2023 Sioux Valley Mission Trip

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Watch this video to see what we did in Sioux Valley!

Team Members

Introduction

While preparing for the 2023 Sioux Valley mission trip, we were very careful and unsure. We did not know if people would remember the Koreans from Toronto and the program we were hosting. There was also a lot of uncertainty amongst new team members about what to expect. Due to Sioux Valley becoming a self-governed nation, everything had to go through their government. However we had some difficulty contacting them to book the facility we were staying in. Thankfully, Teri, a member of the community who knew Sarah and Joon well offered to get her daugher Damari to help deliver a letter to the main office on behalf of our church. We received the approval from the government there to stay and run our program there and began our trainings. We felt rushed and ill prepared leading up to our departure, but ultimately put our faith in God that he would guide us and pave a way. We prayed that would would be able to build a new relationship with the Sioux Valley community during our time there.

Day by Day

July 31, 2023

On Monday, July 31, the entire mission team excluding the van drivers arrived at Pearson Airport at 4:30am and checked in all our boxes of supplies. After some delays, we boarded our plane and arrived in Winnipeg. We waited at the airport while the kitchen team went grocery shopping and met up with the van drivers to take a charter bus to Sioux Valley. On the way, we stopped by at a McDonald’s in Brandon and met up with a family from Sioux Valley.

We met Dalyce and two of her grandchildren, Hollis and Popo. Dalyce met Joon in 2005 and Sarah in 2006. During that time, only a few adults came to their program and many people did not welcome them. In 2005, the mission team had to move out of their space midway through the trip. It was difficult, but Dalyce and Teri both helped the team move their things. Since then, Dalyce helped Sarah and Joon book a facility to stay in every year and kept them updated on what the people of Sioux Valley had been going through over the last 15 years. Dalyce, Hollis and Popo joined us the rest of the way on the bus and welcomed us to Sioux Valley warmly.

We were staying in a large hall called the Veteran’s Hall. When we arrived, we cleaned, unpacked and set up our space. The kitchen crew started cooking immediately and we had dinner with some families from the community. Some of the first people we met were those that knew Sarah, Joon, and Jack from when they ran a camp with their previous church and now are bringing their kids to join us. It had been 8 yrs since their last visit, so it was surprising to see that they remembered them and were waiting for them to return. After settling in, we had a small evening worship and then took some time to walk around and explore the area. The land is truly beautiful.

August 1, 2023

We began our first fully day at Sioux Valley with a morning worship and breakfast with the team. Then, we were send out in teams to reach out to the community in a time we called “door to door”. During this time, we walked around the community and knocked on people’s doors to introduce ourselves, tell them about our programs and invite them to join us. As a team, we were faced with many challenges during this time, including people who were uninterested, and even hostile, along with the presence of guard dogs that wouldn’t even allow us to reach the people. However, there were some people that recognized the returning members and similar program and were excited to see us.

About 20 people joined us for lunch and then the kids and youth teams began their programs. We reflected on Matthew 1:18-25 focusing on the theme of “God Who Is With Us”. The kids made an angel craft and participated in many activities and games. The kids of Sioux Valley truly took joy in the simplest forms of playing. They played and played for hours with the kids team leaders and with each other. Soon it was dinner and then the adults had their own service, reflecting on the same passage and theme. We took the kids who stayed behind to the park. Once everyone had left, the mission team gathered together to reflect on the happenings of the day.

August 2, 2023

We began our second day in a similar way, having morning worship and breakfast with the team. Then we went out for door to door again. After having lunch with the community, the kids and youth read John 1:43-51 and learned about the theme of “God Who Sees Us”. For this day, we had heart magnifying glass craft and then the kids played for hours again. They will never get bored of playing tag and have an abundant supply of energy. The youth enjoyed a time of Korean calligraphy where they decorated fans. This also garnered the attention of many adults and kids who were interested in joining.

After dinner, the adults had their own service and some kids lingered around for this time. Many kids made bracelets to give to the mission team, showing how much they had become attached to us. Their love and attachment to us came in response to the love they received from the mission team. The kids enjoyed some outdoor time at the park together again.

August 3, 2023

Every morning we had morning service and breakfast with the team because was our only quiet time. We used the time to reset and prepare ourselves for the day. We went out for door to door again and people seemed to be more receptive to us. One group (Rev. Simon, Sarah, Alex, and Braeden) headed to the cemetery during this time to have a memorial service for Hannah Sioux. Hannah went to the summer camp years ago and became very close with Sarah and Joon. She went through many difficult times and unfortunately passed away after a complication during a surgery.

We served lunch to the community and enjoyed conversing and learning more about them. Slowly word spread about us and over 60 kids and youth began to attend our program and numbers for meals grew to about one hundred. The kids and youth read Mark 8:22-26 and  learned about “God Who Heals Us”.

We had a first aid kit craft and witnessed the creativity of the kids of Sioux Valley. With only felt, scissors and glue, many types of tools, medicines and bandages were created. There were also some korean crafts that both kids and adults made together. The adults and youth had a kimbap making session. It was a great success as they enjoyed it and we all snacked on the kimbap together.

During the afternoon, Rev. Simon, Sarah, and Bob went to visit many of the elderly in Sioux Valley that came to the program years ago. They went to went to greet them as well as offer up prayers. We served dinner and the adults reflected also on the theme of “God Who Heals Us”. During the first two days of our program, the adults had their service in the Veteran’s Hall and shared the space with the kids. However, because it was distracting they moved their service to the church down the street. Kim, one of the elders in the community, had key for church and offered to allow us to use the space. There were many adults that came for dinner and then left, but a core group of people consistently attended the evening services.

August 4, 2023

For our final day in Sioux Valley, we had morning worship and breakfast with the team as always. There was no had no door to door as we made final preparations for our performance and began packing up our things. We served lunch to the community one last time and the kids reflected on John 15:12-17 and Acts 1:8 focusing on the theme of “God Who Sends Us”. For craft time, we made paper cranes together and then savoured our last day playing with the kids.

Many people from Sioux Valley have moved to Brandon due to greater access to facilities, medical centres, and jobs. Because of this they were not aware of our program until later. For our last day, we had a huge dinner feast with community and over 100 people joined us. We served many kinds of Korean food and even had lots of juice and pop to share. We celebrated our week together with a final performance. The mission team participated in many acts ranging from K-pop to singing. The kids and youth of Sioux Valley also joined us. The kids performed the “Stand on the Rock” dance and youth sang “Arirang”.

We finished the performances with our group worship dance and ended the night by singing “The Blessing” together with the people of Sioux Valley. We embraced and blessed each other in an emotional time of farewells. Many people asked if we would be back but we could only hope so. We gifted the people with Korean snacks and goodies and mission t-shirts. Soon everybody had left and we packed up and got ready to travel back.

Conclusion

The 2023 Sioux Valley mission trip was a wonderful time of meeting the people of Sioux Valley. We were pleasantly surprised that they remembered the program Sarah, Joon, and Jack ran years ago and were happy to see us. As a church, we were able to connect with many of the members. God watched over the team and we had a very smooth mission trip. We also recognize the ways that the people of Sioux Valley need a spiritual leader. There is so much violence, death, and hopelessness within the community along with an increase of drug abuse. We pray for the people of Sioux Valley, and that we will be able to return and continue to share God’s love with them.

Mission Report Sermon

To learn more, check out the mission report delivered by Rev. Simon Park: Love Overcomes All.