April 27

A room with a view

Yes, it’s been awhile. We had a pleasant break for Easter. Because we are teachers and can’t help ourselves, we did spend some time in our classrooms, but it wasn’t as frantic as usual. We journeyed down Hwy 40 to spend a day in Winslow. If you have a chance to tour La Posada Inn, take it. We were given an informative tour by a Harvey Girl and had a fine dining experience at the Turquoise Room.

Our Easter Sunday was capped off by the baptism of four believers at our church. I always celebrate every Palm Sunday as the commemoration day of my rebirth. How wonderful it is for these people to have each Easter Sunday as a reminder of their public commitment to Christ! And another delightful tidbit: one of the dorm dads, who is a committed Christian but had not ever been baptized, was baptized in the Pacific Ocean over the break! Since we have (unofficially) adopted the young people here, we are happy ‘parents.’

Sweet girls.

Coming back after a week at home, the students reported all kinds of violence, murder, and mayhem that had occurred. This past week carried its own stresses. One of R’s boys spent time with the principal for fighting. And one of my girls was sent home for bringing contraband. The unfortunate thing was that other students’ actions precipitated the misbehavior that culminated in the reaction that received the consequence. (I’m not sure that all made sense.) Needless to say, things have been tense in both of our classrooms due to student conflicts.

We had four Spiritual Emphasis Days too—Tuesday:hand-washing, Wednesday: cross carrying, Thursday: nailing burdens to the cross, and Friday: the coming of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t understand the metaphor of carrying a cross, and my girls declared that they wouldn’t give up things (such as family, friends, or possessions) for Christ. But they seemed to take the nailing the burdens to the cross session very seriously. That is where they are. They carry so many burdens in their young lives. In fact, V* in R’s class declares he can’t trust God because he doesn’t see God helping his family. And S*, a fatherless child, has been calling him ‘Daddy.’

Dressing up like a fireman.

As we near the last weeks of school, we are somewhat discouraged that the children haven’t made the hoped-for academic or spiritual progress. Thank you for praying for them and for their ability to learn and retain information. Most in R’s class and two in particular in mine are in academic trouble and don’t have any motivation to turn things around. Thank you also for caring about their spiritual lives. If they are drawn even one step closer to making a commitment to Jesus, the struggle has been worth it.

New books from a librarian friend.

April 13

Lovely Sky. Wicked Wind.

 Dear Framily,

 We are feeling so out of shape. Yesterday we joined some other volunteers from our church and school to participate in Community Clean up Day at Holbrook. Even two hours of bending to pick up trash along the highway made me rubbery. I found some interesting things besides the usual cups, cans, diapers, and bottles. I found a pair of pants, a beach towel and a toy. AND a phone! It took some sleuthing, but I will be able to mail it to the owner tomorrow. The first name on the contacts list that I called made no effort to help me, but the second one stayed with me while conference-calling her husband, who eventually figured it out and put me on a conference call with the owner. Aren’t you glad that the Lord “stays on the line” until the lost is found? We cling to that promise for our children here.

A trip to the crosses.

Thanks to our librarian friend in Waldorf, we have some new books and kits for our children. We’ll take some photos when the children return from vacation. Speaking of which, we don’t have too much planned though we’ve scheduled a day trip to Winslow to tour the La Posada Hotel and maybe shop at WalMart. (Holbrook has no shopping opportunities.) We’re not sure about another day trip – maybe Canyon de Chelly.  Otherwise, we have saved up some projects for our vacation, so we’ll be plenty busy. :)

The children aren’t always eager to come home. If you could hear their stories, you’d understand why. Some receive physical abuse, and others are neglected so they do nothing all vacation but eat Ramen noodles and play video games or watch movies. They want to go home, and yet they don’t. No wonder the days before going home are so stressful.

We had four staff moms expecting last week; now we have three. A new baby was added to our campus! Such joy! Everyone is so excited.  We now have nine staff children here with their parents. Let’s pray for them this week. They are in a different cultural situation because they are neither the Native Americans nor the ones called to serve here. The younger ones don’t face racism because they are so cute, but the older one has more difficulty.

Have a wonderful Easter Season,

Love to you always,

April 6

Dear Framily,

Snow in April

Some things seem so normal, and some things so foreign. I go home in the evening, listen to iheart radio, sweep the floors, look at FaceBook, and read a novel. Then we hear about the spiritual warfare that is going on in the dorm- night terrors, self-mutilation, outrageous reactions to simple requests by the dorm parent, quarrels, etc. Also, it’s weird not to be making my own meal decisions. SVIS sticks to the rigid state standards for the school lunch program. When we went off campus to SubWay and the girl asked what to put on the sandwich, I said, “Oh, I get to choose?!” It had been so long since I’d chosen my own lunch. (We have an excellent Chef, by the way, whom we appreciate very much.)

I’ve been trying to help my students understand that the Kingdom of God is upside-down. It is not like the Anglo world, and it is not like the Navajo world. Jesus wants us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek and be content and thankful. It’s not about my rights; it’s about putting the other people first. And a special gift of clothing from a dear friend (Thanks K*) also encouraged me to share the verses we memorized this week. The kingdom of God is about our clothing – what we choose to take off, and what we put on.

Col. 3:8 Put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth and (Col. 3:12) put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other … just as the Lord forgave you.”

Another student has left our school. He was 16 and in 7^th grade. I know he felt safe here, and he had made a lot of progress. He was one who had thrown a Bible across the room the first week he was here. Towards the end, he was reading his Bible and saying things weren’t so bad here. He hopefully will study for his GED. The dorm dad tried to convince him to pass the GED and join the military. Talk about hopeless. But the Holy Spirit is the One who gives hope and changes lives.

So, we have another week of school until our Easter Break. Every teacher is emphasizing Jesus’ atoning death and victorious resurrection this week. We’re praying for hearts to be changed. And, as always, we thank you for praying with us.

Kids' Club