Montana

Montana! State #43! I have long been excited for Montana, not because it’s so close to being home, but because at one point, it was home! I lived in a super small town called Eureka for 4 years growing up. The population was (and still is) anywhere between 1,000-1,100 people. There are no stoplights; the only fast food place is a Subway inside of a gas station, of which there are only three, one grocery store, and one market. This is the town I grew up in. There is one elementary school and the playground is smaller than most public parks, one middle school, and one high school that is smaller than any elementary school in California. The movie theater has only one screen that rotates movies every weekend, so if you don’t see what you wanted, you’ll have to wait until it comes out on video, or drive an hour to the next nearest one. The public library would fit inside of the Starbucks that I am sitting in, writing this blog. We’re 7 miles from the Canadian border and surrounded by several lakes. Sports are a big event, especially football, and the whole town comes out to watch. The men fish and hunt and when their women aren’t joining them, they’re quilting or canning. It’s pretty much small town America at its best. The winters are harsh, the summers are beautiful and the sky is BIG. I’ve been excited for Marc to see my hometown for years now, and I hope you can see why. 

We left Fargo, North Dakota on a Monday afternoon and began our 1,000 mile trek to Montana. Because my town was SO small, we decided to spend a few days in the bigger city about 65 miles south, Kalispell. On our first day of driving we didn’t even make it out of North Dakota. We got about 30 minutes away from the border, but had to stop because there was a Walmart there and not one anywhere else remotely close. So we stopped, ate dinner, slept, and woke up to drive after a quick workout, and drive we did! We drove from about 8:30 am and didn’t get to Kalispell until about 8 at night. It was a long day but a beautiful drive, and we were finally in Montana, so who can complain?! 
The next day, we explored the city. It didn’t have a whole lot to offer, but we farted around anyways. We walked up and down the main strip and looked in some shops, but it wasn’t very happening and we found ourselves chilling at a park. We did stop and talk to these 3 young guys who were very respectful and attentive to everything Marc was saying. Whether or not he got through to them I’m not sure, but they seemed very genuine so I wouldn’t be surprised. At the park, we ate some lunch, walked around, read for a bit, and played on the merry-go-round. The park, also, didn’t provide a ton of opportunity so eventually we took off. The next day was much of the same. I didn’t keep great notes of our conversations this time so by now I unfortunately don’t remember too many details. I do know that we did basically the same thing both days-explored the shops downtown and then ended up at the park looking for opportunity but being disappointed by the lack.

Welcome to Montana!

the beautiful park we spent time at:

We had planned on being in Kalispell for about a week, but on Friday we couldn’t think of anywhere to go so we took off for Eureka to spend time with my brother and his family. Our ministry in Montana was mostly based around him, as he doesn’t walk with the Lord. We spent every day with him just trying to open a line of conversation about the Lord and be a light. 

We spent the week experiencing Montana! We explored the lakes, went shooting and hunting, snagged salmon (it’s kind of like fishing) and smoked them, went to a free concert on the golf course, and drove around the Amish community. It was so much fun! We also got to spend a little while with my Uncle Danny and Aunt Rosalie, who I haven’t seen in 10 years.

Canadian border

an awesome, free bbq that we stumbled upon

shooting

me and Dino scoping out some salmon

free concert!

day 1 of snagging season. I caught one, Marc caught 3.

right before they went in the smoker

eek!

the dry river bed-we went back a couple days later and
there was water!

visiting with Uncle Danny & Aunt Rosalie

Just over a week after we got to Dino’s, our awesome friends from back home road tripped it up to see us! Robert, Jonny, and Mindy drove a straight 20 hours to make it up to hang out with us! And we had a great time! On their first day there, we went to church and after we were done, went out snagging.  The salmon had pretty much finished their run so we only saw about 4 of them and had no luck catching them, although the boys sure did try. But it started raining and we got over it, so we piled in the car and drove around Glen lake to show them some of the sweet houses overlooking the lake. After the lake, we were just about to leave when Jonny spotted a deer very close to where we were. Spotting deer isn’t uncommon in the least, but approaching one before it gets spooked and takes off-completely unheard of. I don’t know anyone who’s been able to pet a wild deer (while it was still alive), but we got to! We even fed it grass out of our hand! After it got spooked and wouldn’t hang out with us anymore, we headed back to Dino’s for what became a nightly ritual-the bonfire. At the end of the night, we played some games, prayed together and went to bed.

snagging under the bridge-they were all after one fish!

Mindy was the first to encounter the deer

Monday we were up bright and early for what is sure to be one of our best days of the trip. We were up and out the day by 8:30 am, off to hunt turkey and grouse. The order of shooting was Marc, Jonny, Mindy, then Robert, so Marc sat in the front. We were driving around for about 30 minutes before Marc saw a grouse. He jumped out, ran over, took aim, and like a pro, shot. “Did you get it?!” We all wanted to know. “Yes!” he replied, but then dropped his head, turned around and informed us of what he killed-it was a rock. Hysterically, he passed the shotgun to Jonny, who prepared for his turn. As we drove the backroads through the mountains, the ground got progressively worse, thanks in part to the rain from the day before. We whomped through puddles and over potholes and rocks, scraping the bottom of Dino’s van the whole while. At times it seemed as though he was going out of his way to hit them! A couple of times we went through puddles so big we thought there was no way we were getting through unscathed, but we did….until we didn’t. We got stuck. By this time we had been driving for maybe an hour to an hour and a half, so we were in the boonies with no cell reception and no idea how we would get out if we were stuck. Fortunately, the 5 of us piled out of the van and Dino got us unstuck pretty quickly. We piled back in the mini-van and continued down the muddy road through the mud and potholes. Then we got stuck again. Once again, we got out of the car. This time Veronica, Dino’s wife, got out also. The boys pushed while we stood off to the side. Drive, reverse, drive, reverse, the mud was not letting up. Finally, it looked like he was going to gain ground, and he did! He gained a lot of ground very quickly, which kicked up a lot of mud! All over Jonny and Veronica! Mindy and Marc got a bit of it, but poor Jonny and Veronica got the brunt end of the mud.

the aftermath!

the garden

Laughing our heads off, we continued down the road, still grouse and turkey-less. Dino decided to try a different area. This road led us to Veronica’s aunt and uncle’s house, who live in the backwoods of Montana. Like many people, they heat their house and cook with a wood stove, they have a couple large gardens, and they hunt and can and take care of themselves on next to nothing, but they have love and weren’t stingy with it. They gave us a tour of their property and we walked around in what was left of their garden after harvest and basically had lunch. I don’t know if Mindy had ever been in a garden before because she was extra amazed at everything, especially that you could just pick a tomato off of the vine and eat it. Everything that we tried was the best of that item that we’d ever had. The carrots had more flavor than I knew was possible from a carrot. The snap peas were delicious, and I don’t even usually like them, but the crunch they have straight off of the plant was unbeatable. Nothing that we tried disappointed. 
As the day wore on, we started back to town, still grouse and turkey-less, but with such great times we almost forgot we were looking for them….until we found a pack of wild turkeys! Robert was next to the door so he grabbed the gun, jumped out, took aim, but then nothing happened! The safety was on! He took it off, shot, pumped, and shot again! The boys ran up the hill to examine the results. He had gotten two turkeys! One of them wasn’t quite dead, but it rolled down the hill, flapping its wings but getting nowhere. Dino grabbed it and finished it off in a way that I won’t describe because it’s nasty (unless you’re a boy, who for some reason, always enjoy it). They threw the turkeys in the back of the van and then we took off. We’re all laughing about the whole scene when all of a sudden, the turkey comes back to life and starts flapping around in the back! Mindy screamed and jumped up to try and get out of the back, not that I blame her. If I had been in the back row, I would have been screaming right along with her. Finally we made it home. Dino cleaned the first turkey and Jonny did the second. The smell was overpowering and putrid, but they didn’t seem to mind. Must be a boy thing.
The next morning we were up early again, this time to go fishing. Actual fishing this time, not snagging. What’s the difference? With snagging, you are catching salmon who are making their way up the river to die in the place that they spawned. They aren’t interested in eating, so baiting a hook will do you no good. You literally drop your lure, try to position it correctly and then yank your line up, hoping that you snagged one. Fishing isn’t quite as nasty, so I think anyways. Once again, we had no luck and it started to rain, so we went back home and showed everyone the town. We looked around the thrift store for anything good. Jonny found a suitcase and a pair of shoes that he got, and a suit that I wish he would have gotten, but it was way too expensive, even for a thrift store.

on our way out, at Libby Dam

The next day we woke up, took care of business, and in the afternoon, headed out for Seattle with the gang! Sorry for the lack of detail, something about being in Montana makes everyone more relaxed, so I didn’t take very many notes. Having our friends there was so great. We had a devo together at the end of every night and were able to share a lot with my brother. Please just pray for him and his family that they would know the Lord and love Him and follow Him.

North Dakota

North Dakota. What is there to say about North Dakota. Marc was reading in a book called 1.000 Places to See in the US, or something like that. Anyways, there was an article about a couple who went there because it was their 50th state and they didn't want to miss out on 50 states because they hadn't been to North Dakota. Anyways, they mentioned it to someone at a restaurant or something, and they gave them a certificate for making ND their 50th state. They even had a book for them to sign for people who visited NS as their final state. Nobody wants to go there because there isn't a lot to do there. Now, no offense meant at all, we met several wonderful people in North Dakota, but there just wasn't very much to do there. Despite its size, there was a calmness about it that made it quite enjoyable. It’s a slower life that isn’t so wrapped up in everything else that everyone else seems to be consumed by.
We left South Dakota on Wednesday, September 4^th and made it to Fargo, North Dakota a few hours early for church. With no direction of where to go or where people were, we stuck close to the church. There was a park maybe a mile away that we went to chill at. When we walked up we saw these kids fighting. We were going to break them up, but we realized that it was playful. I still didn’t like it, but Marc said they were just being boys. As I was talking on the phone, Marc felt the need to go talk to these kids. Of course, they need Jesus as well, but I always feel weird talking to kids when their parents aren’t there. Anyways, I got off the phone and looked over and all of the kids were bent over in a circle around Marc. He was reading the Bible to them. Adorable. Also adorable was when these kids, who apparently hadn’t seen gauges before, started sticking their fingers in Marc’s ear holes. Gotta love kids. As I made my way over to them, I hear one kid saying something about, “Well we don’t believe that. Allah….” This kid named TJ was no more than 10 0r 11 years old, but he knew his religion and he knew it well. We talked to the group for about 25 minutes and went back and forth with this kid. There was another younger boy engaged in the conversation as well. Every time a name was mentioned that he recognized (Jesus, Moses, Adam, etc), he had to tell us everything he knew about them. It was pretty adorable. It was fairly difficult to talk to TJ. I had never spoken about religion to a Muslim before, let alone a child. How was I supposed to make it understandable for him and show him that Jesus is the only way? It was definitely challenging. After a little while of talking to the kids, three of which were Muslim but none quite as well versed or interested as TJ, 3 ladies came walking over. I thought for sure they were parents of at least one of the kids and were going to reprimand us for talking to their kids without them there. Turns out they just lived nearby but they stayed and talked to us, I think to make sure we weren’t creepers. Fair enough. They told us that the little boy who kept telling us all of the stories that he knew was a pastor’s kid at the church they go to. No wonder he knew so much! As we chatted, TJ asked us if we listened to rap and when we said yes, he said, “Can I come with you to your van?” Before we had the change to say no, one of the ladies did, which really made me feel like they thought we were creepers. Oh well, it’s always better safe than sorry. So we got going back to the ban where we had sandwiches and then headed out to church for the Wednesday night service.
Church was sweet. We met the pastor, Seth, and his wife Tanya, then a very nice woman named Lisa and her family. Pastor Seth taught on Samson and made some pretty awesome points. One, every time Samson acted, it was out of selfishness and self promotion and two, there are only two recorded times that he cried out to the Lord. This was the man who should have been leading Israel and was concerned mostly with himself, yet we see God’s grace so heavily in that he is mentioned, albeit briefly, in the hall of faith. How wonderful that he sees us the same way-with patience, grace, and loving kindness because we seek Him.
Soon after church, we head out to Walmart. As we stepped in, immediately we noticed-it wasn’t a coincidence that those 3 kids at the park were Muslim. We were in a heavy Islamic area-the whole time we were there, I counted 10 women in berkas. Wow. After we had walked around for a bit, one of the workers approached us to ask if we had any questions. He and Marc got to talking for a good little while and he said at first that he did believe in God, but eventually admitted that it was kind of his “own thing.” He believed in evolution and nature (whatever that means) and didn’t appreciate going to church because of this crazy pastor that he had. She gave him a bad taste for church and religion and since then he hasn’t gone to church. I would not want to be her on judgment day.
On Thursday morning, we put time aside to study Islam. We still had a few bucks on our Starbucks card, so we got our usual passion tea and sat there for a few hours, reading and watching DVDs on the subject. About halfway through the time we were there, Marc walked by this group of guys and says, “This might sound really weird, but are you guys a band?” Turns out they were, and guess where they were from? Riverside, California. No stinkin way! Marc talked with them for a while longer then sat down. One of them came over to us and told us about the positive message of their music, said he was a Christian, too, and said he would put us on the guest list so we could go to their show that night. Sweetness!
We finished our studies and headed out. We weren’t really sure where to go, so we went to the mall to walk around and see if there was anything interesting there. There wasn’t, so we went to Barnes & Noble so I could write my blog. They were having a local writer’s showcase, so Marc went from table to table talking to the authors, and then we were off to the show!
The show was in the basement of a shop and was a very interesting place. If I had a grungy haircut and a black shirt on, I would’ve fit in much better, but that’s ok. I noticed that the older that I get, the more I dislike being in places where I feel like I don’t belong, in subcultures that aren’t my own. When I became a Christian, all of the other “groups” or cultures that I was a part of, slowly faded out of my life. Music, tattoos, piercings, and all of the other things I was interested in became secondary to learning about God and in the time that I used to pursue other things, I was now using to grow in my walk, so I slowly pulled back from being a part of those other things. That isn’t to say you have to, it was just the way that my relationship went. So now to be thrown back into a culture that I was never truly part of anyways, was uncomfortable. I told Marc, “That’s what Robert is for, to come to these things with you.” I mean, let’s be real. I’m not angry enough to mosh, and I’m definitely too old, short and weak, so when that started, it felt like pure madness. But my discomfort faded and I enjoyed the show. After the group went on that we were there to see (No Bragging Rights) we stepped outside for some air. There was a guy standing a few steps in front of the top step. As we ascended from the basement, his aloneness practically yelled, “Marc, come talk to me!” So he did. He had just moved there not too long ago from Wisconsin and didn’t really know what was in town. As they talked about the show, he shared that what the singer said about suicide really resonated with him and he began to cry a little bit. They talked about faith and Marc shared the gospel with him. Then the final act went on stage and we were herded like cattle back inside. I say that, but there were really only about 30-40 people there and I’m sure at least 15 of them were members of other bands. After the show, we hung out for a bit but nothing was really happening so we bounced.
Friday was a bit more eventful. We walked around downtown to see what we could find. One of the places we went was a bead shop. Marc was talking to the girl behind the counter who was telling us that she used to have cancer but because her Grandma has a direct line to God (jokingly), she went back to the doctor and it was gone! How awesome!
From there, we kept walking. After a while, we turned back so we could move the van before our 90 minute limit expired. We passed by this guy who looked totally bummed out. Marc said hello in passing and he said hi back, but when we were just past him, he turned around and asked if he could use our phone. “I just bumped into my ex-wife and I need to call my sponsor. I’m afraid I might do something stupid,” Larry shared with us. He sat on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk while he called, but no answer. So we walked towards the van while Marc talked with him. He had just spent time in prison for what sounded like beating his now ex-wife. He didn’t really have a faith but because he was Sioux-Apache, he leaned toward the Native beliefs. They talked for a good 25 minutes and it went ok, but as soon as we drove away, he started walking back towards where his ex was. Sigh.
Next we decided to walk around the park that was at the end of the main street. There weren’t really very many people there, but one guy, Chris, was on his way out as we walked in. He believed in God and went to church, so when Marc asked if he would get to heaven and why, he replied with, “I’m not really sure. I hope so. I know it’s not by works. I know what you’re getting at.” So that was cool. It was good to hear that he was on the right track, but he did seem in a bit of a rush, so off he went. We continued through the park and stumbled upon a skate park! Sweet!!
There was one dude sitting on a concrete block off to the side, probably catching his breath because he didn’t look like he was done for the day. We got to talking with him, just “shooting the breeze,” as Marc would say. We did get to talk about the Lord with him-he said that he used to go to church but at a certain point, just stopped believing in God and, subsequently, going to church, mostly because he just needed more facts. I asked what kind of facts he wanted and I shared a bit of Bible science with him, but he wasn’t really sure what to ask about. We also got to share a bit with his buddy who was sitting next to him. He was from Anaheim and had been raised going to church but at some point stopped as well. It was truly an awesome conversation with the two of them.
While we were talking with them, Pastor Seth and his wife, Tanya, and their 3 kids showed up. Turns out they have a skate park ministry! They go there every Friday with pizzas, water bottles, and sodas to give to the kids. They aren’t pushy, they give out tracts with the drinks, and talk to the kids if opportunity allows, but they’re not out there yelling or forcing anything upon them. The way Seth explained it was that, “we’re doing what we’ve found to work-we’re just showing the kids love.” And it’s true! And awesome! The kids seem to respect them and appreciate their presence there.
Marc talked to a few more kids while we were there, and when the pizza and drinks were all gone, we packed up. The family invited us to dinner, so we headed off to SmashBurger with them for some great fellowship. They blessed us with dinner and we even got fro-yo afterwards! I love me some fro-yo. We gave them a tour of our van, and that was that. We headed to Walmart to bed down for the night. Or so we intended. It was MISERABLY hot that night. I swear if we had enough money at the time, we probably would have went and gotten a hotel room, it was that bad. At 11:00 at night, it was 81 degrees outside, with no breeze, so in the van it was WARM. And yet, here we are, we survived.
In the morning, we headed off to the church to help with things around the church. We cleaned and got the storage unit ready to convert into a gym, amongst other, smaller tasks. They fed us Subway for lunch which was refreshing and oh so delicious. Once we were done, we didn’t have anywhere to be until 5:30, so we headed back to the park where we talked to the kids the first day. Marc was having a jam session with Lisa’s son, Paul, who was a great guitar player. That took a good chunk of time, then we were off to the other park for another church outreach where they pass out chips, juice, and tracts to kids and families at the park. The goodies went pretty quickly, but Marc walked around with a guy from the church, giving out the most important goodie, the gospel. (I know, I’m cheesy.)
Sunday, of course, brings church. We hung out for a little while afterwards and talked to these two new girls, Andrea and Jenny. It was a great conversation, especially once we discovered that they were scientists! How refreshing to hear from people who study that they can think for themselves and see the discrepancies in too many scientific theories.
After church, we stopped at the store to get some groceries with a gift card we had been given (thank you mucho) and then went to get some gas on our way to our next destination. As we pulled in, this guy yelled out from across the parking lot that he liked our huge Jesus Saves sign. When Marc went in to pay for the gas, they got to talking, and talk they did. For a LONG time. At least an hour! These 2 guys were on a cross country trip rapping about Jesus, kind of. They believed that there were many missing chapters from the Bible and that when Jesus was on earth, He had a meeting with some people in India where they all agreed that as long as they had faith in something they could go to Heaven because they were sincere. After a while, I got out to see if he needed help, but he was doing great. Eventually, we had to get going so we could eat dinner before church, so we exchanged numbers and headed out.
On Sunday nights, Calvary Chapel Fargo doesn’t have a regular service-they pretty much pray, wait on the Lord, and give room for the gifts. Marc brought his guitar and did some music. It was a blessed night indeed. God moved through many of us and spoke to my heart, giving me confirmation on something I had been praying for direction on. What a good God!
On Monday morning while I was at the gym, the first guy from the skate park texted us and wanted to get together before we left. SWEET! Nobody ever texts us to meet up! So we made plans for the next afternoon. The rest of the day, we prepared to leave. I did laundry and we read a fair amount. I researched a little bit more of the “facts,” in case that was what he was going to ask about, and we chilled out. We did go for a walk in the evening to get out of the house and seek out an opportunity, if there was one to be had. We didn’t come across anyone, so we finished up our studies, and that was Monday!
We woke up on Tuesday and said goodbye to our awesome host family then headed to our meeting. We ate at a place called Drunken Noodle, which was so delicious! We also had a really great conversation. We talked a lot about God and a lot about life. He mentioned that he had had a pretty privileged childhood but now there were several “hiccups” in his life that he wasn’t really sure how to deal with. He began to wonder if what we were telling him was the answer. Please pray for him and his family, especially that he would come to know God, but also that he would have peace in his heart through the issues he’s been experiencing. We know that Jesus gives peace that surpasses understanding, but it’s a question of resting in him. One of the coolest parts about meeting up with him was to see the seed we planted. We know that the main part of our ministry has been seed planting, but we got to water this one as well and see it start to hopefully take root. We’re definitely hoping to get a call from him soon saying that he’s ready to go for it.
After lunch, we said our goodbyes to him and to Fargo and off we went on our way to Montana!

North Dakota!

the venue

the band

the skate park!

the awesome family we stayed with and 2 of their 3 awesome dogs!

South Dakota! #41

Oh South Dakota, or as I like to say, state #41. As we get closer and closer to the end of our trip, expect to hear in every state what number it is and how many we have left! Seven! So we honestly expected Sioux Falls, South Dakota to be a lot like Wyoming-a vacant ghost town where we couldn’t find a soul, but it was actually the opposite! I would say it’s probably the size of my hometown, Moreno Valley, CA.
Let me just start by saying, that we did not make it to Mount Rushmore. Sad day indeed.

So anyways, we left our previous state of Missouri, St. Louis to be exact, on Wednesday morning, August 28^th around 8:15 am and made the drive all the way to Sioux Falls, SD, just over 600 miles.

this was our route, as well as it can be
drawn on Paint by a non-professional

We finally arrived at Calvary Chapel Sioux Falls at 6:50 pm, a mere 10 minutes before church was due to start. It was hot, I was a liiiiitle bit cranky, and it was yucky humid outside, but I was glad to finally be there. We were welcomed warmly and greeted kindly, and we took our seats. The whole time during worship and even the message, there were about 8 kids sitting in the front row causing all kinds of a ruckus-whispering to each other, passing notes back and forth, and just not paying any kind of attention. I thought to myself, “Where are their parents? Why doesn’t anyone say anything to them?” but almost as soon as I did, I knew that this would be one of those times were I was going to be a jerk for thinking something, that there had to be some sort of circumstance that I was unaware of, so I tried to put it out of my mind and focus.
After church, we hung out for a minute and talked to the pastor, Tom Yount, and then a few of the guys from the church, Quinton, Josh, and Michael (but everyone calls him Mickey). They gave us direction on where we could go to find people and they kind of gave us a rundown of the city and what to expect. And then I learned about the kids. South Dakota is home to the top 3 poorest counties in America, with a 4^th in the top 15. Most of the reason for this is because of the Indian reservations. For whatever reason, these reservations are worse than the typical ones with the amount of gangs, violence, and, sadly, suicide. In South Dakota, the percentage of people who attempt suicide is 150% higher on the reservation when compared with non-natives. From what we’re told, everyone on “the res,” as they say for short, knows someone who has committed suicide or at least attempted it, whether it be friends or family members. For a lot of them, even off the res, life is bleak. It’s quite uncommon for kids to have a father in the picture. There is, many times, no discipline and the kids do whatever they want. This is where the church comes in. Since Pastor Tom took over the church a couple of years ago, God gave him a vision to reach out to the natives and really embrace them in the church. A transportation ministry was born and every week before church, Quinton and Mickey (not sure who else) drive around and pick up whoever wants to come to church. This is what we witnessed on Wednesday-people in the church that have a heart for the lost. They give up their time and their gas to get these kids to church, even when some people would prefer they not be there.
That night, they invited us to stay at the house that they rent. As we got there, Josh took us inside while Mickey and Quinton drove kids home. We walked up the stairs to the main house and saw a guy laying on the deck. Josh invited him in and he sat at the table while he waiting for Quinton to get home. There was a family in the living room who had gotten there around 3 am the night before. Apparently their apartment got flooded and they needed a place to stay until Friday. We walked out and went to the small house where Josh lived, and Marc asked about all of the people. He responded that most of the time, there is someone sleeping on the deck or below the porch. Quinton has done so much ministry with the homeless in the past that they know they can come sleep at his house if they have no place else to go. As for the family, they had no way to validate their story and they knew there was a possibility they were lying, but they gave them until Friday. How awesome, to serve the poor despite their motivation, even if they’re lying or abusing your niceness, it’s up to the Lord to judge the intent of their heart-it’s up to us to be obedient to the Lord and His word, so when it says in Isaiah 58 to bring to your house the poor and to clothe the naked, they do it. Mickey and Quinton got back and we sat around while they told us more about the city and their ministry to the kids and the natives. It was awesome.
On a less spiritual note, Josh had rescued a batch of baby bunnies from the lawnmower. It looked like their mother had abandoned them, so he picked them up and now they were chillin in a box in his living room. They were so small that they literally fit in the palm of my hand! Of course, I was super excited because I was about to get a new pet! I named him Walter Bishop and started researching how to best take care of him. Unfortunately for me, everything I read said to release them close to where you found them and that their mother had likely not abandoned them. I still pondered keeping one, but apparently cotton tail bunnies don’t ever really domesticate, they just get irritated and are bad house pets. At the end of the night, we released them back outside where they were and hoped that their mom would come. In the morning, most of them were gone, so hopefully they’re doing well.

look at how little it was!

Thursday morning we sat and studied for a bit before heading into town. The first place we went was Falls Park. In case it’s not obvious enough, it’s a park that has waterfalls in it. I would imagine that the city is named after the falls or perhaps the falls after the city, who knows. Either way, we were down there walking around, taking pictures, and looking for opportunity. There were 2 guys walking on the opposite side of the falls, where we had already been, that Marc really wanted to talk to. They looked like Cali people actually, so we started making our way up and around to get to them, just as they started walking away. So we walked after them for a few minutes, but they got away. Soon after, we seemed to be done at the park so we waited to ride the free trolley. As we did, an older couple told us, “we like your sign,” speaking of our Jesus Saves sign in the window of our van. We only got to talk to them a few minutes, but once again, we met a woman pastor. It really makes me wonder what does she teach when it comes to 1 Corinthians, or women being submitted to men. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that submission is a taboo topic that people don’t really like to talk about, but that’s usually for one of two reasons. One, they don’t want to offend people. Solution-the Bible is offensive to those who are perishing, it just is and it likely always will be. Nobody wants to be told what to do or to do things differently, which brings me to my second point. Two-you’re not willing to be unbiased and do what the Lord has put in place for you to do. I know it can be hard, but the Bible says what it says, and one of those things is that man is the head of woman, just as Christ is the head of man. I would rather answer to Marc for my misdeeds than Jesus, so I’d say we got the better end of the stick, wouldn’t you ladies? So how this woman can be in a position to be the spiritual head of man, I do not understand. Nearly immediately after she told us her position, the trolley came so we said goodbye and boarded and took a tour of the downtown. We didn’t get off-Marc just wanted to get a lay of the land, and it was getting pretty close to evening by this time, but we did get to talk to one lady on the bus. Her name (I think) was Annie, she attends a local church there in town. We talked to her for a few minutes before she got off, then we continued our trolley ride back to the van. We went back to the visitor’s center to use the restroom one last time before we took off and when I came out, Marc had, of course, found someone to talk to. She went to the same church as the lady on the bus and said that she knew the Lord but was backslidden at the moment. Despite going to church and having 3 near death experiences, she just wasn’t walking the way that she should have been and she knew it. From there, we got in the van and had some food, then as we were driving off, we saw a mini RV that had this sticker that we used to drool over. It’s a blank outline of the United States where every state was outlined but with no writing. As you go to a new state, you put the colored sticker on the map of where you went. It wouldn’t be as cool to have now, but we REEEEAAALLLLY wanted it back in the beginning. Anyways, Marc got out and went to ask him where he got it from. Had I known what was coming, I would’ve gotten out, too! The couple who were travelling was Jewish but not really practicing. Marc shared about Jesus and they talked about differences, but they had a very relativistic approach to life/God. Eventually, I got out of the van to meet them but they were just ending their conversation to go walk their dog, so we took off.

Welcome to South Dakota!

Falls Park, Sioux Falls

guy on a buffalo! (youtube it)

statue time

That night, Pastor Tom and his wife Wendy had us over to stay with them. As we made our way to their house, we heard this guy yelling in our direction. Marc couldn’t understand what he was saying, so he slowed down to hear him. “Let me get a ride to the bus stop,” was essentially what the guy said. I looked at Marc like, “What the heck, who does that?!” But we let him in and started driving him. Of course, Marc began with the 20 questions. He, too, said he was a believer but was looking for a good church in the area. Marc told him about Calvary and then we got to the bus stop. What a strange encounter indeed. Then it was off to the gym then to Tom & Wendy’s house.
On Friday we headed back to Falls Park to once again take the trolley, this time to meander around downtown. As we waited for it to arrive, we found ourselves talking to a couple from out of town. That’s the nice thing about touristy places-you automatically have a normal, noninvasive icebreaker question to ask. “Are you guys from around here,” started the conversation. Nope, they were just there to ride the bike trails, which spanned about 25 miles around the city and were well known for being gorgeous. We told them a bit about what we were doing and asked them if they go to church. They do, so we got to talk about that for a little bit. By this time we had boarded the trolley and were at our stop, so as we said goodbye to them, they said, “hold on one second.” The guy reached into his pocket and pulled out a $50 bill and gave it to Marc. How amazing is our God?! Look at how awesomely He takes care of us. We never have to ask for money or even allude to it with people, and God puts it on the hearts of strangers to provide for us to continue what we’re doing.
So we walked around their downtown strip for a little bit. It was mostly touristy shops and things, nothing overly exciting, although we did go into and Irish gifts shop, where we talked to the owner (I think) for about half an hour. He told us stories of Ireland and answered questions that I had as to the stories behind certain symbols. It really was a super awesome conversation that made me desperately want to know more about my heritage.
Around 2 o’clock, we headed out of town about 15 miles to a music festival called Life Light. If you’re familiar, it’s similar to Spirit West Coast, except its a little bit bigger and it’s FREE. That’s right, it cost $0 to park, $0 to get in. Of course, the vendors charge you an arm and a leg for everything, but if you bring your own food and water, you’re set! It’s actually the country’s largest free Christian music festival. They used to hold it in an abandoned water park, but when they outgrew it, someone graciously donated ACRES of land. If I had to guess, I’d say that had at least 20 acres. They have enough space for the main stage, which on the final night will draw about 130-150,000 people, then another less popular but directed at the youth stage that gets plenty of people, and about 3 other, smaller stages. All that, plus two large structures where the merch is set up, a strip where all the food vendors are, and then backstage areas, and parking for everyone. The place is just massive! So we walked around for a bit then headed over to the prayer tent to ask if we could be one of the prayer people. They invited us back at 10am to take the small training class, so we had the rest of the night free. We walked up and down the vendors, checked out all of the causes, and hung out. As we approached one booth, Marc told me to read the back of this shirt. It said something like, “55 Million Shot Down Before Delivering Their Cargo. SAVE THE STORKS.” We got to talking to the people at the table and what they do is seriously amazing. They’re a fairly new non-profit organization (2 years old) that raises money to build buses. What is so special about these buses? Well, they’re NICE on the inside. They do the interior with all leather, there is a bed, a massage bench, a restroom, 2 chairs and 2 TVs. The point of all of it is to promote life. How, you ask? They park their bus outside of an abortion clinic and as women go to walk in, they kindly invite them in their bus to have a free sonogram. That’s right, their bus has sonogram equipment. As they give the woman a free sonogram (or pregnancy test), they share with them the love of Jesus and about the options that they have, to parent or to have their baby adopted. One statistic that really stuck out was that 84% of post-abortive women felt as though abortion was their only option. The Storks program is there to let them know that that isn’t true, that they will support them, and they do! Because the buses, once finished, are given to a crisis pregnancy center, the women who work it are local and can stay in contact with the pregnant women. Amazingly, three out of five women who go into a storks’ bus outside of abortion clinics, choose life. What a great testimony love can be. Because they’re only 2 years old, they only have 3 completed buses right now, but are always raising money to build more. Check out their website, even buying a shirt helps fund the cause. http://savethestorks.com/
After spending a good amount of time with the storks, we walked around and watched some bands perform. Marc was pretty excited to see For Today, a Christian hardcore band that seriously brings the gospel to the shows that they put on. Flyleaf was playing after them, but we didn’t stay for most of it because I didn’t want to deal with fighting traffic after it was all over. On the way to drop off Mickey and Josh who had been abandoned by their ride, we made a pit stop at this restaurant called “Fryin’ Pan,” which we had driven by the day before and I told Marc, “Man, I wanna eat there.” See how good God is to us? Mickey was gracious enough to buy our food, so we hung for a good little while and then went home.
Saturday was back to LifeLight. We got there around 10:15 (oops) and went through our training seminar. Then it was off to the secondary stage, where we spent a huge chunk of the day waiting. Our job was to sit under the tent and listen to whatever was being said from the stage, in the event that someone needed prayer, or they did an alter call, we were there to follow up. Most of them didn’t do an alter call and the ones who did didn’t send people over to us, but we were able to walk around a bit. Quite a few people came into the tent throughout the day, mostly to get out of the shade, but that opened doors for us to talk to people. I probably got to start almost as many conversations about Marc, but his always seemed to be more fruitful. For some reason, he has that weird thing about him where he really knows exactly the right question to get into people’s lives. I just don’t have that, as much as I try. But the day went awesomely-he got to talk to a few people who told him that they were in sin, so, in love, Marc rebuked and corrected them and they always thanked him for it and said something to the effect of, “I needed to hear that.” God is faithful, as always. What a mighty God we serve! On the way home, there was a crazy awesome lightening storm! There was literally constant lightening for the whole time we were driving home! It was beautifully stunning.

Sunday morning brought church, of course, and it was awesome. Pastor Tom taught from Mark 12 where the Sadducees tried to trick Jesus by asking him about the resurrection which, of course, they didn’t believe in.
It kind of reminds me of a common skeptics question nowadays. Many people will ask questions like, “What about the people who live in the bush and have never heard of Jesus?” Well, if they were really concerned about them, they would be converted and go be missionaries to them.
Anyways, shortly after church was over, we headed out of town with Josh & Mickey to Mickey’s parent’s house where we helped them with some construction they were doing on their house. I suppose destruction would be a better word, but we ripped up some carpet and I worked on scraping up the glue while the boys hammered up tiles and scraped that glue off of the concrete. It wasn’t the hardest work I’ve ever done, but it was far from easy and we were glad to help. Not to mention the delicious food they fed us! Mmmmmmm mmmmmm!!!!
So Mickey’s parents are super awesome! We spent a long time listening to their stories, mesmerized by the awesomeness! They spent 13 years travelling the country, if I remember correctly they were hitchhiking hippies for Jesus, but their stories were great. They said something that really struck a chord with me-they have a hard time with “church people,” if you will, because they spent so long being completely sold out for Jesus-He was their life. They lived and breathed to serve Him, so to go from that kind of mentality to the typical church go-er mentality was rough. Don’t get me wrong, I know that there are plenty of awesome people who go to church and I’m definitely not trying to ruffle feathers, but I noticed the same thing. Back in September 2012, we made a trip home for 3 weeks. While we were there, I noticed that nothing had changed, but I had. I had spent every day of the past seven months relying on the Lord for my very existence. I couldn’t eat, drive, or buy anything unless God provided for me. It was the way it was and I enjoyed it. I started every day with the Lord because if I didn’t, my day did not go right. I needed my marching orders or at least to check in and it made me so close to the Lord in an amazing way. Then I went home and was reminded of how life was for me when I was there. I hung out with friends A LOT and didn’t really do much for the Lord. I woke up whenever I wanted and usually had something to do right off the bat, which didn’t leave the relaxed time that I usually had to sit and take my time with the Lord. Well, I did have time, but I didn’t prioritize right. There were other issues, as well, but I don’t feel like going into all of that. Bringing it back, Mickey’s parents were awesome, but he was pretty great, too, so that’s to be expected.
Monday was a kind of chill day, for me anyways. I worked on my blog and uploading pictures and things. Marc had asked Tom if he knew a good mechanic because we had a belt that was making a noise, so they took off to go get the oil changed and look at the belt. After an hour or so, they came back, oil changed, and thankfully the belt was good and didn’t need replacing. We did, however, have a big problem-we needed new tires, badly. A lot of the wires were showing through and it would have been impossible to drive to North Dakota, which we were supposed to be doing in 2 days. Let me preface the next part of the story by saying that I normally don’t talk about money-I don’t like to at all because I don’t want anyone to think that we’re asking for money or hinting that we need it or anything, so please don’t, but for this story, it’s vital.
So Marc came home and told me that we needed tires. Pastor Tom called a friend of his who sold tires and he found us some very lightly used tires for $100. At the time we had $110 between our 2 accounts and $50 in our pocket. So technically we could afford it, but that would leave us with $60, not to mention that we had a bill coming out of our bank account for $40 in the next few days AND we needed at least $75 worth of gas to make it to North Dakota. We were just about on E. So really, we didn’t have any money to spare for tires, and yet, we needed them before we could go anywhere. BUT, if we went anywhere, there was a good chance we wouldn’t make it, especially now that we’re back on the West Coast, where states are HUGE! As Tom was calling around, I told Marc, “Why are you having him call? We don’t have the money for that right now.” He replied, “Well we need tires.” And I said, “How are you going to pay for them?”
As Tom got off the phone and told us that it would be $100 for 4 of them, Marc told him, “well, we only need two.” Then Tom replied with something like, “just take 4 of them, you’re not paying for them.” And that was that. I don’t know if Tom paid for them or if his friend just donated them or what happened. I think it’s better to not know so they still get their crowns in heaven, but what a blessing. I couldn’t help but smile at God’s goodness. It’s seriously crazy this whole time that we’ve never asked for money, we’ve never had to ask for anything, but God gives us what we need, sometimes before we even have to ask. So Marc and Tom took off to take care of the tires, and I sat around doing I don’t know what.
On our last day in South Dakota, we weren’t really sure what to do, so we headed to a nearby park. There wasn’t really anyone there, but Marc practiced his guitar and I crocheted. We got up to get ready to leave, and as we walked towards the van, we noticed a man who had ridden his bike over and was sitting alone at a table. Marc talked to him for at least half an hour. He believed in God but had a fickle relationship, so Marc explained some things and encouraged him. He even emailed Marc the next day to say thank you! What a great encounter!
From there, we went on to another fallback hangout, the mall. There were next to no people there, but as we rounded a corner, there was a guy sitting with his head down on the table. Marc likes to ruin people’s naps, so went and talked to him. He was a believer but had a similar story to the first guy-he just wasn’t really walking the walk. He seemed in good spirits when Marc left him, so that was pretty great.
A little while later, Josh and Mickey invited us out to dinner where we had an awesome time of fellowship and some stinkin good Indian food. They were great guys and awesome brothers. So we said goodbye to them and went back to the house to do laundry and spend time with Tom and Wendy on our last night in South Dakota. And that was that! The next morning, we packed up, stopped off at Wendy’s place of work where she blessed us with some bread and granola, and we were off to Fargo, North Dakota!