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Makah Church, NEAH BAY, WA
Servant Event
by Pastor Dale Heinlein

Averting Major Damage

Twenty-five years of heavy rains, strong winds and high humidity had exhausted the life out of the cedar shake shingles on the worship/study facility known as Makah Lutheran Church. When I arrived on the scene five years ago I rented a power washer and sprayed four inches of moss off the northern portion of the roof It was a dangerous and slippery job that no one else would do. But it had to be done as I was getting ready for a Servant Event when men and women from six different states would come and give the facility a new coat of exterior stain and replace some of the shingles. In 2001, one of helpers, a building expert, told me that the shingles would need to be replaced in the next couple of years, as they were getting soft.

With the wonderful assistance from ladies at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Richland, WA (the congregation I vicared at 23 years earlier) a grant to help purchase steel roofing materials was submitted to the Washington/Alaska District Lutheran Women's Missionary League Convention in 2004. Through the generous blessing of the WA/AL LWML a pledge of $10,000 was made to help with the project during this biennium.

The cost of the new materials totals nearly $20,000. The balance is split between Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots, U.S. and the Northwest District LC-MS.

But the roofing could not wait until the summer of 2006 when all the funding would come in from the WA/AL LWML. We had to make the repairs this summer! Arrangements were made that Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots, U.S. would help carry the balance until all the funding had come in. And it's a good thing we did the project this summer as only minimal plywood sheeting required replacement. If we waited another year the building would have encountered serious structural damage.

The last week of July 2005 we (the ministry team at Neah Bay) hosted thirteen men and women from St. John's Lutheran Church, Ringle, WI; Trinity Lutheran Church, Wausau, WI; and the pastor of Redeemer's Lutheran Church in Spokane, WA. They, along with local helpers and two contractors, helped us complete the project in one short week. In one short week 6,000 square feet of cedar shake shingles were removed, hauled to the dump, new steel roofing was installed, and half of the building's exterior walls received a fresh coat of stain.

 Thanks to God for this incredible gift! No one was injured (beyond a few blisters and other aches and pains).

What does this mean? It means that fellow Lutherans from across America are interested in caring for their brothers and sisters in Neah Bay, Washington. We are partnering together to raise up Native American Christians leaders and to take care of the worship/study facility that we are blessed with. Such a task is greater than what the small but growing) congregation in Neah Bay can handle on its own.. We need the help of others. We thank God that others so graciously help us do what we are unable to do by ourselves.

While we were blessed through financial and physical help of others this summer, we trust that they were similarly blessed as they took a glimpse of Makah history and culture home with them.

Allow me to share one interesting story with you that took place at the Community Hall one night that week. We had been invited to join hundreds of Native Americans from Neah Bay and other tribes for a dinner celebrating their annual canoe journey from the southern coast of Washington to near Seattle. At that dinner our group had the honor of being recognized first--being the "tribe" furthest away. And that meant we had to sing a song before the large gathering. We sang, "If I Were A Butterfly." And we concluded singing, "...and I thank God for making you-YOU!" The song was well received. We then witnessed a number of coastal tribes perform their traditional dances. It was one of those "nights to remember."

So, thank you for your prayers and all other forms of assistance. Together we were able to avert serious damage to the worship/study facility called Makah Lutheran Church where the gospel of Jesus is lived and proclaimed for the salvation of souls.

Read Other Stories:

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I-AM website

A WOMAN NAMED RUTH
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Trinidad and Tobago Urban Ministries
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