Crow Lutheran Ministry
Crow Agency, MT
Youth Growing in the Life of Christ
By Rev. Daniel Jacobs, Crow Lutheran Ministry
Vivian first met me about five years ago at the Crow Lutheran Ministry outreach booth at Crow Fair. Through the weekend, she and her little sister would come listen to lessons about Jesus, color and make crafts. When school started, she began attending Sunday School in Lodge Grass. Then at age ten she began attending the Thursday evening youth group and entered into regular study of the Small Catechism.
I met Carlton when he was a tiny baby living on the Little Big Horn River about nine miles above Wyola. As he grew, we visited and played a lot together. Visits became more frequent when his family moved a couple of miles outside of Lodge Grass. His love for the Lord continued to grow and a few years ago he joined the youth group. He dug into the Catechism and the Scriptures. He asked questions, and once in a while he'd talk of becoming a church worker. That talk always led to his need to be baptized.
In early August of this year, Vivian and Carlton finished their Catechism studies. on August 30, 2007, during youth group, Carlton was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. As he stepped toward the baptismal bowl at the beginning of the service, Vivian said to him, "Bye, Carlton." He paused and turned, saying, "The old me is gone, I'm all new...Well, will be." And with that prelude the service began.
After Carlton was baptized, Vivian stepped forward to stand beside him. There she made her confession of faith and confirmation vow. As the rest of the youth group looked on with great interest and some wonder, these two young Christians received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time.
Please remember these two in your prayers. The road before them will not be easy. There are all the challenges of being young. There is the struggle of following the Way in a largely syncretistic and sometimes hostile environment. There is the burden of growing up in a reservation community where so much of life is severely broken.