Friday, August 23, 2002

•••Umonhon Fourth Graders' Writing Skills Soar From the story at Indianz.com: Fourth-grade students at a school on the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska saw their test scores jump dramatically. According to results released Wednesday, 73 percent of students in Macy were proficient on the writing test. This is an increase from 16 percent last year. Does my heart good to read a story like this about the Tribe. Not often the media reports good news from the Rez.   7:55:33 PM   googleit 81     itemlink->

•••Standing Gig Well, it's official. Starting later next month and continuing on for the indefinite future, I'll also be preaching every Sunday at two congregations about 30 miles down the road. I got the phone call Monday from the Pastor at St. John, Wakefield. He's been Called to serve in Scribner and will be leaving next month. Another friend of mine who served a country parish near Wakefield (Immanuel Lutheran Church) is also leaving to serve a parish in New Jersey. Our Native American Ministries committee granted me approval to serve the two congregations while they seek out another pastor. I typically preach pretty often, but normally in a one-shot 'guest speaker' capacity for the purpose of letting people know how things are going here in my work on the reservation. Being a guest preacher, often enough the folks in the pews are just kind of glad to hear a new voice for a change. Over five years it's been since I've had to look at the same faces in the pews week after week (except at the Nursing Home where I lead chapel services, that is). Moreover, getting back into the regular discipline of churning out a fresh sermon EVERY WEEK is going to be a welcome challenge and change. A neat side-feature: I'll be less than ten minutes away from Bryan's house on a weekly basis. Wonder if he'll consent to feed me once in a while, or at least let me drop by for a soda! :-D   6:05:16 PM   googleit 80     itemlink->