Dakota Trip Pictures

2006-01-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Along the banks of the Mississippi river is where we stayed for our first night of camping. We knew from the first night that God would make this trip incredible.

This is what our usual campsite looks like. Here in Newton, Iowa, we were able to make little pizzas over the fire before we did our devotions in its light. Some people might say that camping is hard, but we have enjoyed every minute of it.

This is our trusty tent that has housed us so well over the past month. Notice the strings that are attached to the tree. It was so windy as we set up our tent that we had to tie it to the tree so that it would not collapse on us during the night.

This is the scene outside of our tent as we camped at Lewis and Clark State Park in North Dakota. The sunset was beautiful on the lake.

This is Cornerstone Wesleyan Church in Bismarck, ND. We spoke here on the 28th of August for the AM service.

This is Pastor Keith Ritchie and his wife Kathie. They took us in after many days of camping and welcomed us into their house. We had a great time with them, and we learned many things, especially how to make slides, which we have used many times during our travels around the state speaking to churches.

This is Johnson Corners Wesleyan Church which is located in northwest North Dakota. We spoke here on the 28th of August for their PM service.

Here we are in the Badlands of North Dakota. In traveling through the Dakotas, we encounter lands and scenes that our "flatlander" minds find incredible. The Badlands are indeed incredible as they stretch on and on in their rocky beauty.

This picture was taken at Storybook Land, which is a theme park in Aberdeen, SD. We camped here, and we had a wonderful time walking through the grounds, seeing the characters from the nursery rhymes that we have known for so long.

We spent some time in Sioux Falls, and we were able to see its namesake. The falls were fascinating, and we were able to walk very close to them to take this picture. It looks like a background, but trust me, Tiffany and I were getting wet as this picture was being taken.

We spoke at Watertown Wesleyan on the 31st of August. Here, Tiffany speaks with two ladies who attended our time of sharing. Notice the tea that the pastor's wife is drinking, never before has a congregation consumed an entire pot of tea before out time at Watertown... and to think that many of them said they did not want to try it...!

These people made our stay at Hot Springs memorable. God blessed us as we met the Pucketts and the Wessels, and we had such a good time with them, learning about ranching and visiting with them.

This is Hot Springs Wesleyan Church. We spoke here on the 4th of September for the AM Service.

This is Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Rapid City, SD. We spoke here on the 4th of September in the evening. Pastor Menefee and his wife then allowed us to stay the night with them.

Mt. Rushmore was far greater than we ever imagined. It was a great experience to look up and see the faces of the men who helped to shape our great nation.

We had a great time at Bear Country. It is always amazing to see new things with your favorite person in the entire world.

This bear was sleeping alongside the road. We stopped to take his picture, and we disturbed his nap.

This is Beckman Memorial Wesleyan Church in Prairie City, SD. We spoke here on a Wednesday night.

At Prairie City we had a great time sharing with the people, and they enjoyed experiencing Cambodia.

It was amazing for Tiffany to find someone who was related to her. Nancy Neuenschwander had traced her lineage, and they found that they shared relatives back in Ohio, actually the two men who planted what is now Ebenezer Mennonite Church, our home church in Ohio.

Here, Gentleman from Prairie City enjoy the afterglow in the basement of the church.

The Burkhalter Family... Pastor Brad, his wife Jennifer and their children.

While we were in Prairie City, we helped Pastor Brad build his hay maze that would be used at the harvest party. It was rather large and it took us all day to finish.

This is Sturgis Wesleyan Church. We spoke here on a Sunday morning.

Pastor Dwight Peterson and his wife Bonnie took us in and provided a great weekend of encouragement, fun, and rest.

We attended the church picnic on Sunday evening. It was a great evening of good weather, good food and lots of fun.

This girl was the winner of the bubblegum blowing competition. The bubble she is blowing here ended up being twice the size of her head.

One of the many joys of travelling is meeting the families in their houses. This is Sophie the Peterson's black lab. Her quiet nature was very calming to us after so many days on the road.

This is Huron Wesleyan Church. We shared here on a Wednesday night for their missions fair.

This is Pastor Bob's dog. We caught the dog on the chair, and we had to snap a picture.

This is Westside Wesleyan Church in Bristol, SD. We spoke here on a Sunday morning.

Here Tiffany speaks to one of the members of Westside Wesleyan Church about the country of Cambodia.

Pastor Dennis Bachman and his family pose for a picture. They made us feel very welcome and we had a great time getting to know them.

We had another chance to stop at Storybook Land as we camped. Walking the yellow brick road with my wife was a nice break from our travels.

We shared at Brookings Wesleyan Church on a Sunday Evening. It was a great night of sharing because we were able to meet many indivduals who had been to Cambodia on short term trips.

At No Name City in Sturgis, we camped for several days. We actually were able to set up our own mobile office in the billiards room, and we did some very needed communications work.

This is First Wesleyan Church in Rapid City. We spoke twice on a Sunday morning.

The road travelling back to the campground was very interesting, but it also provided great scenery and a special solitude that we enjoyed.

The pastor at First Wesleyan were very gracious to us, and they allowed us to stay on the Wesleyan Campground in Rapid City. The weather was starting to get colder, and we were very thankful to be staying in a warm cabin.

After speaking on Sunday, we travelled to Custer State Park. The drive through the Black Hills was breathtaking as the trees were begining to turn. Here we are travelling on Iron Mountain Road, a road that twists and turns through tunnels and scenic overlooks.

At Custer State Park, the buffalo herd numbered somewhere around 1,500. It was amazing to see so many buffalo in one place, and made me think of what the prairie used to look like when millions of buffalo inhabited it.

While driving through the park, we were able to come quite close to some of the buffalo, seeing how they interacted with each other. Here you are seeing a buffalo husband and wife as they stood watching our car drive by.

This is Redfield Wesleyan Church. We spoke here on a special Thursday night service. We were also able to spend time with the community during their homecomming. We went to the parade and to the football game which they won rather spectacularly.

This is Aberdeen Wesleyan Church. We shared here on a Sunday morning, and spent time with Pastor La Croix and his family.

Mitchell Wesleyan Church was the final church on our tour. It is actually the church of Pastor Keith Nash, the missions director for the district who promoted us throughout the many churches, allowing us so many opportunities to schedule times of sharing.

This little girl had a great time with our Cambodian Puzzle Box. She would open it and close it again and again for our amusement.

This is our display. We set it up and took it down over 15 times during this trip and had many people gather around it and learn about Cambodian culture.

We had a great time sharing with the people at Mitchell Wesleyan Church.

On our drive home, we met with Tiffany's roomate from college, Lynn and her husband Joe. We spent the night talking and sharing. It was a nice ending to a long trip away from home.

Dakota Trip Pictures I

Dakota Trip Pictures