Mission Navajo Update

After two long days in 15-passenger vans dubbed Silver Lightnin’ and the Blue Bullet, the high desert cliffs and buttes of Navajoland ushered the Prairie Ridge Church Mission Navajo team into the homeland of leader Janelle Allen late Saturday afternoon.
Dine` friends welcomed us in with a meal, freshly cleaned accommodations and warm greetings. Dine` is the proper term for people from the Navajo Nation. We are staying at Tohlakai, N.M., at Free Trinity Mission, which is directed by Rev. Gardner, and his sweet wife, who we call Mother Gardner. Return Mission Navajo trippers from last year, are happy and relieved to see Mother Gardner is looking much healthier this year, as she had experienced a stroke a few months before our arrival last year.
Right now, I feel great gratitude for many blessings, strength God is giving all of us to accomplish our tasks, and love we are enjoying sharing. Sunday involved serving at Window Rock Christian Reformed Church, leading adult worship and Sunday School, and seeing people we’ve connected with in the past. A Navajo Taco lunch launched us into the culinary delights we will experience all week.
Later that day, we rode horses in the Tohlakai canyon courtesy of Janelle’s family,hiked over cliffs and rock piles that speak of an entirely different sort of beauty God created. I was blessed to enjoy a horseback ride in the canyon led by a cousin of Janelle’s, and my children, Jessica, Daphne and David all got the chance to ride as well. It was a great introduction to one aspect of this culture – horses and rodeo competition. Supper around the campfire and devotions topped off the night.
Monday and Tuesday took one team to build two wheelchair ramps and small decks on homes for two elderly women here on the Reservation. This team also helped a group erect a basketball hoop who were in a pinch for tools. Flexibility in to-do lists and time schedules is critical for us here as we reach out in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Hilltop Christian School in Tse Bonito, N.M., hosted a team Monday and Tuesday, as well. Teams there built a staircase outside on the multi-building campus. The teachers and staff work hard at the school, with facilities and teacher housing consisting largely of trailers. We also cleaned up the outside premises, being here at spring cleanup time, and performed deep cleaning on a trailer that had been vacant for a time. Plus, we made kiddo friends who joined us for supper and playtime Monday evening. The kids on the team are all pitching in, and seemed especially to enjoy making food bags to distribute where they are needed. Each bag includes a scripture, a Ridge business card, and the location of mission partners here.
The team enjoyed a spicy supper Tuesday, Tamales, rice, beans, chips and salsa, made for us by a man who lives near Tohlakai. One focus of the team this year is to provide employment for people, so we are hiring people to make us breakfasts and suppers. Unemployment on the reservation is at 70 percent. This food provision strategy is proving to be a two-way blessing, as any foodie can imagine.
Thank you so much, Prairie Ridge family and friends, for supporting the work here. Please continue to lift us up in prayers this week, as we hope to provide the hope of Christ and good examples, and build friendships and partnerships for this mission for years to come.