November 20, 2016

Dear Friends,

Last night we attended a very joyful occasion—a wonderful Navajo tradition called the First Laugh Party.  The first laugh is a very significant event. In Traditional thinking, it marks the child’s final passing from the spirit world to the physical world.  

Still smiling and laughing

It is customary for families to take note of who causes the baby’s first laugh because this warrants a celebration. Whoever causes the laughter is responsible to “throw a party” to celebrate the event.  In some instances, it is very low-key – the mom stops what she is doing, cooks fry bread and helps the baby to hand out salt to whoever is there. In other cases, friends and relatives are invited for an evening of food and fun, and the person who made the child laugh is in charge of butchering sheep, preparing food, gathering rock salt, putting candy in gift bags, and inviting friends.

Fellow WIM missionaries D.H. and Emily Henry have a 4-month old baby girl named Zoe.  She is an adorable baby who enjoys being passed around at church or at the Ladies’ Tuesday night Bible Study.  Her brother Phineas said he made her laugh. As his parents explained the tradition to him, he learned that he now had the responsibility to show his generosity in throwing her a party to teach her generosity.  He provided the candy with money from his own piggybank.

Making fry bread for the celebration

Once the baby has laughed, the training in generosity begins. In the Navajo culture, high value is placed on generosity. At the party, the baby (with the help of the one who initiated this step) hands out a piece of rock salt and candy to the guests. This is to teach her to be generous and hospitable. The salt is eaten immediately or used to season the stew.

As we crowded into the Henry’s living room with our Navajo friends eating mutton stew, fry bread, grapes, and veggies, Milt, a Navajo pastor, told stories.  Milt admitted that he did not usually attend first laugh parties because of the traditional baggage associated with it. Traditional religion is deeply intertwined with cultural practices, making distinctions difficult.

Then D.H. shared Scripture concerning salt and generosity. It was a wonderful way of redeeming a Navajo tradition for the Lord Jesus.

Baby (with brother) learns first lessons in generosity.

As salt was regarded as a necessary ingredient of the daily food and of all sacrifices offered to the Lord (Leviticus 2:1-13), there is a connection between salt and covenant making. Covenants were confirmed by meals, and salt was always present. Salt also is a preservative, so a covenant of salt is forever before the Lord (Numbers 18:19).

D.H. also connected laughter and giving using II Corinthians 9:7: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

What fun to celebrate with our Navajo friends, enjoying an evening of fellowship, learning, connecting the meaning of the ceremony with God’s Word and praying for this young life to grow up to be joyful and savory for the Lord.

Love,

Roger and Sara

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!!

Blog: https://everettnavajo.blogspot.com

Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/

P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515

October 31

Halloween is a disturbing time here. I read a story in the Navajo Times written for the occasion about going on a “ghost tour.” The tour guide, Leonard Perry, said, “Our worlds  [the worlds of the living and the dead] overlap. The paranormal is just part of it.”  His advice was to use your peripheral vision to catch shadowy figures because they would disappear if you looked directly at them. He also said if you encounter a spirit, you should not engage it.”

Because there have been several funerals involving school families just since August, and two of them involved children in my class last weekend, I asked a woman who is very familiar with Navajo Culture to fill me in.

She told me that historically, the departed person was either wrapped in a beautiful blanket or placed in a casket and usually buried on family land. Jewelry and other necessary items were placed on the coffin for the person to use in the afterlife. She recalled seeing a beautiful horse shot and draped over the coffin so the deceased could ride it into the next life.

The family sat for a four-day vigil. This could have been for various reasons: the spirit had not really left yet, to show respect, or to guard against grave robbers. This tradition is still kept. The adults stay up at least one night and nobody in the clan takes showers for the four days.  “This is a watch of terror,” she said.  There is a fear that if they don’t do it just right, something bad will happen to them.

During the “funeral,” the family comes together to encourage each other and to share stories about the deceased. They avoid saying the name of the person so as not to offend the spirit. It could be a key time for Christians in the family to explain the gospel, but many don’t because of their unwillingness to offend.

Because the spirit world is part of life here, they feel uneasy about ghosts and spirits.

This explains the taboo against making a will.  If you make a will, that is preparation for dying; and it is like inviting death upon yourself.  Also, they are afraid of riding in ambulances where someone might have died; there might be a spirit hanging around there.

New regulations state that Navajos must be buried in registered cemeteries. This creates difficulties for them because Navajos do not own or work in mortuaries. Taking care of their dead has become enormously expensive.

The Traditional religion of the Navajo is based on fear. Everywhere they turn they encounter taboos, and they are bound by the fear of what the spirits will do to them if they don’t follow the rules. The Navajos respond to Jesus when they are in great need, and what they are doing isn’t working out. They need to know that Jesus, the Son of the Living God, is more powerful than the spirits they know.

Smoky Bear stopped by for a visit.

We are special and loved by God.

Pray that we are teaching our children about Jesus’ love and his power, so when they are in need, they will know Who to call on.

Pray that the children are safe during this time of intense negative spiritual activity.

  

Blog: https://everettnavajo.blogspot.com

Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/

P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515

October 23, 2016

I’ve had the privilege of attending a unique Bible study each Tuesday evening since August. About 50 years ago, the wife of a pastor here on the Reservation learned that many Navajo Christians did not know how to read the Bible in their own language. Educated at boarding schools, they’d grown up speaking English. Though they spoke Navajo, they could not read God’s Word in words that spoke to their hearts.

Harriet Butler, who is now 95 years old, started Bible studies for women with the major emphasis being reading the Navajo Scriptures. Harriet Butler just retired from teaching the class in October. Many women came to her retirement party and shared how much Harriet and these studies have meant to them. 

A group sings "O, Happy Day!" for Harriet.

Harriet insisted that the meetings open with singing Navajo hymns (from a hymnal that was translated in 1979) and close in prayer.

This year we are reading through a book called The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament by Edmund P. Clowney.  Now that Harriet is retired, leadership varies. One Navajo leader translates the book into Navajo after we read it in English. She has become so fluent that you’d never guess she’s only been reading Navajo for two years. Every time we encounter a Scripture reference, we look it up in both English and Navajo. Because one of the major goals of the study is also to teach the women to read in their heart language, we read the Navajo aloud at least twice.  To them, the English language isn’t nearly as understandable as their own Dine. Some have said English is monotone and boring in contrast to Dine Bizaad, which is tonal and musical.

Of course, we ladies enjoy the easy give and take of ideas. And although we have been believers for different lengths of time, we are basically at the same time in our lives. Navajo women help each other with the pronunciation. They regularly tease me about doing my “homework.” They comment on the passages and point out how the Navajo explains the concepts more clearly. Sometimes they laugh together at something that we biliganas don’t understand. They laugh very easily and enjoy life, even though the prayer requests they bring are deeply troubling, reflecting the serious needs of those who live on the Rez.

I want to share a quick history of the Navajo Bible, which I found very interesting.

In the 1930s, Faye Edgerton came to work with the Navajos (after spending time as a missionary in Korea.)  She said,  “I longed to have the translation of the New Testament finished and more of the people able to read it, for I remembered so clearly what I had seen the Word in their own language had done for the Korean people.”

She became a Resident Assistant at the Navajo Bible Training School – which was the beginnings of Western Indian Ministries.  It was her delight to study the Navajo language and teach the students to read Bible portions.  Faye was bothered and embarrassed by the lack of a complete New Testament and the inadequate communication of God’s Word through interpreters.

The first missionaries who wrote the language were not linguists, and they did not recognize that the language was tonal. Neither had they learned that the length of vowels often makes the difference in the meanings of the words.

In 1942, she was challenged to take linguistics classes herself. Then she joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, and with another team, worked on translating the New Testament into Navajo. Her foremost language helper was a blind Navajo who first “read” the Bible in English with his hands then translated it into Navajo.

John 3:16

The NT was finally completed in 1954. It had taken more than 10 years. The result was God Bizaad: God’s Word.

“This was not just a missionary talking to us in another language – this is God’s Word in Navajo, “ commented one believer.  “It is just like God talking. It is like a fire burning inside me,” remarked one Navajo when he was talking to Roger Deal about the New Testament.

Having the New Testament also awakened the Navajo towards new endeavors to learn to read and write their own language.

The entire Bible was completed in 1984 and published by 1986. 

Prayer Requests:

The teachers will be attending the Association of Christian Schools International Professional Development Forum in Phoenix, November 3, 4.  Pray for safe travel, a great time of fellowship as a staff, and good ideas to take back to the classroom.

Blog: https://everettnavajo.blogspot.com

Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/

P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515

Look at our house, car, and family drawn by a student!

October 10, 2016

Dear Friends,

Time for some schoolhouse funnies:

I was informed by my first graders that the four oceans are the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arctic, and …..the Navajo. (Indian)

The boys were singing, “Oh, do you know the Mutton Man?” That makes perfect sense if your people eat mutton more than muffins.

Here’s something I learned about Abraham Lincoln: Because he couldn’t go to school often, he learned everything on his phone.

And Squanto was amazing. He showed the Pilgrims how to make corn out of fish!

We enjoy such chuckles often, but things happen daily that concern us. The Navajos are a spiritual people. When things go wrong, they seek to restore hozho (Navajo concept of balance and beauty) in their lives through Ceremonies and prayers to their holy people.

The VP and a Navajo Beauty at the Parade

One child has an older brother in jail and other family members sick. She’s a sweet child, but she wears a sad look. Her father attributes the stress in their family to a snake and a coyote. Then they reported seeing skin walkers. The father went to the Medicine Man to get relief from the situation.

Another child’s relative was taken to a Ceremony to help her do better in school. Whenever this child has trouble learning and paying attention, the grandparents, who attend church sometimes, threaten to take her to a Ceremony too. This is very frightening to her.

Parade

A boy was very sick with a flu-like illness. The uncles took him to the forest, taught him how to build a sweat house, and performed a healing Ceremony.

An uncle of two of the children died in a motorcycle accident, and the children attended the funeral Ceremony. This can take a few days, depending on how traditional the family is.  I was told by the niece that the adults had to stay up all one night.

(I could not discern precisely why.) They also participated in a practice called smudging, purification using sage smoke.

Parade Dancer

It is difficult to separate religious practices from cultural practices. We don’t expect Navajo Jesus Followers to do things the way we would. Jesus came to fulfill their culture as much as He completes all of the peoples of the world.  It’s hard for the true believers to know what to give up and what is OK to keep or allow to take on a new meaning. Some Navajos upon becoming Christians give up everything, even their own language. Some try to maintain a foot in both worlds, and others assign new meaning to their special practices by incorporating the teachings of the Bible.

In this religious confusion, we teach about our loving God and the Savior Jesus every day praying that the children will put their trust in Him.

See You at the Pole

Prayer Requests:

Western Indian Ministries has had extra expenses with the Leadership Summit, and the arrival of new missionaries.  Pray God will abundantly meet the financial needs created by these ministry opportunities.

Many of the school staff are struggling with personal family issues.  Pray that God will work and give wisdom in each situation.

See You at the Pole

Pray that God will give us great wisdom in responding to our kids as they share their struggles with us, and that He will keep them from the evil one.

September 12

I was seeking obscure words to use for the workshop I’m teaching on vocabulary acquisition, and I ran across the word NIPTER: Religious Foot Washing. It reminded me of an incident this summer.

Many churches send teams to the Navajo Nation to help in various ways. In June a team came from Texarkana: some prepared a week-long Bible School and others did Free Foot-Care Clinics throughout the Rez.  Because diabetes is prevalent and causes the feet to be especially susceptible to injury and infection, this is a needful ministry for the Navajo. One purpose of the clinics is to reeducate or re-enforce the importance of foot care, especially for those who are diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes.

Since one such clinic was held at Hilltop, we found ourselves involved. Upon entering the school, the guests were welcomed with respect and care. Their vitals were taken. As blood pressure and oxygen levels were recorded, patients heard a litany of tips for good foot care.

The registered nurse or podiatrist then inspected the feet and instructed the people on how to inspect their own feet using a mirror to see the hidden areas. The nurse would refer them to their local clinic if there were problems.

Then the patients were steered to the foot washing stations. The ladies and gentlemen there gently washed the feet, patted them dry, and applied lotions, all the while conversing with the clients -- asking questions and showing heartfelt interest in the answers.  It was important for the washers to recognize a diabetic foot condition because a diabetic’s feet should not be soaked in soapy water. (It actually causes them to become more dehydrated and cracking and bleeding might ensue. Rinsing and creaming would be called for in that situation.) After clean socks were offered, the washer gently took the hands of the client, looked him/her in the eyes and offered to pray for any particular needs or requests. That was a lovely time. I was overwhelmed by the model of Jesus in the humble washing ceremony, but the most beautiful thing was seeing the pairs of strangers bowed in prayer.

The goal of one of our sister churches is to set up monthly foot care clinics with fully equipped teams – those that do the intake, the foot exam, and three stations for the foot washing. There are also background people who clean up and replenish supplies. The whole team might be as many as 20 people.  They will have training sessions for their volunteers as needed.

People have been softened to Christianity by the Biblical aspect of foot washing. One commented, “It is good to know that there are church programs that are doing something out of the box in order to reach out and spread the Word.”

This is a friend from church.

Of course, I had the audacity to snap a picture (without asking) and the person immediately put her hand out asking for money. It was a joke (sort-of), but she explained that so many people come to the Rez to take photos of Navajos just to make money off of them, so the Navajos don’t feel bad about asking for their ‘cut.’ She reminded me that it is always polite to ask before taking pictures. (oops)

We are not exactly washing feet, but we are trying to model Jesus in showing a willingness to humble ourselves to His Lordship and be committed to serve and do something bigger than ourselves. Diabetes and sin are insidious as they make inroads into the body and soul.

Thank you for your prayers for us.

1) We’ve had a good break with Labor Day and Fair Days. Now we have school non-stop for seven weeks.

2) The Naas family has moved in and seems to be adjusting. Continue to pray for Bill and Laura and their teen-children as they see how the Lord is fitting them in here at WIM and HCS.

Studying roots was great. We got to dig in the mud.

Enjoying the school garden.

My class has finished the initial review and is starting to learn new material in phonics and math. Pray that they will work hard and do well.