Update from Sharps Corner

We have enjoyed a great week in Sharps Corner so far! We arrived safely around 9:30pm local time Saturday evening. Robert and Mallory led worship at Sharps Corner Baptist Church on Sunday morning and Conrad preached (David Moser also had the opportunity to preach in White River).

Eric's team is leading a 5 Day Club for younger kids, Robert's team is leading a club for older kids, and Megan, Robin, and Conrad are working with the teens that have been attending. We have been able to continue our outreach from years past to the community of Evergreen, a housing area a few miles from Sharps Corner. We have averaged over 30 kids and teens each day. We have also been able to continue community involvement through sports in the evenings, although the volleyball and basketball courts were in severe disrepair. The volleyball court was overgrown with weeds over two feet tall and the poles were missing, and the basketball rim was gone. After some renovation Monday, we were able to play on Tuesday and look forward to tonight as well.

We've reconnected with many kids and families from past years, and begun new relationships. Pastor Roy and Linda are doing well; Roy is involved in a week long revival in Pine Ridge and Sharps Corner that is hosted by God's Cowboys, a New Mexico-based outreach to Native Americans. We learned that Delaine is struggling through some difficult things and will be unable to return with us to Columbia to visit for a few weeks as we had previously hoped. Destiny, Amber, and Carly, three girls that had been involved at the church since our first trip in 2006, have encountered some family issues, but Destiny has been involved in our teen outreach this week, and we hope to see Amber tomorrow. We have had an exceptional group of teens to work with this year; they have been open, and instead of trying to keep them from distracting the kids clubs, we have been able to talk with them. Most are in junior high and attend a local Catholic school, but as Tiny, one of the girls, mentioned, "I'm Catholic... I think. I've been baptized." Please continue to pray for us, the clubs, the individuals mentioned above, and the White River team as they've had over 40 kids each day. We look forward to sharing more with you as we have opportunity! Short, more consistent updates are available on twitter; follow "fishermanr".

Pictures from top to bottom:
1. The Sharps Corner team overlooking Evergreen
2. Megan playing a game with some of the teens
3. Hanging out with kids at the end of clubs
4. Robin and Alyssa overlooking the Badlands on Sheep Mountain