Exciting News!!
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Property has been purchased for the construction of a permanent Tokata Youth and Family Center facility!! 
"Renewing Hope, Strengthening Our Future"
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Youth posing at the location of the new land. They were so excited to see where "THEIR" building is going to be someday.
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Our mission moves forward.
Two youth and a staff member pause for a picture.
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Much time of 2016 was spent praying, evaluating, and planning on how to best and most impactfully demonstrate, teach, and infuse the transforming love and hope of Jesus Christ within the communities of the Crow Creek Sioux Hunkpati Oyate Reservation.
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Diamond Willow Ministries has a renewed commitment and clearer focus than ever before to pour ourselves into God's redemptive and tranformative work: empowering the youth, leader and families of the Hunkpati Oyate community.
The Tokata Youth Center is thriving.
The daily blessing of "busting at the seams" is encouraging yet challenging. The tribe generously provides space in a Tribal building for the Tokata Youth Center meals and programing to take place. Each day the meals are prepared off site and then brought into our current facility.
The dedicated Tokata Youth Center Staff do a fantastic job serving the youth as best as they are able within this very limited space, but a new, permanent facility is much needed and will impact generations!!
The dedicated Tokata Youth Center Staff do a fantastic job serving the youth as best as they are able within this very limited space, but a new, permanent facility is much needed and will impact generations!!
There is land and a plan.
There are very few available properties in Fort Thompson suitable for a youth center. Well, God is so good, the owner of the most suitable property agreed to sell. The second part of the equation was having funds to purchase it. God provided a very generous donation through a partner and friend of the ministry associated with Ashworth Road Baptist Church in West Des Moines, IA. The land purchase was finalized on December 30th, 2016!
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It was anticipated that the community would be very supportive, but the response has been exceptionally so! There has been tremendous support and thankfulness expressed for this purchase and the vision for a place for youth and families to come together.
Several community members stated that this is the single most exciting development that has happened within the community in their lifetime. The hopefulness is tangibly felt within the community and incredible! The end product, the new Tokata Youth Center, will be a place that will empower and develop generations to come, but it is already having an impact right here and now. A mighty God is at work in this!
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This project will move forward as God provides. There is much excitement, but the process will move forward wisely and in God's time. As always, the ministry will not take on debt. The need is great but due diligence will continue to be taken; following God's wise counsel in passages such as Proverbs 19:2.
"Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed." (Prov. 19:2) God is so good! This is all very exciting. There is much to pray about and plan over the coming months! Thank you for your partnership. Please keep this all in prayer.
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We wanted to share this exciting news with you now, allowing you to share in the excitement and allowing you to praise God and glorify his name with us. This is definitely a time of rejoicing.
Specific plans and strategies for the future and in making this a reality will be announced this Summer. Thank you for being a part of this vision; we will keep you updated.
Remember that you can keep up with this and other exciting updates about the Tokata Youth Center at it's Facebook page "Tokata Youth Center", Instagram account "tyclife", and website tokatayouthcenter.org.