Tuesday, August 11, 2015

August10



Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
I Thessalonians 5: 11
Dear Friends,
This portion of the group worked on a building project.
A group providing wonderful encouragement for us here at Hilltop just returned to Pennsylvania. A week ago weeds had overtaken the playgrounds. Roofs had leaks. Ramps were warped and stairs lacked handrails. We looked around the school and sighed, “School starts in ten days, and this is impossible.”

The Nehemiah Project: building a dorm for work teams and retreats.
 
Here it is a week later. Weeds are hacked down, roofs repaired and leaks stopped. The classrooms are decorated, clean, and orderly. Ramps are restored. Books are organized and extra texts are stowed. The crew worked cheerfully and incredibly hard. Teachers can now sit behind their desks and start composing schedules and lesson plans for Wednesday.

This progress was encouraging beyond words to us as a staff. And we are incredibly grateful.
The classroom is almost ready to go!

As we sent them off, we encouraged them to pray for us here at Hilltop and WIM, to read the blog, and to think about coming back. WIM has opportunities for work groups to stay for a week, individuals could work as summer interns, or young teachers might even apply to do student teaching here.

We were also encouraged by a group representing five churches in the Dallas area who hauled a couple of tons of clothing and food to give away to needy families here on the Rez through the church and radio station. We had great joy taking them on a tour of the school and telling them stories about God’s work in various Navajo families.
Churches from Texas brought clothing and food.

We are also encouraged by answered prayer. Our Hilltop staff is ready to go for the first semester. Though we don’t have full time administration, we do have people to help and give advice. Mr. Tiger will continue as a consultant while he works to raise his support so he can be involved in WIM full-time again. Pastor Eugene (Bucks County, PA) is encouraging his people to pray faithfully for our ministries. Yes, finances are a part of it, but the main and more powerful resource is prayer to the Almighty God.

Join me in savoring these words written by a member of the group on a card of encouragement:

Welcome to Hilltop! We pray that God will give you the grace each day that will enable you to serve and teach and love well. Blessings to you as you serve.
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
 
Support: Western Indian Ministries, PO Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515





Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Aug. 4

August 4
Dear Friends,
Ready or not, here they come.  Hilltop Christian School starts on August 12. We have almost got the teachers in place: a couple of veteran teachers came out of retirement to team-teach the 5th-6th until Christmas. So that is a praise for answered prayer!

Rainclouds over the school garden
Where do they come from? At least two families drive over an hour to school and three others drive a half hour. Most come from nearby communities.  Because the rural address system is not completely in place on the Rez, many families don’t have street addresses. They give directions by landmarks.
Here are some of the “physical addresses” written on the student applications. (Some parents drew maps that were detailed and beautifully illustrated.)

Follow the winding road past the police department, past the education building, and it is near the school.

1 ½ mile north of Springs Chapter House. Take the road between mile markers 84 and 85. It’s the beige trailer in front of the two houses with brown roofs and the hogan.

Playtime at Summer Care
Go southwest from the Chapter House. When the road turns west, there is still a mile to go to our trailer.

Across from the Conoco station, turn south and follow the road three blocks. Then turn east for one block. Then continue south for one block.

Go 5 miles north of the town. Turn left and follow the road around. Brown trailer.

Who is coming? So far we have 62 students enrolled a week before school starts, which is the highest number for many years.  44% have two married parents, 33% live with a single mom or day, and 23% live with unmarried couples or grandparents.

What type of religious backgrounds are represented?
65% claim a church (15% of the 65% are Catholic.) 30% claim no church, and 5% state that they follow the Navajo Traditional Religion.  Several noted two religious preferences such as Catholic/Traditional or Christian/Traditional.
Double rainbow over WIM
* Percentages are approximate.

We are so excited because almost all of our students from last year are returning, and they’ve recruited cousins to join in. Pray that Hilltop continues to be a Lighthouse for Jesus in the Community and the Navajo Nation.




Support: Western Indian Ministries: westernindian.org
P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515