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.