Learning Camp for Lakota Sioux Children

I'm Stephen Hollaway and along with my wife Becca I'm traveling to South Dakota in July to help run a Learning Camp (one week) for children in Sisseton, SD, in part of the Upper Sioux Reservation. The Baltimore Presbytery (association of churches) has been in a partnership with the Dakota Presbytery for a few decades now. There are 18 small Native Presbyterian churches on reservations in SD and MN, and most need help reaching out to children in their communities. Presbyterian missionaries came to the reservations in the 1800s and actually invented the written language still in use.

Becca and I went up to Sisseton and the region in April 2022 for a discernment trip, to see if we felt God was leading us to work with these people. We were moved by the long-term faithfulness of the Native leaders, many of whom had PhD's in Lakota language and culture. They were so open to us and eager to find ways to help their youth. The tribal areas are among the poorest in the nation, and rates of alcoholism, addiction, suicide, and rape are extremely high. You can understand why there might be deaths of despair in such a setting. Some of the adults we met had been taken away to government schools as children which tried to ban Native language and culture. It might surprise you that the churches are preservers of the culture and language and work for the rights of the tribes. Some of the pastors we met gave up their paying jobs to work in small Presbyterian churches for little or no pay.

The Learning Camps are a kind of alternative to Vacation Bible School which do not emphasize religion. Children are given science and math workshops (made fun), story time, arts and crafts, and other forms of enrichment--all while building loving relationships with church people who accept them as they are. Baltimore area volunteers work in cooperation with local Native volunteers and young people.

We want to give you a chance to participate in this project by making a donation. Becca and I need to provide $800 for airfare and $1000 for camp expenses (tribe-owned motel, food, craft supplies, book.s, and car rental). We would appreciate any help you could give us. Should we go over our goal, we will give the funds to other volunteers making the trip, some of whom are retired or disabled and low-income. Thank you for considering this