Neah Bay,
Washington
This is a Good Place
By Rev. David Sternbeck
The community art center siding is done. The electrical and plumbing are in. Christ Memorial, Saint Louis is drawing the design for the heating system. The entire village is excited and anticipating the completion of the building. Through this project Makah Lutheran Church has had an incredible opportunity to see the church actually become part of the community.
How do we as the church be a part of the life of a community - become part of its center? I think that this is a three-prong issue. First, there is a critical, cultural identity issue. Second, how can we maintain the Native identity and still learn to participate in the larger society or world around us? This is essential to caring for our families and making a contribution to the larger society that we must learn to be a part of. Third, as we walk with the Makah people, can we provide a Christian witness in the midst of their heart issues? I believe that the Makah Lutheran community cultural art center and cottage industry incubator provides just such a platform to fulfill these three important objectives at the center of this Native community.
The culture and language were removed from this people group so rapidly that they hav
e forgotten who the Creator made them to be. Understanding our identity is an important aspect to becoming healthy individuals and in moving toward a healthy community. This requires the involvement of the entire village. Entrepreneurs to oversee the finances of this project, an elders panel to pass on the culture making decisions about what projects are to be done, when they will happen, and who will instruct the children that will be doing them.
Unemployment in Neah Bay can be as high as 68% at times during the year. There are two cottage industry classrooms in the building to help establish cottage businesses within the village. Computer labs will teach people to build websites and set up E-bay accounts to help market their artwork. Educational opportunities will be provided on how to establish cottage businesses. The building will be used for individuals coming out of drug and alcohol treatment as a clean and sober environment to assist in recovery from addictions and the loss of cultural identity. Language classes will be offered for adults wishing to learn their Makah dialect. Quilt making and cooking classes will also be offered.
Last and most importantly, being in the world but not of the world, we can provide a Christian witness in the midst of our people’s struggles and issues.
Here is an example; Last week I was struggling with an issue. The church suddenly began filling up with water under the building. We brought an excavator out and began working on the problem. A man from the Housing Authority came out to see what we were doing. I explained and he agreed to allow us to continue. He looked at the community art center and commented how good the building was looking. I asked him if he would like to see the inside and we toured the building. I explained the vision and he told me it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. I asked him if he had ever been in our church and he said no. So we toured the church. He told me he had never been in a church. I chuckled and told him how lucky he was that lightning had not struck him. We both had a good belly laugh and I looked him in the eye and said, “This is a good place to be.” As he was leaving he told me, with a tear in his eye, “My grandson told me about this project. He said I want a knife Grandpa. I want to be a Makah carver.” He told me that I wouldn’t have any idea how that made his heart swell and that this was truly a good time and place. We said good-bye, He left and I went back to my struggle thinking to myself, “This is a good place.”