On August 7, 2021 the Rosebud House of Prayer was dedicated and opened for Bible studies, a women’s support Bible study group, and Steps to Freedom In Christ appointments.
I’d like share some pictures and a couple of stories, as well as what the Lord put on my heart for about a month before the dedication. It is so perfect.
“Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands and he said: ‘Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. You have kept what You promised Your servant. . .You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true. . .but will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.
“Yet regard the PRAYER of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and LISTEN to the cry and the PRAYER which Your servant is PRAYING before You: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that YOU may HEAR the PRAYER which Your servant makes toward this place. . .and when You hear. . .FORGIVE the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they PRAY toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, then HEAR in heaven, and FORGIVE the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever PRAYER, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: then HEAR from heaven Your dwelling place, and FORGIVE, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men), that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and PRAY in this temple; then HEAR from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name. . .
“When they sin. . .and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and PRAY toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: then HEAR from heaven Your dwelling place their PRAYER and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
“Now, my God, I PRAY, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. . . ” 2 Chronicles 6:12, 14-42
First, I want to thank the church, the family of God, who gave their love and time to do most of the work themselves on the building, and for the many, many that are praying for our salvation here on the Rosebud Reservation. It was an honor for me to witness how the body of Christ really works together. It’s like I’m watching the book of Acts in real life. I never imagined that people that never met us would want us to have a place too, to worship God in. I remember the very first time this little Indian woman dared to tell a group of men about what God said He was going to do. They read Exodus 35 that night and I watched grown men tear up and cry! I didn’t know how I was supposed to act, but then God did something ”in” me. I felt something lift off of me and spread to all these men and women who sat in front of me, but I didn’t tell them. (I never told others things like that, because it was first very very personal, and second, I had to be sure what I was experiencing was of God and nothing of myself.) And all these years later everything God revealed has come to pass so I’m sharing that now.
“Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.” Exodus 35:21
At the dedication the Worship was so perfect. I am in awe of Jesus how he arranged everything so well. Two young believers from our communities sang for us, one was my son Kwsind who had only two years earlier accepted Jesus into his life. The Lord gave him a desire to worship and play the guitar. He sang ”Take me into the Holy of Holies.” The other young believer is Brittany who sang ”Glory.” And “Heart of the City” with Dan and Sandy Adler from Minneapolis sang. Dan put together a CD with testimonies of Native Americans called ”We Speak Life.”
“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21
At the dedication a beautiful sister in Christ, Deloris, brought me a gift–a LOCUST TREE which only the Lord and I knew the Significance it held. As You can see He kept His promise. ”He restored all the years the locusts ate,” redeemed our souls, restored our lives by bringing us back together after almost 20 years apart. Jesus gave us new memories. He gave us more then we could ask or imagine. In this picture I’m standing on our land on my reservation with two of my six sons, Kwsind and Ehoni. The last time I saw them Kwsind was 7 years old and Ehoni was 4, but by the grace of God we are here on this land that I once vowed to myself “I will never ever come home.“ I had hitch-hiked out of Rosebud, SD when I was 15 years old after burying my mother Catherine Black Bear.
“Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. ‘But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.’ Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you. . .The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. ‘So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” Joel 2:18, 20-21, 23-27
The Lord Jesus has been so good to us. It’s what the Psalmist said “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” Psalms 139:17-18
Back in 2008 when I first met the Lord Jesus He let me know I’d be doing jail ministry. At the time I couldn’t see how, but I have been doing jail ministry since 2014. Now, after Covid 19, the jails are finally opened again so I’ll be going in again. I am excited for that. I also do Bible studies at the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center here in Rosebud, and would appreciate your prayers.
We have an event coming up on July 23, 2022. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has been coming to our reservation and to our neighbors on the Pine Ridge Reservation. We had our first combined prayer meeting together recently. That was a miracle to me. We are the same tribe but there is an old thing that reminds me of the “Hatfields and McCoy’s,” going on for as long as I can remember. But again God is moving and we cannot stop Him.
“’You are My witnesses,’ says the Lord, ‘and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior. Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?’” Isaiah 43:10-11, 13
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
“Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” Romans 12:12