Bdecan Connections

So far this sabbatical time has been a journey of connections. When we were in North Dakota, sojourning on the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation at Bdecan Presbyterian Church, we were told about a mission group from Westminster Presbyterian Church of Alexandria, Virginia. This church has been sending mission groups to Bdecan for five or more years now. A small number of folks from that church happened to be in the area the day we arrived on the reservation. Unfortunately, our paths did not cross then, but we were told about the friendship they had developed with the Bdecan Church over the years and of their concern and support for that church.

By coincidence, we realized that we would be traveling to Westminster's neck of the woods on the second half of our journey, so we promised we would make an effort to look them up and try to get together to share stories, concerns, and insights. We found when we got to D. C. that our plate was rather full on Sunday mornings and the transportation is a little complicated then to get to Westminster. But we didn't want to give up on making this connection, so we contacted Art, who heads up the Bdecan mission group to see if we could meet him and/or others sometime during the week. We received an enthusiastic response.

Tuesday afternoon, Paul and I found our way on the metro to the Pentegon City metro stop/shopping center/ food court. Art was waiting at the metro stop for us. There were two others from Westminster who were also waiting to meet with us, Linc, chair of the mission committee, and Tandy, a long time participant in Bdeca mission trips.

It was amazing to meet somebody on the other side of the country who had met and spent time with the same people in the middle of the country in similar special ways. It felt to me that we were linked together a bit like family. We shared the stories of our experiences at Bdecan, our concerns, and possibilities for the future. The time went quickly. We promised to stay in touch. We are particularly interested in knowing how Westminster's mission trip this summer at the end of July turns out for them. They will be there during the big pow wow, Fort Totten Days. They will be running a VBS program as well as doing some construction projects. They will take a group of about 20 people. This church is blessed with people and financial resources, and they are desiring to put them all to good use. They also are responsible for building an orphanage in Kenya and have that as an on-going international mission. Perhaps there are even greater kinds of support they will be able to give Bdecan in the future.

We were happy to provide some photos we had taken at Bdecan to Westminster for them promote this mission trip. It is amazing how God can bring far flung people together to form different kinds of partnerships and relationships that can bear good fruit.