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