2025 Service & Learning Trip
Cheyenne River Reservation

Our participants have been called by God to serve our neighbors in Dupree, South Dakota through the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires, working on the Cheyenne River Reservations with the Lakota people. Please keep this mission team of Winnetka Presbyterian Church in your prayers as they enter this new community of friends, working alongside them, glorifying God and showing the limitless love of God. This team looks forward to sharing with our congregation all that they learn from this transformative experience. ​

What is the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires?

Watch the video for a short talk by Andy Corley, former Director of the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires. Andy describes the good work that is taking place there, and gives some insight into what our mission trip might entail. 

Many and Great

"Many and Great" is a song we sing in worship at WPC. It's a beautiful hymn about God's creation, but there it also has a history that many people don't know. It's known as the "Dakota Hymn" and was sung by 38 Dakota prisoners of war as they were led to their execution.
​
On December 26, 1862, U.S. forces hanged 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota. President Abraham Lincoln ordered the executions following the Dakota War of 1862, a six-week uprising of Dakota people against white settlers after the U.S. broke its promise to deliver food and supplies to local tribes in exchange for the surrender of tribal land. Read more about it here ... https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/dec/26