It is hard to believe that these pictures were taken over 20 years ago. This was my first trip to South Dakota and only the second trip that Southeast had made. I remember that I was not too excited about that first trip. However, Bro. Don and Karl Hudson said that they needed people to go so I signed up.
When we arrived it was hot and dirty and beautiful all at the same time. Sunday we were sent to Manderson to find a place to hold bible school. There was an old laundromat that had long since been abandoned. Nothing was left except a roof and a floor. We spent the afternoon sweeping up broken beer bottles and doing our best to make it usable.
Monday morning we went again to Manderson and prepared for our first day. I was still questioning why I had signed up for this trip. After a while kids began to straggle in. They were, by our standards, dirty and unkempt. They were also leery of us (the white man). Someone handed me a magic marker and stick on name tags and told me to find out who these kids are and give them a name tag. Once again I said, "Lord, I think I have made a mistake. If you really want me here you must give me a sign." I knelt down in front of a little boy (second picture) and asked him his name. He mumbled something that I didn't understand. I said, "Please spell your name for me." He said, L-E-O-N-A-R-D". That began a relationship with the kids at Manderson that would last for over 10 years. The relationship grew to the point that eventually we were able to invite some of the kids to Tennessee to spend time with us.
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P.S. Jenny, the last picture is of our friend Rueben Lookstwice. He would be about 30 years old now.
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