I recently stood, tears trailing down my cheeks, as I listened to Darrell Auginash, an Ojibwe Native American, sing Amazing Grace to the rhythm of his traditional drum. Darrell, a minister on the Red Lake Reservation where the March 21st high school massacre occurred, is teaching me a lot about my call to my family.

Darrell’s life has not been easy. Though raised by an attentive and loving father, he succumbed to the pressures of reservation life as a teen, taking up drugs and alcohol. He became a Christian at 27 years old thanks to the faithful testimony of his wife, Corky. The first 20 or more years after his conversion were spent “getting the world out” of him. Eventually, Darrell matured and God called him to attend seminary and to then return to his people to share the gospel.

Standing

Darrell reminds me of the verse in Ephesians 6 that tells us to “stand” and then says, “and after you’ve done everything, stand.” Sharing the gospel with a culture that is embittered against Christianity was never an easy task for Darrell. Add a teenage killer and the horror of a massacre and the job becomes daunting. Now multiply the problem with a surrounding community that struggles to reach out to the people of the reservation due to racial tension and you’ve got a prescription for despair.

But Darrell stands.

And he walks forward, sharing his love with hurting kids, exhorting his people to forgive, and planning a plethora of ways to minister to those traumatized by the tragedy.

Darrell teaches me to stand.

As a home schooling mother, I haven’t faced a killer’s gun. My personal circle includes mostly Christian moms, many of them homeschoolers, and we’re all dedicated to sharing Christ with our children. Yet, there are many days I find it difficult to stand. The responsibility to teach and train my children can be overwhelming. I get discouraged by bad attitudes (mine and theirs!), the magnitude of tasks that pull at me, and academic concepts that seem beyond our grasp.

But, listening to Darrell reminds me that God is bigger than the things that pull me down. He is powerful enough to move mightily through Darrell on the Red Lake Reservation, and to work through me to bless my family. Just as God is leading Darrell, showing him ways to answer the needs in his community, God will empower me to meet the needs of my family. I can stand.

Suffering

Darrell also teaches me about suffering. His nephew, Ryan, was one of the wounded in the Red Lake tragedy. Darrell could have gone inside of himself focusing on his own pain, or the pain of his immediate family. But, instead of pulling away from others who are hurting, Darrel enters their pain as well, spending countless hours visiting in their homes, talking with the survivors, weeping with the families, taking the teens fishing—doing whatever he can to bring them comfort and encouragement.