January 27, 2014

  Dear Friends,

This week in chapel Mr. M. talked about covenants and commitments. He paired each student with an adult; then he asked them first to define and discuss covenant. Then he challenged each adult to ask his/her child about his relationship with Jesus and gave us time to pray with the child. Part of his goal was to help the children realize that following Christ takes a commitment.

            My little partner glowed as she reported she had accepted Jesus and had been baptized last spring. But, another told her adult that she has tried several times to ask Jesus into her life and nothing “happened,” and another point-blank told her mentor that she was not a Christian and did not intend to become one. Two of the older girls were reported as saying, no, they were not Christians.  AM (along with her sister in my class) is a seeker, and the other (AR) said no she was not a Christian with real animosity. Her family is steeped in the traditional ways.

Some of the younger children told their adult what they think we want them to say, but we are not witnessing the fruit of a transformed life at all. One of the teachers reported that though the results were not encouraging, it was enlightening to know where we stand. And we all agreed that the prayer time was especially beneficial because the children still knew that we loved them and asked Jesus to help them in their struggles.

The lines weren't too bad.              

            R presents different character traits in his class, but when the lessons get close to the heart, such as Lying lips are something God hates, then the anger rises and the behavior deteriorates. His students weren’t interested in being peacemakers the week he taught that lesson, and this week will be difficult because it is on forgiveness.  So, that is a very real prayer request – for them to understand the difference between a whole relationship (which many have not seen modeled) and a broken one, and how forgiveness puts the two parties together.  It would be wonderful if even one child in his class would know God’s forgiveness through 

 Jesus Christ and start walking in a new kingdom.

The quizzing team and sponsors.

            My 6^th graders participated in Bible Quizzing Event this weekend. They did fairly well, and I know they had a great time at Castles N’ Coasters in Phoenix afterwards. I’m sure I’ll hear more about it on Monday.  (photos)

Shooting a free throw

         Warrior basketball season has begun. We have a talented coach, and he is interested in the players’ spiritual development and their teamwork as well as their skills. Unfortunately some of the players find it difficult to stay eligible due to grades or attitude. On Saturday the staff played against the teams (3^rd – 5^th) and (6^th – 8^th). Some of us aren’t as young as we used to be. 

That was fun!

            Pastor Dean talked about our testimony in his sermon. The power of a testimony is a changed life from a transformed heart and mind. When we tell our story, we can say to someone, “I was in a place where you are.” The issue is sin and it needs to be cleansed from our lives. We on the staff feel that God has us here to share our testimonies with these children. I can say, “God has changed my life and made me whole, and He wants to do the same thing for you. There is hope even though your family is messed up and your childhood has been corrupted.”

Thank you for your prayers for us and our children.

Jammies

P.S. I wrote most of this last night, and now it is Monday night. R and I both had a difficult Monday. We’re praying for peace in our classrooms on Tuesday.

           

January 20, 2014

Dear Friends,

Football Huddle

            One of our students’ classes this semester is Navajo Language Class. This is very difficult for me; just learning to count to ten has been a real challenge. I can’t even make a couple of the sounds. One girl leaned over to me as I was trying to repeat a word and whispered that I shouldn’t say that word. (oops) And I can’t remember any of it from one class to the next. This helped me understand how my students feel when learning concepts and rules in my math or grammar class. It takes many repetitions and much work outside of class to get it.

            Navajo is a verb-based language. For example cat is the thing that meows, and animal is the thing that walks around on four legs. But the verbs do not change for the tense. Other words perform the time function. So, our students have difficulty remembering to put the endings on their verbs when they write. It’s easier to be patient with them now that I understand why they do it.

            It is a very descriptive language too. Purple is the color rocks are; blue is the color that sky is; and winter is the season when no thunder sounds. One thing that has been eye-opening is that no sounds in their language require them to open their mouths much, so it seem to us that they are mumbling rebelliously, which they may or may not be doing. Another thing is long vowels. In English when the teacher says it is a long vowel, it has a completely different sound. But in Navajo, the long sound is held out longer… a clue to why phonics instruction doesn’t “take” with many of them.

            Roger and I have started reading Navajos Wear Nikes, recommended to us by a friend from our days in California. So far, it has been depressing. We just keep saying  this is so true of what our kids deal with.

            Anyway, we had a day off today and went to Flagstaff. What a beautiful winter day it was there! We were grateful for a little respite. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers.

January 12, 2014

The first week back after vacation: Sigh. Most of the teachers reported sluggishess and blank stares as children, who were allowed to be schedule-less, now return to a routine.  My class had a golden week, with no one getting reprimanded for behavior or attitude. J

My students were glad to be back together. I could tell by their chattiness and their heads and bodies moving closer together when they worked on projects.  It was such a joy to see their obvious affection for each other.

I am very concerned about one of my girls who returned to us with a haircut designed basically to attract attention. When I told her it was “cute,” she said that she was going to shave half of her head and wear the rest in a Mohawk. That merely elicited the comment from me that such a hairstyle would take a lot of hair gel. But I can see that she is hurting. She had also been cutting herself during the interim and has been using her pencil to deepen the cuts on her hands.

Roger told me that his boys took cactus needles and were pushing the thorns into their hands as far as they could stand. When he gave them safety pins for their costumes (for the Christmas Project), they tried to pierce themselves through the skin on their fingers without actually getting as deep as the nerves.

Our children suffer intense internal pain. Sometimes the way they mask it is to make themselves hurt physically. One girl told me that she was so agitated inside that she just ran and ran and ran. When the police found her in the middle of the night, he gently told her that when she feels agitated, she should power walk in her community instead of making a beeline to who knows where.

These precious children suffer in unimaginable ways. They ask me what to do with bad reoccurring thoughts. I shared with them how I focus more and more on Jesus when bad thoughts threaten my peace. I picture Him dying on the cross for sin and for the forgiveness of those involved in the situation.

One of my girls and her sister wrote this poem. It is supposed to be about puppy love, but I like to think of it as also a love poem to Jesus who is “my everything.”

You are My Everything

You are my everything; you taught me how to sing.

You took a chance on me, opened my eyes to see.

You had the golden key that simply sets me free.

You are my only hope, the one I need the most.

You are my light and dark, the evershining spark.

You are my other half; you always make me laugh.

You are my dearest friend forever ‘til the end.

We were simply meant to be, for it is clear to see.

TR and MTR

California Dreamin'

Please pray this week for our students to experience peace instead of internal pain. Pray that they can come to trust Jesus fully.

We were at the Atlantic and the Pacific in 2013.

Ben and Mardell