Mission Trip Letter

Ya'at'eeh

 

            Working hard serving others is a component of every mission trip. Wednesday turned out to be a day where our entire group delivered an effort that bordered on excess. Gary graciously allowed us to sleep an hour later this morning in anticipation of the busy day ahead. We split into three service groups to maximize our efforts.

            Probably the most difficult job was the effort to break down a Hogan for one of the members at Kinlichee. A Hogan is a Navajo family dwelling and the site for all religious ceremonies. The Hogan constitutes one of the most sacred places for the Navajo family and binds them to the land of their birth. A Hogan can never be abandoned unless it is struck by lightning or someone dies in it from a cause other than old age. Additional Hogan info is available on the internet at: http://waltonfeed.com/peoples/navajo/hogan.html. Unfortunately, this Hogan had been abandoned due to a death of one of their family members close to the building. After the murder trial was completed in January, the family wanted the Hogan rebuilt at an alternate location. As you may guess, a Hogan is built to last with extremely large nails, sturdy construction, and heavy materials. With a team of approximately 15 people and a 6 hour effort, the Hogan was dismantled, labeled for reconstruction, and ready to be moved to its new location. We experienced a skinned head, a bruise or two from unexpected log movements, and many sore muscles.

            We also installed two new church signs on the main highway directing people to the church, took another load of garbage to the dump (1.5 hours away), cleaned more of the 1+ acre of the church site, and helped another member around her house. Incidentally, neither of these houses had internal plumbing. This fact made our present circumstance seem better: our crew of (25+) men is sharing a single bath room and our female members (24+) are sharing two bath rooms. Needless to say this has been a challenge but we have heard few or no complaints.

            Our computer lab is almost complete. Before our visit, Bob had a vision of holding free computer training classes for the community. With donated laptops and desktops, a newly built lab, and a newly installed internet connection, this dream may become a reality. Several of our Southside brothers have worked extremely hard to build this lab and have done a wonderful job.

            I saved the best news for last. We appear to be making a huge impact on the community this week. Our VBS was visited by 54 kids tonight (all from the community). According to Bob this was the most ever at the Kinlichee church. We picked up many kids who are living in difficult situations but they all have smile on their face when they see us coming. Several of them left their homes to go with us without anyone even getting out of their chair to see who was taking their child/children. We are glad to have them. Tomorrow night will be difficult for all of us as we have quickly developed bonds with these kids realizing that our VBS is only a small piece of what they really need.

Also encouraging is that we had a couple additional adult attendees tonight (all women). Lance Askins spent about 20 minutes with this group before turning the ladies over to Donna Askins, Lisa Dye, Evelyn Curlee, Shelia Jones, and Jennifer Johnson for a more personal discussion. The bonds developed here have life changing potential for our group as well as the attendees.

After VBS and a late supper, we worshipped God together and considered how we have been strengthened from being here.

 

Everyone has done an outstanding job on this trip especially Gary and Jennifer. We are blessed to have them working with our youth. (BTW - Gary did not endorse this article or pay either of us any money to say this.)

                                    Serving Him in Arizona.

 

                                    Lance and Gerald on behalf of Gary Johnson

 

Mission Trip 2007

Ya'at'eeh

 

            After a hard working service project day on Monday, Tuesday was set aside as a day for seeing the beautiful Arizona countryside. Bud led the entire group on visit to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. We had a great tour and saw a lot of interesting things. The beautiful multi-hued badlands and the petrified (wood turned rock) trees were fascinating. One of the more interesting things we saw were Petroglyphs made by Indians many years ago. You may read and view some of the petroglyphs we saw on the internet at: http://www.nps.gov/archive/pefo/In_Depth/messagesonstone.htm. The visit served as a great opportunity to see and learn about several wonders that our God created. The signs stating that the park included 225 million year old fossils sparked some excellent discussion among the group.

 

            The theme of VBS today was God is Powerful. We saw His power with continued growth in the number of children attending (32) along with an additional adult. Our youth group is doing an outstanding job working with the kids and helping them see Jesus. If you were here, you would be very proud of every one of them. Our vans were packed today primarily through the efforts of the kids inviting other kids. Being a part of the van pickup service leaves me wondering how a similar effort would work with our VBS. Today's VBS was special in many ways - the kids sang Jesus Loves Me in Navaho, several new children arrived, all the children were excited and are learning, our youth group is working together very well and several are stepping up to being youth leaders.

 

            Each kid visiting here is special. As an example, Cody is a shy 14 year old attending with his little brother, Christian, who is 6. Both are smart and handsome. At first Cody appeared to want to be somewhere else and wouldn't say a single word. Tonight he made contact with several of our kids and adults but we have no idea what he is thinking or what his world is like. We have made an early connection with him but much more will be required before he will really make friends or accept Jesus as his savior. Christian is a different story: he is a small 6 year old with long hair and a big smile. He has several silver teeth and doesn't mind showing them off using his infectious smile. He is everywhere and into everything and a really good hearted child. He too will need a lot of attention to really reach in a meaningful, saving way.

 

After VBS and a late spaghetti supper that was wonderful, we gathered to worship our savior before going to bed. The singing was absolutely wonderful and spirit lifting - as good as humanly possible. We are blessed to have such a talented group of singers willing to sing out to God.

 

Serving Him in Arizona.

 

Lance and Gerald on behalf of Gary Johnson

 

A note from the mission team in Arizona

Ya'at'eeh

Hello from the Kinlichee Church of Christ in Arizona. We arrived safely and quickly got to work. On Sunday morning, we worshiped with the saints in Kinlichee followed with a door knocking campaign through several local communities. We traveled to a really impressive place called Window Rock which is a really big rock with a hole in the middle that was eroded by wind. I know it does not sound like much but it was really something to see.

Monday, the First day of Vacation Bible School on God-Creator-Savior was presented by Cedat Lane and is now a part of history. We had a very successful turn-out of 27 children and 3 adult women. We are expecting many more tomorrow because of the impression we have made. All of the Tennessee folks are doing a great job of not complaining and working really hard. Today we cleaned out a storage shed and reorganized the contents of two storage closets, started rebuilding the computer lab, painted two signs for the church, raked rocks from the yard, cut brush from a grown up area out back and hauled 3 loads of junk to the dump. Each trip to the dump takes about 3 hours to complete.

We are really eating well thanks to the efforts of Jennifer, Shelia, Evelyn and Donna. Tonight we had home made chicken pot pie, salad and banana pudding.

Serving Him in Arizona.

Lance and Gerald on behalf of Gary Johnson

 

Cedar Lane Youth Wednesday Nights Out

Summer V - Join us each Wednesday Night after class for some wild and fun games. Bring your friends, neighbors and anyone who wants to have a great time. There is no cost!!! Just show up. The following is a schedule for the summer games.

Jume 13th - Amazing Race III
June 20th - Movie in the Teen Wing
June 27th - Hunt for Red October
July 11 - Boat Races
July 18 - Polaroid Hunt
July 25 - Summer Olympics

Teen News: Six Flags

We are planning a trip to Six Flags Over Georgia for Middle School and High School teens on July 28th. Cost is $30 plus your food. The vans will leave at 6:00 a.m. and we will return at 11:00 p.m. You need to turn in a deposit of $15 by July 8th to reserve your spot. See Gary for more information.

Cedar Lane Youth Huddle Groups

Huddle Groups are taking the summer off. Be looking in July for the new groups to form.

Short Mt. Bible Camp

If any Jr. or Sr. in High School wants to serve as Jr. Counselors at Short Mt. BIble Camp this year let Gary know as soon as possible.

No High School Small Groups in June

High School Small Groups will not meet during June due to VBS and the Mission Trip. We look forward to picking up in July.

Teen News: Children's Mentoring Day

Be part of the fun as we spend the day mentoring the K-5th grades. We are planning a day at the Discovery Museum in Chattanooga with a picnic in Koolidge Park, playing the interactive water fountain, riding the carousel and having a picnic. It is a great chance to make an impact in a child's life.