Youth group embarks on mission trip in Montana

Intermountain Catholic

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The Saint John the Baptist Youth Group travels to the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana to donate their time and talents to help improve the conditions in the Lodge Grass. They spent five days painting houses and visiting with members of the nursing home and playing with the children at the Kid's Club.

by Kaitlyn Holyfield

and Patricia Graham

DRAPER — Saint John the Baptist Youth Group in Draper embarked on their second annual Youth Works Mission Trip July 25, with 17 teenagers and three adults.

This year the group traveled to the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and donated their time to help improve conditions in Lodge Grass. During our five-day stay in the community we joined together with teenagers from Iowa and Oklahoma to paint houses, visit with members of the nursing home, and play with the local children at Kid’s Club.

Stephen, a member of the Youth Works Staff at the Crow Reservation, explained that every summer homes of deserving families within the community are selected to be painted. He went on to express that the significance of painting the homes was not only to provide better insulation but also to instill a sense of pride and ownership for everyone living in the home. While performing a necessary service to the community, the youth had the opportunity to interact with several different homeowners, and in return each homeowner shared something from their community with the youth.

In some cases they shared part of the culture, and in others it was as simple as engaging in a conversation or even making the youth some stew for lunch. For example, one homeowner, Pete Greybull, explained to the group how to make traditional Native American arrows for a local competition. As the youth watched him shape the arrow they realized that they were given a rare glimpse into the rich culture of his people.

Visiting members of the nursing home provided yet another window into the Native American culture. Being only one of few Native American nursing homes in the United States there were residents from several different backgrounds. The youth all spent one morning either playing "Sorry" (a board game), various card games, making Indian jewelry, or reading to Gary, a 21-year old resident and former high school star athlete who was paralyzed in a car accident. Anna Northway and Courtney Sullivan were two of the participants who sat and read with Gary.

After spending the morning with Gary both girls agreed that it was a very humbling experience in which they learned not to take anything in their lives for granted. It was evident that Gary, along with the other members of the nursing home greatly appreciated spending time with the youth.

A woman named Rose was another example of this displayed. She was having some trouble making a bead necklace and asked me, Patricia Graham, one of the youth group members, to help her finish it. I spent the majority of the morning sitting with Rose and following her careful instructions for the necklace. As we finally finished making it Rose insisted that I take it home. Rose’s generosity moved me, especially after hearing the caretaker at the nursing home comment that it was rare for Rose to ever leave her room and interact with visitors. Similarly, it is often rare for teenagers to find time to interact with the elderly in their own community and this experience revealed how rewarding it can be for all those involved.

Yet another rewarding aspect of the trip was working with the children. "Kid’s Club" is a summer program supported by Youth Works in an effort to provide a safe environment for the local children to play as well as to learn about Jesus. It was evident that all of the children looked forward to spending time with the youth each week. Even though they have been through so much "it was amazing just to see the kids show so much love," said Brittany Tycer, a youth group member from Saint John the Baptist.

As the week progressed all of the volunteers at Lodge Grass grew to see how open and loving the children truly were. There was a little girl on the reservation who had played "follow the leader" all morning with Deacon Paul Graham, youth minister at Saint John the Baptist Parish. She sat down on the ground with him later in the day to teach him how to braid a bracelet. Once they finished, they noticed the colorful bracelet was very long. The little girl looked up at Deacon Paul and asked him to cut the bracelet in two pieces. She said "That way we can have matching bracelets so that when I see you again we can put our hands together and I’ll know it is you."