Trail to Hope

Why the focus on education? Not because we believe it's a solution to all the problems in the community, but because a) it's a need that's felt deeply by the Yakama people, and b) because it gives an opportunity to love kids and share the gospel with them. It's a discipleship thing.

Over half the population of the Yakama tribe is under the age of 18, meaning that the next generation of Yakamas outnumbers all other generations combined. They are indeed "the future," and as that generation goes, so goes the people. That's a large part of why Sacred Road focuses so heavily on children's ministry, and why they've had the vision for an after-school program. The importance of teaching kids learning skills and a love of knowledge in a Christian context is incalculable.

We're called to love our neighbors. And while this command does have ties to the Great Commission's command to go into every nation, they are not one in the same. Loving our neighbors is not limited to preaching the gospel to them, though preaching the gospel cannot ever be excluded from genuine love. Conversely, preaching the gospel to someone is not necessarily a loving act in and of itself. Preaching the gospel should come from a motivation to love the person being preached to, because love looks out for the interest of the other regardless of whether the person receives the word given or not.

In that case, education is a means of love. A child knows they're falling behind and struggling in school. They don't like the feeling of failure; they want to do better. It is therefore an act of love for us to meet that need and instruct them, helping them to understand and succeed. And in doing so, we can also preach the gospel, having earned the right to be heard by way of the love we've shown. In this way it doesn't matter whether we've "won a convert" or not: we have loved our neighbor by helping them and sharing with them the means for a life abundant, without requiring anything in return.

But I'm waxing philosophical again. Here's the scoop: the plan for when we get on the Rez is to start small with a handful or two of kids, meeting a couple times a week to have time to do some homework, and to practice reading and learning skills. It'll be a time where we practice teaching kids how to love learning and discovery. More than that, though, it'll be a time of relationship building, of reassuring kids that they are loved, not only by us, but ultimately by their Creator.

I'm excited, especially feeling like the dream's approaching a reality as we pull closer to our total support level. I hope that, when our feet are on the ground there, we'll be able to report back stories of the challenges and success we'll have in this endeavor. It's getting closer, praise God!