youth Group - A Trip to the Corn Maze. We are raising funds to take the youth to the giant corn maze later this month. It costs about $10 per youth which includes admission to the maze, a hay ride, hotdogs and chips, s'mores and pop. Online doations can be made at http://sacredroadministries.com/www/docs/7/giving.htm. Thanks!!!

Sacred Road Ministries: Giving

www.sacredroadministries.com

After completing the form below you will be asked to click on a "pay now" link which will send you to the PayPal web site where you can complete your transaction. Thank you for your generous support of the ministry of Sacred Road.

Parade!

     On Saturday, balloons, streamers, candy, 15 youth, the Sacred Road staff, 2 vans pulling a shower trailer and a work trailer, bubbles, shower caps, and a plethora of giant cardboard rubber duckies equaled a parade.  The festivities started when the youth got together on Friday night to wash vehicles, blow up balloons, and cut out decorations for the Harrah Town Fall Parade.  That night, after things were in place for the parade everyone roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over a bonfire and we ended the night with singing.  Each of the youth got to spend the night with their D-group leader.  

     Early Saturday morning we were all back together assembling our two floats for the parade.  The first float we pulled was our Warm Springs shower trailer.  Because the church that the teams stay at down in Warm Springs does not have any showers, our friend, Bob, built us a trailer with four shower stalls in it that we could haul down to Warm Springs.  The youth made signs for the side of the trailer that said “showers of blessings”.  Four youth guys stood in the stalls, shower caps and all, and blew bubbles as they rode down the street.  Staff and youth followed behind the trailer carrying giant, card board rubber duckies and tossed candy to the crowds.  The second trailer we pulled was  decorated with balloons and streamers and Sacred Road banners. Youth and staff tossed more candy from inside the trailer.  It was great to see the youth enjoy the entire process of getting ready for the parade and then being a part of the parade.  They were proud to be associated with Sacred Road.  We even one a trophy that we hope to put in the youth room at our new building.  

Tianna getting the float ready

Kassandra, Connie, and Morgan

Ann Marie and Chris working on the shower trailer

Anthony, Chris, Errol, and Eric

Anthony blowing bubbles

Marisol, Beth, Yaanibaah, Sonovia, Ann Marie, and Connie

Sacred Road Float

Summer 2011 update

Hello Family and Friends,

As I reflect over the summer on all of the joys and the sorrows I am reminded of a verse in 1 Peter 5:7 which says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you."   With all the people that come and go in the summer months sometimes it is hard to know what to do with all of the memories- the good and the bad.  What a comfort it is to know that the Lord is our friend who bears all our anxieties and cares.

It hardly seems possible that our twelve week summer program has come to an end.  We had a very eventful summer.  19 houses were roofed here in Yakama, several hundred kids were loved on and heard the gospel both in Yakama and in Warm Springs, Oregon, and 29 people were baptised.  Most of the baptisms were of children and youth who regularly attend our Tuesday night Bible study. Also, we had five full teams serve on the Warm Springs Reservation as well as on the Yakama Reservation.  To watch videos of the teams and baptism services visit you tube.

I enjoyed spending more time with several of the girls from our youth group.  We spent several weeks this summer building and priming 21 picnic tables for our new church facility.  It was fun to learn how to use the power tools with them and to share a feeling of accomplishment.  I enjoyed seeing how proud they were of their own work. To read more about the tables and to see a picture visit my blog here.  

I was also able to spend a week at summer camp with our youth director, Chuck Clevenger.  Camp High Rock is the work of four churches coming together to serve kids 4th though 8th grade.  This year there were about 80 kids.  The high schoolers worked as junior counselors.  We had about 10 of our youth who worked as junior counselors.  They did an amazing job of serving the kids by helping them with their crafts, leading small groups based on the Bible lessons, and helping serve and clean up all of the meals.  Chuck and I led the evening Bible lessons and we were able to use the youth to help us retell the stories to the kids.  To watch a video of camp click here.   

Also, I was able to spend a week with one of our youth, Felicia, serving with a team down in Warm Springs.  It was good to watch Felicia serve Native America not only on her home reservation, but also on another reservation.  We worked with the tribe on several projects which included: painting planters in their community garden, painting and posting house markers for the fire department, and cleaning the community center.  It was good to see our youth group find their role in the church this summer through working with the teams here in Yakama, helping at Camp High Rock, and serving down on the Warm Springs Reservation.  

As a team we continue to taste the pain and sadness in the community.  A couple of weeks ago a 9 year old boy, Sonny, who has been a part of kids club in Totus Park and has attended Tuesday night Bible study off and on was killed in a car accident.  It is hard to know why the Lord would take Sonny at this time in his life, but we know the Lord is good and just. Pray for his family, especially his younger sister sissy who has also been a part of kid's club and Bible study.  Pray that we would have good interactions with his family over the coming months.  

I just received word today that the recent caretaker of the Long house, Jesse Gomez, passed away.  He was diagnosed with untreatable stomach cancer at the beginning of the summer.  His wife Leah, one of his three daughters Thelma, and two of his three sons, Sam and Manny, have been a part of our Bible study.  Chris Granberry had a few chances to talk to Jesse before he passed away and he did confess Jesus as his Savior.  Pray for his family as they go through the several day funeral process.  Pray for comfort and strength for them over the coming months and that they would cast there sorrows onto Jesus.  

I continue to be so thankful to be living and working and the Yakama Reservation.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support for me and for the community of White Swan. 

Heather German

PO Box 218 Harrah, WA- 98933

(509) 930-5903

Levin and Philip

My mom told my a fun story about my nephews the other day.  My parents had two of my nephews (Levin-5, and Philip-3) over to play on Saturday.  The boys were outside riding in their plastic cars-  the ones that are red on bottom and yellow on top.  My mom listened in to the game they were playing.  They were loading up the back of their cars with wood and driving it over to the other side of the yard which was "Yakama".  They were going to repair houses in Yakama.  I know they remember to pray for me and my friends in Yakama often.  Missions has become a part of their reality at such a young age.  It is fun to think about what God will be doing through them in 20 years.

School supplies

Sacred Road is collecting school supplies for the kids and youth involved with Tuesday night Bible study. If you would like to join in the effort please consider sending a Walmart gift card by July 30th to:

Sacred Road Ministries
c/o Chris and Mary Granberry 
4711 Branch Road 
Wapato, WA 98951

If you would like to send supplies email our Children's ministry coordinator, Joshua Tsavatewa, for a specific list. jtsavatewa2002@yahoo.com

Yesterday I was driving home from the Granberry's house with several intern girls when the car in front of us pulled off to the side of the road.  I saw a women in the driver's seat flagging us down.  I went about  50 yards passed her car and decided,  I should turn around and see what she needed.  As we approached  the car and pulled over I could see it was a man and woman.  I rolled down my window to see what was wrong.  They were out of gas the woman explained.  Could I take her husband a few miles up the road to get gas?  I said sure and he hopped in the car with his plastic container for carrying gas.  The ride was silent.  When we got to the gas station he got out and said thanks for the ride assuming I wouldn't take him back.  I asked if he wanted a ride back to which he gratefully responded, "That would be great."  So we waited a couple of minutes for him to pump the gas, and drove him back the few miles.
      When we got back his wife got out of the car and I got out to greet her.  She hugged me as she explained that their gas gage was broken.  She thanked me for giving her husband a ride.  Then she held our her hand and said please except this gift.  In Yakama culture if somebody offers you a gift you take it.  So I reached forward to take the gift.  I thanked her and we parted ways.  When I got back in the car I examined the gift.  It was an intricately beaded barrette made from cut beads.  It was worth far more than a quick trip to the gas station and back.  The gift outweighed the act by a long shot. I didn't even pay for his gas.  I was extremely humbled.   It was a reminder to me of a good and beautiful part of Yakama culture.  They are generous and not stingy.  I pray that I may be as generous as they are with Christ's love.
 

Time for a Picnic

This is my fifth summer being here on the Rez, and this week I did something new.  Instead of heading over to the Granberry house in the morning to cook for the teams,  I picked up youth girls to work at the new church building.  When we arrived Monday morning there were two large piles of 2x6's.  When we pulled away on Friday afternoon, there were 9 brand new,  half primed, picnic tables.  Six girls worked with me and Bob throughout the week to create the masterpieces.  They worked very hard learning to use tables saws and drive screws.  I was learning along side them from our enthusiastic teacher, Bob.  The best part is we sweat and labored for our church.  These tables will be used to feed  a lot of people many meals.  I am so proud of the work they did.   And they are proud too!

L-R: Bob, Yaanibaah, Tionna, Riata, and Felicia

Promotion Party

This week we promoted our graduating fifth graders into the Youth Group.  On Monday evening we gathered with them at the new church building to celebrate their entrance into the youth group.  We played games, ate lots of food, did some praise and worship, and handed out our official youth group T-shirts to ten kids.  We talked to them about the privileges of being in Youth Group, which includes fun events and the possibility of being in a D-group.  We also talked about the responsibilities of being in youth group, which include serving and cleaning up the meal at Tuesday Bible study and helping run kids club.  They were all very excited to finally be considered a part of Youth Group.  At one point I was eating ice cream with one of the girls and I asked if she was having fun.  She said, "This is the best day of my life!"

At the end of the night the girls were all huddled around me and I told them that we would be having a Baptism service soon.  So they started asking me questions about what baptism was.  One of the girls, Judy, was just baptized in our baptism service two weeks ago and she started telling them all about it.  I really enjoyed the few moments I had with the girls close around me talking about baptism.  I am looking forward to getting those girls into Discipleship groups sooner rather than later.  I am excited to see this group of kids grow over the next few years into our youth group leaders.

On Thursday, 24 youth got together to paint our new youth room.  Everyone was so excited to paint, 3/4 of the room was painting within 15 minutes!

Latisha, Lisa and me getting ready to paint

Youth Group in May

This spring it has been fun to watch our Youth Group grow deeper in friendships and to watch it take on its own personality.  This last Thursday we were geared up to paint our new youth room in the new building with the D-group kids, but at the last minute had a change of plans.  We shifted gears and went over to the Granberry's home where we ate our pizza, and played volleyball, link tag, and had a three-legged race.  We ended the night by singing some of their favorite songs from Bible Study.  It gave me deep joy to see the youth really smiling and laughing.  Our gatherings as a Youth Group are the only opportunity these kids have to interact in healthy ways with authority and peer figures.  They do not experience the same sort of love and value from other friends, teachers, and family as they do when they are with the Youth Group.  It has taken two years for some of these aspects of the youth group to develop.


I am looking forward to this Thursday, which is another chance to be together as a group.  We plan on painting our youth room, which will give the youth a chance to develop a sense of ownership of the space.  I pray it will be a place where they feel safe, loved, valued, and a part of God's family.  


 "For you shall go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;  the mountains and the hills before you
   shall break forth into singing,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."  Isaiah 55:12

Yaanibaah, Beth, Eileen, Alexis and me eating pizza

                                      

Latisha and Lisa with a turkey

Sonovia, Thelma and Morgan 

volleyball

Brandon,  Charles,  Dana, and David playing link tag

Alexis chasing Chuck during link tag

Spring Break 2011

     We just finished three weeks of teams back-to-back.  The teams were able to roof and paint several homes, and do roof repairs on few homes that had been damaged from the strong winds the day of the fires. They were also able to do some work on the our new church building including: interior painting, building a fence, sheet rocking the garage, clearing brush, pressure washing the deck, and re-siding two of the outbuildings. 

      We were also able to host Kids Club in Totus Park housing project almost every afternoon. (We only missed one day, because of weather, which was a clear answer to prayer.)  A lot of momentum was built with the kids over the three weeks. We were able to so a series of stories on the life of Christ including  his death and resurrection.  I know the kids and the Sacred Road staff are anxiously awaiting the return of kids club in the summer.  Hopefully, we will be able to pull off a few kids clubs between now and then without the help of the teams.  Below are a few pictures from kids club and part of the fence that was built at the new building.  

     To watch videos of the first two team week visit click on the following:

week 1: Covenant College

week 2: Highlands PCA & Altadena Valley PCA

Kids Club at Totus Park

loving on kids

more of kids club

worksite at the church building

D- groups

     As Veronica and I swept the floor to collect run-away beads and washed the remaining dishes on Thursday night we wondered what had made the night so enjoyable.  It was more than just pulling off a dinner and craft night with 13 middle school and high school girls.

     Every Thursday night Veronica, Ann Marie, and I  meet with our  d-group girls (discipleship girls).  This Thursday we decided to get all the discipleship girls together for dinner and a chance to do some beading and painting nails.  The whole night was a time of laughter and fun with calm, and relaxed spirits.  It was so much fun to see all the girls laughing and telling stories through bites of spaghetti and salad.  After dinner we pulled out the beads and string for bracelets and necklaces.  The room was almost silent as the girls sat and concentrated on the beads and hemp they were stringing and tying.  While we were beading Veronica and a few of the girls were hard at work baking cookies that they could take home.   Just as I was thinking that I hoped the night would never end, I looked at the clock and saw it was time to clean up.  As soon as everyone's nails were dry and the beads and string had all been cleaned up we loaded up into the cars to drive everyone home.

     On the drive home one of my discipleship girls told Veronica, "Whenever we go to your house, we never want to go home."  We are in a place where the houses our filled with unrest and often lacking in love.   A peaceful home where our girls feel comfortable is what we hope we can provide for them when they enter the door of our house.  I pray that as we open our home to these girls they my find a place, which allows them to calm their spirits long enough to find true rest in Jesus.

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

                The group making jewelry

            Jade and Marisol making hemp bracelets

        Ann Marie painting nails with a few of the girls

            Mary and Beth paused for a picture break.

    These are the cookies Veronica and the girls made.  Yum!

Prayer for the church building

Here is a picture of the Southeast side of the house Sacred Road is trying to buy and convert into a church.  This Thursday our board is voting on whether or not to purchase the building.  Please pray that they would have wisdom as they make this very important decision.