Neah Bay, Washington
Summer Servant Events in Neah Bay
by Winston Wilson (Cowlitz)
What a busy summer it has been at the Makah Lutheran Church in Neah Bay.
In June, we had a group from a church in Olympia Washington. They did so much in serving the church and the community. They purchased the paint and did a wonderful job of painting the new cultural arts building that will serve in conjunction with the church and the community. They put on a basketball camp as well as a soccer camp for the children of Neah Bay. In the afternoons they did both girls club and boys club activities. In the evenings there were youth and adult gatherings. It was exciting 
seeing our little church become a hub of activity all day long, with many people in the village that didn’t normally have any involvement with our church hanging out with us. On Friday evening we put on a praise concert with musicians from our church as well as their group. We had a man show up who never goes to church, I could tell by things he said at the end of the evening, that he really was touched by not only the evening but the effect that the servant event had on the community throughout the week. With both of the servant events that have taken place so far, people in the community were watching. People in the village couldn’t help but see something good happening.
Our second servant event took place in July. St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, from Trenton, Michigan came and put on a special VBS program for our church. They invested themselves wholeheartedly in our church and the community; from working with our children, to helping with yard work for the elders in the village who really couldn’t do the work themselves.
One of the elder Makah women in our church helped with both groups, watching the caring way the servant groups ministered to the children of our reservation; she was very moved by the kind affection they showed the children. What a contrast it was to the blatant prejudice she had experienced as a child. She remembered churches, even on reservations, to be much different than now. She remembered a brutal kind of unspoken segregation; native people were sometimes relegated to the back rows of the church. She remembered watching her mother put up with this cruelty, holding herself with a quiet dignity and faith. To me it is amazing that she is still involved with “church” after such hypocrisy. But she, like her mother, has a beautiful God given enduring spirit.
Something special happened on the last day of the Trenton servant event - the pastor’s wife from Trenton asked Lila to pray as we gathered in a circle. I immediately knew this would be a problem. Lila was unable to pray out loud in a group setting, she immediately said, “Oh, I can’t do that.” Laurel gently asked why she couldn’t pray out loud. Lila began to share her story and her hurt with tears, and then after a pause said, “No I will pray.” What a healing moment it was for all of us as this precious saint began to pray out loud in the fellowship of God’s people for the first time. What moved me even more was what happened the following Sunday. It’s my practice to ask for two or three in the congregation to pray over a request. What a joy to hear Lila pray out loud in the congregation for the first time. This is one of the miracles God worked through the servant events we have had the joy of hosting this summer.
One of the comments I continually hear from those who come to serve here is that they are blessed and ministered to by the Makah people, as much as they have given of themselves. They recognize the Makah people to be a very giving and caring people who value their culture, each other, and those who come with loving serving hearts.