Standing With Standing Rock

by Jessica, Amanda & Chloe

Two weeks ago the three of us loaded up some camping gear and drove down to Standing Rock Sioux Nation. We went. Sixteen hours of driving (round-trip) provided ample time to talk about why. Why were we going? Why now? Why this?

Our church has recently journeyed through a sermon series on dreams and calling. I think it has challenged most of us to jump into the things we feel we were made for. This particular action felt like this to all of us. It came from within us. Though we each held different thoughts and motives, we all agreed that we were following our hearts, and it was beautiful to have the chance to affirm that in one another. The week prior to leaving, the topic of the sermon was discerning our dreams through asking three simple questions. Do I want it? Should I want it? And can I do it? This was a good metric for guiding our preparation.

The desire was there. We all wanted to go. As soon as one of us said, “Hey. . . want to go to Standing Rock?” the “yes” echoed.

But – should we? The Manitoba Energy and Justice Coalition held a meeting to discuss how Winnipeggers could support Standing Rock. We attended and found ourselves moved by so much of what we heard that night. We asked the question, “is it helpful for us to go?” and we were told yes. We were told to go, or to come, and to stand in prayer together, with the people of Standing Rock. This settled our spirits, aligned with our motives and gave practical information about what to expect.

And, finally, can we? Another yes. It worked for our families. They were willing to let us step into the unknown a bit because we all agreed that this was important and our hearts were moved to be a part of it. We were willing to take a risk. Usually standing up to power involves some kind of risk, and though we felt our risk was minimal, it was still a concern.

At the border we were met with a smile and asked why we were going to Standing Rock. Chloe answered brilliantly. “There are people crying out and we are going to listen.”

Yes. We were going to listen.

This idea was expounded on as we walked the ground, watched the people and participated in ceremony. During an impromptu interview with CBC, Amanda answered that question again by saying, “Sometimes we judge before we know. I want to know before I judge. I want to see with my eyes and to hear with my ears so I can speak what I’ve seen and heard at home.”

Jessica’s response was similar. “I am here to put my feet where my heart is. So often I care about a place. I talk about it, I pray about it, I learn about it. But it isn’t that often that I get to go.”

This time we did. We put our feet on the ground. We added our tobacco offerings to the fire, our voices to the song and our coats to the collection. We touched the elders. We listened to the youth. We passed the pipe. We bore witness. That is what we did.

And now we are home wondering what it means here.

We know that Indigenous people have been abused and oppressed throughout history.  It is our knowing that moved us to go. But knowing isn’t enough. Justice happens when wrongs are made right and we hope to be people who find ways to help that happen. At this moment in history, it seems that the call for us is to show up and to listen. The indigenous voice is rising. People are standing up, they are standing together, they are saying enough. We don’t want to miss it – or to get in the way of it.

We want to hear the rising.

So each of us in our own way will aim to show up, to quiet ourselves, to lean in and to listen. And when we can, we will do what is asked of us. That is what we did at Standing Rock and we can do that here, too.

 

Traveling to Standing Rock 

by Chloe, Jessica, and Amanda

This coming weekend (November 10-13) we are traveling to Standing Rock Sioux Nation to join water protectors who are resisting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. We are going because we can feel that the Spirit is moving there, and we want to join in that movement. We are going because we want to acknowledge the humanity of the Oceti Sakowin (Sioux Nation) and their right to life. We are going because we want to honor treaties, in this case the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. We are going because we want to stand against the continuing colonization that exploits Indigenous people and Creation. We are going because Indigenous leaders asked us to “come, with prayerful intention, rooted in love, for the sacredness of water and place.” We are going.

There are plenty of resources online for more information, one we recommend people check out is groundworkforchange.org.

Please support the people and the planet through prayer. You can also offer financial or material support by contacting us before November 10.  We are collecting high quality winter gear (sleeping bags, warm clothes, tents, etc.) and are happy to do pick-ups.  At any point you can contact Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition to get involved, offer support, or learn more.

Changing Tracks – a reflection on Enlive

A reflection on the recent Canadian Vineyard’s National Celebration by Natasha Boone.

I remember the alarm seeming more obnoxious than usual that morning. Or perhaps I should say that night, as, when the beep-beep-beep of the alarm sounded, our room was still enclosed in night’s deep darkness. We stumbled around at the ungodly hour of 3:45am, in order to catch our early-bird flight out to Kitchener ON.

(The irony of getting up at an ungodly hour in order to catch a flight out to Enlive Vineyard family camp, where we would worship God with many other fellow Vineyardites was not lost on us).

Considering the time of day and likewise having a wiggly 14 month old sitting on our respective laps dropping Cheerios both over us and the person sitting next to us, we did alright.

So we arrive in Toronto, grab our luggage, stuff some food into Jude (14 month old of a wiggly disposition) and set out to Kitchener (about an hour commute). It is about half an hour into the drive and I suddenly had the thought ‘the playpen is missing’. Now, I do not know where this thought came from, as Sean was the one who took care to load the luggage into the car at the rental office. But the thought came floating into my brain, as if sent from above.

Sure enough, the playpen was not in the car.

With the car (eventually) turned around, we silently headed back to the airport. It was discouraging, as we thought that we had been going the right way (to Kitchener) with all the gear that we needed, when in fact, we had been driving for at least half an hour without something that we really needed – Jude’s playpen.

So long story short, we got back the airport, Sean re-traced his steps to the luggage pick-up area, and retrieved our neglected playpen from the nearly empty carousel. We got back on the (now familiar) road and were on our way again, a little dis-heartened, but glad to be moving forward.

So why tell you these details about getting up early, flying to Kitchener with wiggly baby in tow, driving for a bit, realizing that we missed a piece of luggage and so turning around, retrieving said luggage and getting back on track?

Because sometimes it is okay to acknowledge that something vital has been forgotten and steps are need to be taken to go back and ‘get’ that which was left behind.

Cheryl Bear offers a song.

Cheryl Bear offers a song.

One of the highlights of the Enlive Vineyard Family camp was hearing the guest speaker Cheryl Bear, a woman from the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in British Columbia, who, alongside her husband, Randy Barnetson, happens to also pastor a Foursquare church in Vancouver.   As the Vineyard movement, we have done a lot of things well. Generally speaking, we have followed God’s voice and been submissive to his leading. As Ms. Bear pointed out in her talk, however, we have not given due honour to the Native peoples and culture in our midst. We have not been adequately inclusive and inviting. And this, along with a detailed and thought-provoking teaching on First Nation’s culture itself, is what Ms. Bear brought to the table.

It quieted the room, as conviction usually does.

I, for one, don’t like realizing that I have to do a u-turn. Or, as Ms. Bear, so eloquently said in reference to how the Vineyard movement in general has excluded First Nations (as well as women and Francophones, but that mention came later, during a speech by David and Anita Ruis) “it is ok to change tracks’.

It is okay to change tracks. Much like the realization that the playpen was left on the carousel, waiting to get picked up, it is ok, if not imperative, to turn back and get what is needed. What is missed.

The Vineyard movement needs the First Nations. Women are needed. Francophones are needed. All these, along with who the Vineyard movement is currently being comprised of, are needed.

It is okay to change tracks. It is necessary to go back and get that playpen.