St. Joan of Arc was one of three churches on a mission trip to an Indian Reservation to perform service. The first day, on their way through South Dakota, the caravan stopped at the well-known Wall Drug. They camped for the night in cabins at Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, notorious for the filming of the movie classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The group swam, hiked and watched the famous movie.

When they reached their destination at the Lodge Grass, Montana reservation they were shown to their rooms, two separate rooms for men and women. They unrolled their sleeping bags, one next to the other in a narrow row. They quickly learned that there was little leisure time; they were held to a strict schedule.

One of the projects the SJA youth worked on was painting this church.

In the mornings, breakfast was followed by "devotions", a reflection/prayer time. Then they were off with their work crews. Each person was assigned to either a painting crew or a child-care crew. If they were painting they loaded their equipment into a van and went to churches and homes on the reservation for an all-day project of scraping and painting. The child-care crews were especially valuable. It became apparent that some of the children were physically neglected and craved attention and human contact. Kids literally climbed on the caretakers and loved to be carried on their shoulders.

Mid-day meals were each individual’s responsibility; they packed their own lunches. Dinners back at the lodge were a group effort, they all prepared the meal and cleaned up afterwards. The leaders took the missioners on outings as entertainment. They went on a hike one night, visited residents in a nursing home, listened to a woman talk about her family’s struggle with reservation life, and visited the historic "Little Big Horn" battle field, where Custer’s Last Stand took place.

During my interview I asked my mom, chaperone Peg Lamin, what the most difficult part of the mission was for her. She said that the work was very hard and also spoke of culture shock. For instance, she hadn’t known that Indian culture does not allow picture taking because they believe it steals their souls. The group was warned not to look too hard into the eyes of an Indian resident because some believe you can see their souls that way. Also, visitors were not to shake hands too hard with Indians because it can be understood as aggressiveness.

When I asked what her favorite part of the trip was, she replied, "Happy fun bags". Each person put his or her name on a brown lunch bag and hung it up for others to put notes in. It was a way to encourage each other and express recognition for something someone did. My mom really appreciated that everyone participated and it gave her a feeling of strong fellowship. She really enjoyed watching the youth on the trip develop bonds of friendship and display genuine participation in songs and prayer.

When my mom returned from this trip she encouraged me to take advantage of a mission trip if the opportunity ever presents itself. Hearing her stories about the lives of youth on the reservation is motivation for me to get involved, and I urge others to get involved, too. If not on a mission to Lodge Grass- something like it.

My name is Katie Iver. Pat Greene is my Grandmother and a very active member of the St. Joan’s community. I will be starting my Junior year at the College of St. Catherine this September, pursuing a degree in Speech Communication. I interviewed my mother, Peg Lamin for this article.

Marsha Ritter provided the photos for this story.

Ask one of the other missioners about their experiences on the reservation, I promise you won’t be disappointed-- better yet, you’ll probably be impressed and uplifted.