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A Forgotten People by Karen Katchuk
In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona lies the Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation. This
reservation is the second largest in the nation and home to a forgotten people group. They
are one of the poorest people groups in America, and after working with them, your
perspective on daily life and poverty are changed.
One Way Ministries has been there working with First Papago Baptist Church since 2001.
One Way Ministries is a mission focused organization committed to leading people on
mission trips that will change their lives. Their desire is to reach the impoverished, desperate
and forgotten people groups of our world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As of October
2008, they have led many groups to the desert of Southern Arizona, the villages of South
Africa and the fields of Indiana.
There will be more trips being led to these locations in 2009, along with Guatemala, and New
Mexico.
The work on each trip varies based on the time of the year, location and needs. You could
be painting a house in a small village on the Indian reservation, holding orphans in Southern
Africa or Guatemala, leading a small VBS group in New Mexico or sharing the gospel in
Indiana! We spend time with God every morning seeking his plan for the day ahead, and go
thoroughly equipped with children’s ministry plans, dramas, construction experience, and
much more! A servant’s heart and a willingness to listen to God’s direction are all that is
required!
Over 30,000 young people, below the age of 18, live in a forgotten corner of the US without
many of the basic daily needs that we take for granted. Countless families are desperate for
the love of Christ poured out through tangible means. In addition, many people groups in the
US and around the world are starving for the necessities of life.
Through a variety of ministry opportunities, you can touch the lives of these children,
teenagers and their parents throughout the year. One Way Ministries leads trips to provide
VBS, outreach, crusades, sports camps, tutoring, computer training, construction and
nursing home care.
Join our team for one week of missions and ministry and see what steps you can take to
reaching the world!
If you are interested in learning more about One Way Ministries and the trips we offer, please
visit www.1wayministries.org.
Following are Karen's own experiences while working with the Tohono Oodham.
In the summer of 2006, my family and I joined a group of 30 others from my church on a
mission trip to the Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona. We had
arranged this trip through an organization called One Way Ministries. I had never
experienced something of this magnitude and was very eager to go!
Having done VBS many times before, I prepared myself with lessons, crafts, visuals, etc.
Upon meeting the TO people though, I realized that I had over-prepared! I was ready to tell
people, who had already heard of the man named Jesus, more about him. But, I was among
a culture where some of them had never heard of him! I prayed and then began to just share
the stories, the teachings and show the people what God meant to me, what he had done in
my life!
On the first day there, I met a young man who would forever change my life, my way of
thinking and my way of witnessing. His name was Brent and he was 13 years old. He was
trying to be cool with his friends, riding skateboards, but deep inside he was hearing what I
had to say to him. He began to listen and share his life with me, to trust me. We quickly
became friends. He shared with me that he didn’t know where his father was, his mom was in
jail for selling drugs and he and his brothers and sister were living with his Grandma. She
didn’t care about them and neither did his parents. Over the week, I began to share the love
of Jesus with Brent, and on Thursday he gave his life to Christ. I will never forget it; we were
standing in a pouring rain, in the grocery store parking lot, where we were having a crusade.
I was talking to Brent, holding his hands, asking him questions. People around us began to
pray and then formed a circle, we were all praying for him and showing him our support, our
earnest plea for his eternal life. He began to break down barriers and allow God to come into
his life right there that night. The rain was battering us but we didn’t care, because he was
asking God to change his life, come into his heart and make it clean.
The next night Brent was baptized in a horse feeding trough. When asked afterwards how he
felt, he shouted with his arms in the air, “I feel saved!” Brent changed my life that year and
was also the driving force behind so many things I did the following year. He planted in me
the desire, the true passion to spread the Good News of Christ to all people. There are so
many people in this world who have never heard or don’t have a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
It is a family affair now, my daughter and I recently spent a month on the reservation this past
summer. Loving on the people, tutoring, cooking, cleaning, construction, teaching VBS, or
just sitting while a parent tells of their addiction to drugs or alcohol or how they have failed
their children…..a whole variety of things are needed. Everything we do is a piece of God
though, we are striving to be God’s hands and feet in a world where people are lost and
searching.
I want to share my passion with others and encourage you to take a week, be the change in
someone’s life. Share Jesus with someone who is desperate, lost and searching.
It will forever change your life and theirs!
In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona lies the Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation. This
reservation is the second largest in the nation and home to a forgotten people group. They
are one of the poorest people groups in America, and after working with them, your
perspective on daily life and poverty are changed.
One Way Ministries has been there working with First Papago Baptist Church since 2001.
One Way Ministries is a mission focused organization committed to leading people on
mission trips that will change their lives. Their desire is to reach the impoverished, desperate
and forgotten people groups of our world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As of October
2008, they have led many groups to the desert of Southern Arizona, the villages of South
Africa and the fields of Indiana.
There will be more trips being led to these locations in 2009, along with Guatemala, and New
Mexico.
The work on each trip varies based on the time of the year, location and needs. You could
be painting a house in a small village on the Indian reservation, holding orphans in Southern
Africa or Guatemala, leading a small VBS group in New Mexico or sharing the gospel in
Indiana! We spend time with God every morning seeking his plan for the day ahead, and go
thoroughly equipped with children’s ministry plans, dramas, construction experience, and
much more! A servant’s heart and a willingness to listen to God’s direction are all that is
required!
Over 30,000 young people, below the age of 18, live in a forgotten corner of the US without
many of the basic daily needs that we take for granted. Countless families are desperate for
the love of Christ poured out through tangible means. In addition, many people groups in the
US and around the world are starving for the necessities of life.
Through a variety of ministry opportunities, you can touch the lives of these children,
teenagers and their parents throughout the year. One Way Ministries leads trips to provide
VBS, outreach, crusades, sports camps, tutoring, computer training, construction and
nursing home care.
Join our team for one week of missions and ministry and see what steps you can take to
reaching the world!
If you are interested in learning more about One Way Ministries and the trips we offer, please
visit www.1wayministries.org.
Following are Karen's own experiences while working with the Tohono Oodham.
In the summer of 2006, my family and I joined a group of 30 others from my church on a
mission trip to the Tohono Oodham Indian Reservation in Southern Arizona. We had
arranged this trip through an organization called One Way Ministries. I had never
experienced something of this magnitude and was very eager to go!
Having done VBS many times before, I prepared myself with lessons, crafts, visuals, etc.
Upon meeting the TO people though, I realized that I had over-prepared! I was ready to tell
people, who had already heard of the man named Jesus, more about him. But, I was among
a culture where some of them had never heard of him! I prayed and then began to just share
the stories, the teachings and show the people what God meant to me, what he had done in
my life!
On the first day there, I met a young man who would forever change my life, my way of
thinking and my way of witnessing. His name was Brent and he was 13 years old. He was
trying to be cool with his friends, riding skateboards, but deep inside he was hearing what I
had to say to him. He began to listen and share his life with me, to trust me. We quickly
became friends. He shared with me that he didn’t know where his father was, his mom was in
jail for selling drugs and he and his brothers and sister were living with his Grandma. She
didn’t care about them and neither did his parents. Over the week, I began to share the love
of Jesus with Brent, and on Thursday he gave his life to Christ. I will never forget it; we were
standing in a pouring rain, in the grocery store parking lot, where we were having a crusade.
I was talking to Brent, holding his hands, asking him questions. People around us began to
pray and then formed a circle, we were all praying for him and showing him our support, our
earnest plea for his eternal life. He began to break down barriers and allow God to come into
his life right there that night. The rain was battering us but we didn’t care, because he was
asking God to change his life, come into his heart and make it clean.
The next night Brent was baptized in a horse feeding trough. When asked afterwards how he
felt, he shouted with his arms in the air, “I feel saved!” Brent changed my life that year and
was also the driving force behind so many things I did the following year. He planted in me
the desire, the true passion to spread the Good News of Christ to all people. There are so
many people in this world who have never heard or don’t have a personal relationship with
Jesus Christ.
It is a family affair now, my daughter and I recently spent a month on the reservation this past
summer. Loving on the people, tutoring, cooking, cleaning, construction, teaching VBS, or
just sitting while a parent tells of their addiction to drugs or alcohol or how they have failed
their children…..a whole variety of things are needed. Everything we do is a piece of God
though, we are striving to be God’s hands and feet in a world where people are lost and
searching.
I want to share my passion with others and encourage you to take a week, be the change in
someone’s life. Share Jesus with someone who is desperate, lost and searching.
It will forever change your life and theirs!
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