For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was in prison and you visited me…Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me. ~Matthew 25: 35-40
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior!
What did you do on your summer vacation? The quintessential question that marks the beginning of a new school year. So, what did you do this summer? Did you take a family trip to the mountains or the beach? Did you visit Europe or explore the ruins of an ancient civilization? At Grace UMC, a group of us took a mission trip to a less exotic, but equally interesting spot. We went to Cookson, Oklahoma, and participated in a way of life quite foreign to our own experience.
When our Volunteers in Mission team arrived at the United Methodist Mission in Cookson Hills, Oklahoma, we were stunned by the 110 degree temperatures, the diminutive size of the town, and the rural surroundings. We came to provide mission assistance to the Native Americans living in the area, but where were they? What need is there for ministry at the fringes of the Ozarks? Why did God send this group of motivated volunteers to the middle of nowhere to do mission work?
The answers started to appear even before the questions escaped our lips. Rev. Meri Whitaker spent an afternoon sharing information about her parish, and we learned that one does not need to travel to a developing nation to find extreme poverty. It is here, in America, in our own backyard. She shared with us that Native Americans are second only to Haitians as the poorest minority in the Western Hemisphere. In her church, the average person “lives on” $5,000 each year. Resultantly, we found many of the Cherokee living in shacks in the back woods. The rate of violent crimes, particularly rape and aggravated assault are staggering and rising in this remote area. White supremacists populate the county’s heavily wooded forests. It is not surprising to learn that Timothy McVeigh found refuge in this area after the Oklahoma City bombings.
Yet even in the darkest places, God’s hope can be found in the church and love of Christian mission. Cookson Hills had 1 ½ staff when Meri arrived 24 years ago. Today, the center has 20 staff, and most are recovering from addictions and have prison records. The center has provided creative ways to use peoples’ gifts and to provide employment opportunities to those otherwise unemployable. The church is active, despite a significant percentage who are completing jail terms. Cookson is in a “hot spot” for drug and alcohol abuse, with 7 houses cooking crystal meth for every church/mission in the area, which is why the General Board of Global Ministries has kept a mission program there for over 60 years.
And that is why missionaries are assigned to this area. Jen Chickering works as a US2 Missionary, sent by the United Methodist Church to provide medical assistance to Native Americans populating Cookson Hills and the surrounding areas. She lives in a tiny trailer on the Cookson Hills site that she sometimes shares with other missionaries. As a US2 missionary, she is supported by Grace UMC, and is committed to live in Cookson for two years.
During our week, the team worked in a variety of areas, building a porch, painting, working in the thrift shop, providing meals to the seniors and children in the daycare facility, and even working in the nursery. We attended church and bible study and committed ourselves to prayer for our eight days together. Mostly we established new relationships and friendships among our brothers and sister in Cherokee County.
All of us at Grace are committed to assist Jen for her tenure at Cookson Hills, where she feeds and waters the hungry, clothes the naked, cares for the sick and visits those in and out of prison. God is alive and well in Cherokee County Oklahoma, and manifests through the work of Jen and all the mission groups who support the United Methodist mission in Cookson Hills.
So, tell us about your summer vacation. What did you do? Who did you meet? Who did you help? Who helped you? Let us know about your mission, your hope, your dream for a better life, or your dream to make someone else's life better. What did you do on your summer vacation?
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