LAME DEER - A church on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation has grown from an old-fashioned practice of people helping people, combining time, talents and skills to build a lodge that will benefit the community for years to come.
Circle of Life Lutheran Church in Muddy Cluster, five miles from Lame Deer, hosted vacation Bible school this week, for the second year in its new building.
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“Youth is a big area of where we wanted to focus,” said Pastor Dennis Bauer.
That was part of Bauer’s inspiration for building a lodge with 1,800 square feet on the first floor and sleeping quarters above on the 28-foot high loft.
“I was the major general contractor,” Bauer said. “I don't have any training in that. I'm trained theologically. But I have a great interest in it, so I studied it out.”
The lodge has been important for the Bible school as well as the church. The whole plot of land with its refuge has been a big part and a focal point for the community.
“So it gives all the little kids here in our in the Muddy Cluster community something to do, and you know, for families to come together and go up there,” said Dalore Deputee.
Deputee runs a daycare and sent eight kids to Bible school this week.
Some of her neighbors say the lodge has hosted anniversary and birthday parties as well.
And on Wednesday night, everyone in Muddy Cluster was invited to a dinner celebrating the week of community spirit in Bible school.
“We're here to celebrate the Lord, but also to celebrate the fact that he's brought us together,” said Jonathan Boll, Trinity Lutheran Church director of operations and outreach.
Boll’s church in Billings is a sister congregation to Circle of Life, and through the years, several have made the 100-mile trek to Muddy Cluster, some with expertise, during the eight years it took to build the lodge.
“But likewise, it's been a blessing to us because they're doing something that is bigger than themselves and we get to see how God comes along and just makes it happen,” Boll said.
When Bauer started the project, he bought a saw-milling machine, and the tribe gave him permission to take burned logs on the reservation.
“It is one of those settings, they didn't build log lodges,” Bauer said. “But it seems to be received real well. And everybody who uses the lodge likes the atmosphere.”
“And the thing that I like about it is that they share Christ, Jesus Christ,” Deputee said.
And they all say it's important to have a place that allows them to come together as neighbors and a community.
“It's not just a building, but it really is a home for all of these beautiful things to happen within,” Boll said.
