Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Mission 2010

Our family will be serving this year on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. We travel with a group out of people from Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky. This will be our second year serving and just as we did in 2008 we are raising money for our travel expenses to the Rez and this year also car rental, as Chris' new company vehicle will not accomodate our needs. I have been asked to direct the VBS this year and will be having to carry supplies with me also. If we have any money left over from what we raise (hopefully), we will be leaving that with Pastor John Lovelace to use as winter propane money for the people on the Rez. They suffer very cold winters there. We will be heading out on June 10th for the 20+ hour drive and then returning on the 18th. We ask for your prayers for safe travel, guidance in my VBS role, and that God use our family to plant a seed of faith while we are there.

If you feel led to help us with travel expenses and the cost of the mission trip, please mail any contributions to:

Winchester Cumberland Presybterian Church
200 2nd Avenue NW
Winchester, Tennessee 37398

Note on your check that the contribution is for Brown Family Mission Trip and your donation will be tax deductible.

Our church will also be taking up a love offering on May 23rd.


Here is some information about the community we will be serving (third world country statistics - hidden away in the land of plenty):

* Median income is $2,600 per year with 85% to 95% unemployment
* Infant mortality rate 300% higher than the U.S. national average
* Diabetes and Tuberculosis rates 800% higher t than the U.S. national average
* Elderly die each winter from hypothermia (freezing)
* At least 60% of the homes are severely substandard, without water, electricity, adequate insulation, and sewage systems
* School drop-out rate is 70%
* Recent reports state the average life expectancy is 45 years old while other reports state that it is 48 years old for men and 52 years old for women.
* With either set of figures, that's the shortest life expectancy for any community in the Western Hemisphere outside Haiti, according to The Wall Street Journal.
* And the list goes on and on….