Christian Missions Work
The last week of teams is finally here. The two teams here this week were from California and Michigan. The Michigan team was a sight for sore eyes because they new how to play a Midwestern card game by the name of Euchre. Anyways due to this being our last week we wanted to accomplish as much as possible to finish up the projects that had already been started throughout the summer.

This meant a lot of day trips back to familiar faces which I felt was a great way to finish up the summer. We went back to Suzy’s place and painted her bathroom, went to Stella’s to paint the inside and work on her ramp, went back to Eli’s to finish up the paint work, and went back to a few others just to fix up some odds and ends. We even started a few new projects at the Bitter’s house, which involved a lot of drywalling and painting. The team also got to pour concrete for another church’s floor. This was a fantastic week where so much was accomplished. God really did an amazing work through these teams and I was really impressed by them.

This week really gave me the opportunity to look back on this summer and reflect on what God had done. It is truly amazing to see how much God will do if you simply allow Him to work through you. These teams this summer have all said yes to God, and He sent them to do amazing things in the Navajo Nation. His work is truly evident, and it seems that everywhere I go people are talking about it.

A lot of the people here have taken notice to what God is doing and have been asking me why people are doing this, and I think it is great that so many people are noticing what is happening. I feel this summer we have given Pastor James a lot of work to do with the people in his area, and that is a good thing for a Pastor to have. A lot of seeds have been planted this summer, and I can’t wait to see the end result.

You can come to the Navajo Reservation and be part of a Christian mission trip. Visit Experience Mission’s website at www.ExperienceMission.org - Native American Mission Trips are lifechanging.

-Chris

After a fantastic weekend of camp meeting I was exhausted, but ready to start a new week of service. As the teams rolled in from California and New York, I realized that God was going to wonderful things this week. For these two teams we had one gigantic project for them to tackle. We set up 20 or so team members working on Grandma Suzy’s roof and the exterior of her house. Suzy had been having trouble with her roof for some time and has been asking her family for help for years, however no one had helped her. To keep the rain from coming in the house she had been nailing tarp to her roof to patch holes.

This was incredibly dangerous for a woman of her age to be doing this and thanks to the grace of God she never hurt herself. The team completely tore the existing roof off and replaced everything to protect her house from the weather. This was an enormous task, but by the end of the week we had the entire roof replaced and had painted the outside of her house to create an almost entirely different looking house. For me the best part about this week was seeing how much time the team spent with Grandma Suzy. The team sat down and talked with her and took interest in what she was doing with her life, and by the end of the week a lot of special bonds were formed that would leave a lasting impact.

This really reminded me what mission work is all about. It is not about the physical side that we accomplish with our hands, but the emotional and social side that we touch with our hearts that truly impact the people of this world. When all is said and done the roof will get damaged again some day and need replacing, but Suzy will always remember the people from California and New York that took time out of their lives to come help her and be her friend. That is what mission work is about and truly inspired me to take that lifestyle to heart.

-Chris

 After a long break of no teams it is good to be back in to the swing of things. From the get go I was impressed with this new team from Texas. As soon as they got out of their vehicles they were ready to work, and we were ready to give them work.

This week starts a camp meeting where many of the local Navajo meet at the church here and have full day services…and there is a lot to do to prepare for this. So immediately we put them to work on putting up the tent, and the team, without any complaints, went straight into service mode with no down time from their drive. I thought this was incredible.

To continue their service we sent part of the team to Grandma Helen’s place. Grandma Helen is a patriarch of one of the Navajo clans and has been in and out of the hospital for the past few years. She really has been through a lot in her life and is so grateful for the little things that she has that some of her stories really broke my heart. To help her out a little bit the team patched up her roof, painted the interior and exterior of her hogon (or house), and filled in the cracks of her house with silicon to prevent the wind from getting in. It wasn’t much, but every day Hellen would be so excited to show her gratitude and try to repay us by any means possible.

Every day it seemed that she had something new for us. From frybread to bologna we were constantly getting gifts and it was truly humbling. This woman who had little would give us everything she had. It reminded me a lot of what I should be as a Christian, completely giving no matter what I have.

-Chris

We had a three week break in between teams, and I felt it was my responsibility to go out and appreciate God’s creations in Arizona. To do this right my cousin flew out from Indiana and took me on quite a memorable adventure. We hiked through the Grand Canyon, took a flight over and around the canyon, and rafted down the Colorado River. It was just the exciting escape I needed to rest for the remaining teams to come. I write this not to brag about my vacation, but to write about what God did in my life through this excursion.

Before going on this trip with my cousin, I was feeling pretty beat down. I was so exhausted from the work aspect of it all, I was missing my family pretty badly, and feeling just incredible low point in my life. I needed something in my life to rejuvenate me. I felt as if I had been running a marathon and did not feel as if I could go any further. Then out of nowhere God provided me with this excursion with my cousin that just completely rejuvenated my soul. This served as a reminder that God knows how to provide for your needs, and just when you need it He will give you a drink of cool refreshing water. I just need to remember that if I rely on Him, He will provide for me.

-Chris

The Fed Church rolled up to the church in their big blue bus this week ready to serve God to the best of their ability and truly made a lasting impact on the Navajo Nation. Being here three weeks now I am starting to see the gigantic need throughout the Navajo Nation, and am inspired by these teams taking time out of their lives to help their fellow Americans.

This week we split up into a few different teams, but I mainly followed a team that went to Grandma Margie’s household. Margie has been suffering a great deal with cancer, and has been in and out of the hospital for quite awhile. She does not get much support from her family, because the family wants her to rely on the Navajo traditional religion to heal her. During this week she was gone in the hospital for some treatments and we set out to surprise her with some aid. The team tiled her floor, painted her walls, and created a shade for her to enjoy the outside with.

The most amazing part about the experience we had with this family was that her husband and sister were with us the entire week. People pushing her to rely on the traditional religion were able to see the love of Christianity and truly moved them. They even began to ask questions about Christianity which was a gigantic step in the right direction. My prayers will be with them and I am sure the team will continue to pray for the family as well.

-Chris

This has been another great week here at the Inscription House. We had two teams here, and one was from a town near my home town, so it was kind of fun meeting people who knew my home area. I even found out that one of the team members was a friend of my uncle. So that was fun working with people from my home area.

Anyways this week shaped up to be one eventful week of service. We went back to Jean’s house this week to work on a few projects that could really help Jean out. One of these projects the team worked on was building a shade for Jean. Jean has a bad case of diabetes and has trouble walking around. So instead of moving around to shade, or finding ways to stay cool in the Arizona sun, she sits out in the open most days and bakes in the heat. So to lift her spirits even more and protect Jean from the sun we built a shade attached to her house so that she could enjoy the outdoors in comfort. We also patched up her roof to protect her house from the weather.

We also got the opportunity to help Grandma Mary repair her house. Mary is an elderly woman who has such bad arthritis that she can not walk upright and has to crawl around to get from place to place. Her family has been less than supportive and have torn up her house through vandalism and had put several holes in her walls.

So the team patched up the holes and then painted the walls. Mary was so pleased with everything that she showed the team how she spins wool. Mary was very inspiring to me. Even though she has such an intense handicap and very little help, she works so incredibly hard simply to make a little money. Mary left a lasting impact on my life as well I am sure on the team that worked to help her.

Chris