Listen to these statistics presented by an organization called Life Initiatives. It frames the “Why” of Mission Discovery’s work in South Dakota with Native Americans.

South Dakota’s Native Americans struggle with an unemployment rate as high as 80%, and a high school dropout rate in Rapid City of 60%.

● Poverty is a lack of many resources (financial, mental, relationship networks, etc). Even if one resource is acquired, it will be deflated by the lack of other resources.

● Resources are disjointed in the poverty culture, so that employment, social resources, and personal networks cannot reinforce each other, allowing the grip of poverty to continue.

Each summer hundreds of Mission Discovery volunteers partner with local organizations to serve those in need in Rapid City. While the visible part of a Mission Discovery summer mission trip week may be repairing a rotted floor, painting a home, or building a wheelchair ramp, the other work is the hope that Christ brings to the families we serve.

We need your team.

I encourage you to just take a moment to study the plight of the Lakota tribe then call us to connect your team to this important work of restoration.