Report from Wounded Knee

We traveled to South Dakota for revival services at the Wounded Knee Church of God with Pastor Chet and Barbara Marks on September 26-28. I'm excited to share with you that God blessed our time of ministry there and we saw lives touched by His grace and power.

God moved in healing power and we saw dramatic healings while we were there and number of people made life-changing decisions for Jesus Christ.

Woman healed by the Power of God On the first night of the meetings, Ella Coleman, a middle aged Native American woman, came forward for prayer for arthritis pain in her arms and fingers. She instantly experienced relief from the pain that she was experiencing. The next night she returned, testifying that the swelling was down in her fingers and arms and also an injury on her leg had been healed by the power of God. Jesus was glorified.

Rejoicing in God's Healing Power Robert, a native American, also was suffering tremendously with arthritis pain. I noticed before the meeting that he walked about very stiffly and with obvious pain. He asked for prayer for his shoulder, but he was also suffering greatly in other areas, especially his neck. Robert had not slept on his left side for over two years, due to pain. After prayer, he instantly received relief, and reported the the next night that the pain in his body was nearly gone and that he was able to turn his neck freely and to sleep on his left side without pain. Glory to God!

I also had an opportunity to speak briefly on KILI, an area radio station serving the Lakota nation, where I shared the Good News that Jesus saves, heals and delivers.

Wounded Knee, South Dakota, is the sight of the last great battle between the US government and the American Indians. Over 200 men, women and children were massacred at Wounded Knee. In 1973, native Americans took over the area in a siege. Two federal officers were killed and one native American was killed.

We stayed less than a half a mile from the site of these two monumental events. The Lord showed me that the site of the the massacre and the siege were a stronghold of demonic power. I had the opportunity, while at Wounded Knee to pray over the mass grave a prayer for peace, healing and reconciliation, proclaiming Jesus as Lord over the area.

The town of Wounded Knee is located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Lakota Sioux Indian Tribe. About 20,000 people live on the reservation, in various degrees of squaller and desperate conditions. There is little difference between the area and many of the third world mission fields that I have seen in other countries. Many homes are without water, electricity, proper heating, furniture, etc. There are great needs among the children for basic care and nurture.

The problem is unemployment, but perhaps even more so, alcoholism. The rates for both approach 90 percent. A small town bordering the reservation on the south in Nebraska , does a multi-million dollar business selling beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks to the multitudes to hopelessly-addicted native Americans. Hopelessly-addicted, that is, without Christ.

Yes, Jesus is the answer for the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but there are some hurtles to overcome to reach the Lakota people with the Gospel. First, Christianity is seen by many natives as the "white man's religion." Abuses, military associations and actions by "Christians" in the the past have led many to have a bad taste in their mouth to the word Christian.

Secondly, there recently has been a resurgence of Indian religion, as part of a desire to renew native culture and heritage. This religion has many ties to sorcery and shamanism. These practices are opening the people up to the dark spiritual realm and demonic possession is becoming more commonplace. For example, we prayed for a young man who had been taken over by a spirit and was convinced that he was seeing the ghost of a teenage girl who had recently died in a car accident. This young man's obsession was causing great heartache to his parents.

So, add to the problems of alcohol and drug abuse some perverse religion, along with other tremendous social problems, such as violence, sexual abuse, and incest and you begin to get the picture of true spiritual condition of the people of Pine Ridge.

Rez Connection While at Wounded Knee, we were privileged to work with two fine missionaries, Chet and Barbara Marks, who have been laboring among the Lakota for the past two years. Their ministry background is in children's ministry in the inner city, having served with Bill Wilson at Metro Church in Brooklyn, New York, before coming to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. A total faith ministry, they have spent the last two years ministering strictly to the children of the reservation, using buses and sidewalk vans to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ in a language that the children can understand. Amazingly, God has provided them with a fleet of older school buses and vans which they adapt to their vigorous outreach techniques. Each week they visit the neighborhoods of Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge and other small towns, inviting the children and preparing for the Saturday and after-school church services on a sanctuary bus. They have seen much fruit from these efforts and continue to work tirelessly to raise up a new generation with values for a better future. They call their ministry Rez Connection. Recently, they have begun to minister to adults and teens as well. This summer Chet was offered the position as interim pastor of the Church of God in Wounded Knee. The small church has already begun to spring to life under their leadership. We were blessed to have a part in this valuable work and to minister to the needs of the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For more information, you can write: Rez Connection, Inc. PO Box 2020, Pine Ridge, SD 57770, or e-mail: rezkidz@gwtc.net Link to Rez Connection