SPIRIT LAKE NATION, NORTH DAKOTA—Winter can be cold and dark for the people who live on the Spirit Lake Reservation in north central North Dakota. Mike and Libby Flowers, Dakotas Conference Missionaries, serve lots of love, pizza and show a movie at Spirit Lake Ministry Center.

The fellowship opportunity is an effort to launch small group ministry has been at Spirit Lake Ministry Center in North Dakota.  It all started with a Christmas fellowship meal.  “On Dec 8th, Libby and I were traveling to Mitchell, South Dakota for meetings. During that drive, we discussed having a Christmas meal for some of the folks here on the reservation. Actually, it was Libby's idea and we had just 10 days to pull it off! We started making plans, ordered and shopped for the food,” said Mike Flowers.

The Christmas gathering was no small effort.  The kitchen area at Spirit Lake Ministry Center had to be emptied because it was filled with over 1500 Shoebox Christmas Gifts that were still being processed. “It was a lot of work but it was a huge successs," said Libby Flowers. “The ministry center was full and people stayed for hours just to visit and share.  We knew we had to continue to do this.”

Three weeks passed and the Flowers were once again on the road, this time travelling to Grand Forks to pick up some supplies.  They began discussing plans for monthly Saturday gatherings for everyone - gatherings for adults, monthly pizza and movies nights for children and youth.  The two realized that they would need another oven. Libby began to research convection ovens as the continued to drive to Grand Forks. She found a great double oven on a website for kitchen equipment.

“We started talking about who could help us raise the money for this new oven, “ explained Mike Flowers. “We wondered what church would be able to raise the money quickly so we could start the program right away. We both said some silent prayers.”

Photo:  Enjoying fellowship at the Christmas gathering at Spirit Lake Ministry Center.  Photo by Mike Flowers.

Mike and Libby Flowers reached Grand Forks and stopped to eat. “As we were sitting there,” said Mike. “I began to page through Facebook and came across a post by Pastor Jenny Hallenbeck. She related in her post that her church, McCabe United Methodist Church in Bismarck, North Dakota collected a Christmas offering and the church would be donating $4,800 to the Ministry Center!”

The donation was a total surprise to Mike and Libby. It was also the first time that McCabe United Methodist Church has dedicated their Christmas offering to an organization outside of the church.

Libby and Mike recently visited McCabe and told the story of how this donation will help start the small group ministry at Spirit Lake.  “It was very cool to be able to stand in front of this generous congregation and tell the story of how they have made a difference in so many lives,” described Mike.  “This will help us start three very important programs.”

By the way--the cost of the Double Convection Oven?    $4,800.