Western Indian Ministries has many facets. Besides
the teaching ministry at Hilltop Christian School, we have Christian radio
stations that reaches across the Reservation, Youth worker and church helps,
and a jail ministry.
Two of our missionaries here work particularly with
churches, and I pass on this note from them:
We need you to stand with us against
the evil one today and in the months to come. Last week a group of Navajo
pastors from all across the Reservation gathered in Dilcon, AZ, to discuss a Church
Site Lease that was developed around 1951, (possibly as early as 1922. We are
unclear on the date of the original law.)
A revised draft of
this document had been crafted and was called the “Religious Activity
Limited-Use Permit.” It was originally
written in a historical context when most evangelical churches were
started by white missionaries who were trying to move onto the Reservation and
start a church to reach Diné (The People) with the Gospel.
Things have changed. Today there are
over 100 Navajo-led evangelical churches. The gospel has gone forth and many
Navajos have given their lives to Christ. All glory to God!
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| Navajo Christian Churches in precarious position |
The current Navajo President and Vice
President are both believers in Jesus, but the person given the task of
crafting this revised church policy and many of the councilmen who need to
vote to enact it into law are not.
It has come to our attention that if a church
does not meet the Nation's regulations, the Navajo government would have the
power to shut them down. There are many problems with this situation -- the
primary one being that the drafted permit is still using concepts from back in
the 50s, when most Evangelical ministries were led by white missionaries. This
is no longer the case. We are seeing bi-vocational Navajo pastors,
denominations with Navajo eldership, ministries being started and established
by the Native people.
The biggest problem in this draft of
the regulations is how frequently ministries will have to reapply. As it
stands now, Christian ministries would only have a 5-year
permit on the land they use, when other organizations are given a 75-year lease
on the land they occupy before they must reapply. Try to imagine your church
having to obtain a new lease every five years to use the land for their
building and activities.
As for things at Hilltop, we’re winding down this
week. Enrollment for next year is coming along slowly, so we continue to pray
for the children and families that the Lord will bring to us.
Many of the missionaries will be traveling this
summer, so we pray for safety, refreshing, encouragement, and support-raising
for them as they go.
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| Classes |
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| School trail hike |
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| Many of the boys play baseball. |
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| The opposite of "learn" |
Support: Western Indian Ministries: http://www.westernindian.org/donate2/
P.O. Box 9090, Window Rock, AZ 86515
