May 11

Dear Friends,

We’ve never lived in a place where it snowed the day before Mothers’ Day. Of course, the ground’s warmth prevented it from staying, but we delighted in the swirling flakes three or four times throughout the day. Mothers’ Day was a treat also for me as I shared memories of my mom with my brother and chatted with the little brothers.

Cool Fish. It's going on a tee-shirt.

The Mothers’ Day sermon was from I Thessalonians 2:7-8: “But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

When making Navajo Fry Bread, the grandmas advise us to be very gentle with the kneading. They teach, “Treat it like a baby.” The Navajo way is gentleness and quietness, yet showing great manual skill such as in their weaving, jewelry making, and drawings. Even the Navajo handshake is gentle. In following Paul’s example, Roger and I want to exhibit the gentleness and nurturing of our Savior rather than the irritation and busyness of the disciples, who tried to turn the children away.

The boys like doing crafts.

Why do we feel we have to knead the life out of the dough, guaranteeing a tough loaf? Lighten up, and the bread will be good.

Prayer Requests:

1) We have two weeks left to teach this particular group of kids. Pray for His wisdom to grasp every opportunity for their spiritual and academic instruction.

2) Hilltop Christian School plans to go up to the 6^th grade next year. We’ve got the staff in place, so pray for our new staff as they prepare this summer to come on board.

The girls sing more than do the crafts.

Honking the horn of the Sheriff's car was super.

Fry Bread

Fry bread is quite a process, but so worth it.

3) Concerning our summer, we are praying for travel plans – where to visit to share our ministry and raise support. We’re also hoping to visit family. Pray that God will open doors for a fruitful, yet restful summer.

April 12, 2015

Easter Sunday dawned beautifully over Mary’s Hill here in Tse Bonito. The sun rose into a cloudless, blue sky.  It first lit the distant, forested hills. Then the hills on the far side of town glowed before the town of Window Rock completely brightened.  Behind us, backlit by the rising sun, stood a cross. Musical praises ascended to the Lord in Navajo and English.  The words, the beauty of the place, and the town below us reminded us of what God has done and what God still wants us to do.  Pastor Dave preached on the applicability and power of Christ’s resurrection in our lives today --a glorious beginning to a weird week.

Arizona 

We weren’t quite ready to get back into the classroom. And I wouldn’t wish a water main break on anyone, but it was a nice relief to be able to send the children home on Monday after a half-day due to water issues…then trudge the muddy road home for a needed time of rest and reorganization. Well, actually, R helped with repairing the water pipe, which entailed an 8 PM trip into Gallup.

Siblings

                   

The week’s schedule was already irregular due to the TerraNova Testing. Testing creates an extra tension in the classroom as the students face questions they don’t know or can’t remember. They probably did just fine.

This week we watched “Ragamuffin,” the Rich Mullins story. This prompted us to do more research about Rich and his connection to the Navajo Nation. He lived for a short time in a trailer just across the wash from Hilltop Christian School while ministering to Navajo children. He had dreams and plans for even greater ministry with the Navajo, which were never realized because of his death. Rich, who had many struggles in life, understood the basic truth right – Jesus loves me.  How I respond to His love is my responsibility. The nugget of our message to these precious children is: Jesus loves you.

Friday was another irregular day. Because of an “active shooter” incident, several areas of town were road-blocked in or out and many government buildings were under lock-down (including schools). The school and the children were never in real danger, but we took precautions.  So, parents gathered up kids throughout the afternoon; and other children, who always get picked up on time, had to remain with us until their parents were able to come.  The older ones were nervous. I didn’t tell my young ones what was happening, but they sensed the differentness.

Reading Buddies

When you teach, no week is just a regular week; there is always something different going on. I don’t like surprises – good or bad. I wish for that smooth week with no interruptions or surprises, but no learning occurs without tension.  So, what should we pray for… a smooth week or growing through the tensions?

And some heartbreaking news, another young man known to several of the staff families has taken his own life. Please continue to pray for the family and friends and the Nation that is drowning in hopelessness.

Sonrise

On Mary’s Hill still deep in shadow gray

We gather. Clumps arrive with heavy eyes.

Hot campfire beckons; expectation builds

As sun explodes above a lonely cross.

He lives! Our Lord is risen, risen indeed!

With voices raised we sing the victory tune,

And pine, dry shrub, and rock resound the praise:

He lives. New Day. He lives. New Hope. New Life.

April 6

Last week we had a junior-senior Bible class from Redwood Christian School here on their “missions trip.” What an awesome group of young gentlemen and ladies!  Nineteen exuberant teens spilled out each morning willing to serve in any and every capacity. They made excellent construction progress at the Hilltop House, which will serve as a dorm for work teams and as a Retreat Center for small groups. In addition, we had several of them attached to us at Hilltop helping in the classroom, making bulletin boards, and bonding with the children at recess.  They had difficulty teaching the children that there are actually rules to the game our kids call “soccer,” which is played during recess here with three balls and no rules.

The kids loved the face painting.

New friends.

The group was totally responsible for the Carnival//Open House this week. They built and manned the booths such as face painting, obstacle course, donut challenge, beanbag vs. Goliath, and string the cereal. The most popular, by far, was the cakewalk. Everyone wanted to win something sweet. Over a hundred turned out for this event, and at least one new family enrolled for school. We hope many others will become interested in Hilltop Christian for their children. We plan to offer grades  pre-school through sixth in the fall.

Look at the cake he just won!

He takes aim at Goliath's head.

We're making a cereal necklace.

This week sped by because we had so many practices for our Easter Program, Easter Praise Parade. As always, though the practices went miserably, the program was packed-out and proceeded quite smoothly -- except when the sound man got confused about when to do the earthquake, which confused “Jesus,” so He didn’t come out of the tomb. The director yelled, “Jesus, are you alive?” Another little guy read his first and third lines, then said, “Oh, I didn’t do it right.” After the chuckles died down, he flawlessly read his three lines. The story of our Savior was clearly told and an opportunity to respond to the call for Salvation was given.

We hope and pray that you all had a blessed Easter/Resurrection Sunday! Christ is Risen Indeed, and that gives me purpose and peace.

Come and Join the Celebration!

  

Three citizens share stories of Jesus' miracles.

Singing Purple Robe.

Jesus and a soldier.

Narrators tell the story of Jesus' arrest.

  

April 2

Dear Friends, Nobody likes to be told he/she is wrong. When studying nouns last week, I emphatically told one crest-fallen face after another that dogs and cats were things not people. Now I must admit I was wrong. The Navajo tradition holds that dogs are indeed spiritual “people.” They have a song. They have a way. They are not to be chained up or abused.   Rez Dog Somewhere in the process of becoming town dwellers, some have  the idea that people take responsibility for their dogs, and dogs are left to be survivors. So, there are stray dogs everywhere. Most are just hungry, not dangerous. If you want to see an interesting documentary on the Rez Dogs go to http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/rez-dogs#1 The Navajo Culture is described as a closed culture. Sometimes they may be offended by our intrusions, but they don’t express it. Unless great pains are taken to build a trusting relationship, there will be resentment when others tell them how to take care of their problems, such as dog overpopulation. Here’s another way the dominant population tried to fix things. We find that our students come from a variety of backgrounds – Mormon, Christian, Catholic, and Traditional Navajo.  We had thought this was because of various missionary influences in the past. Perhaps it is, but we also learned that during the period when they were seeking to integrate the Natives using the boarding school system, the children were divided up randomly into four groups, and whichever group they ended up in, that was the religion they were taught.  Reading Partners This has made for some mixed up religious practices. Please continue to pray for us as we try to help the children who are going to a “church” that teaches something different from what we teach them from the Bible.  We have enjoyed the help of the group from Redwood Christian School this week. They’ve made excellent progress on a building project and have contributed in very helpful ways in our classrooms. They totally transformed our lunchroom for a Carnival/Open House. We’ll have photos soon! Bells play O, How He Loves You and Me. Happy Easter. Ready for Chapel

Three leaf clover - God, the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.