October 13, 2012

September Newsletter

The Main Dish
Change can stir up something good or it can stir up a mess. This
month we decided to make some changes in our worship schedule to see
if we could get better attendance and more fellowship between our
members. Call me crazy, but I actually believe that if we’re going to call
ourselves the family of God we have to do better than just showing up to
the same building three times a week and sitting two chairs away from
anyone and then shaking hands and going home. We moved our Sunday
night Bible classes to Sunday morning right after worship. We’ve had
better attendance in the last month for our study than we ever had on
Sunday nights. People are staying for class that wouldn’t normally have
come back on Sunday night.

Every week now on Sunday nights we have a different form of
fellowship. So far, these changes have stirred up a lot of good. On
Sunday night, we have done a bonfire a couple times with s’mores and
hot dogs, which was a huge success. We’ve gotten together to write
cards to encourage people, hiked “the toes” for a teen devotional,
weeded the property, and took the time to pray for our entire prayer list
together. We’re planning on hosting bigger area wide teen events in the
future, as well as having some devotionals “off-site” since there are so
many wonderful places around here. There is really a pretty unlimited
potential to what we can do with this designated time of fellowship, it’s
been a very cool change for us.

A few weeks back, we did some work around the building digging out
weeds. I got a chance to meet two guys from the neighborhood, both of
whom struggle with alcohol and wanted to make a change. The first guy
I met, Mike, has never come around again. His scenario is the one we
see played out most often. The second guy I met was Rob, I talked to
Rob for over an hour right there on the spot about his addiction problems
and desire to change. Ever since that night, I talk to Rob three or four
times a week, counseling him and just letting him know I am on his side.
Heidi asked me last week, after I chatted with Rob for almost an hour, if
I was his sponsor. I said NO NO NO, we’re just…okay yeah I’m sort of
like his sponsor. Right now, he is just looking for a friend, but I pray
someday he will be open to the Word of God. Pray for Rob as he tries to
get on the right track. We have a good relationship and that’s half the
battle of helping people find the truth.

In September, I was honored to speak at the Family Retreat for the
Gallup church of Christ in New Mexico. The church in Gallup is located
just off the Southern New Mexico border of the Reservation. We don’t
go on too many retreats so it was really great to get that opportunity.
The Gallup church is not one of the ten “Navajo” churches that we talk
about around the Reservation, but they are very close to some of our
more Southern congregations. They have Elders, a strong membership, a
terrific connection to the Manuelito Navajo Children’s Home and they
have a passion for the Reservation mission works. Especially in the last
few years as their preacher Jeff Foster has taken a great interest in this
mission work, they have been building a strong relationship here.

In September, we also started (renewed) a Bible study with a couple who
has been members for a few years, but have been struggling with their
faith and with their teenage kids. Although it has been very inconsistent,
when we do meet, it is a great teaching opportunity and the word is well
received. Pray that we can keep this going and see them grow as a
family.

Their situation is a perfect example of what we’re up against here on the
Reservation and in the broader American church. They have a desire to
live for God, but a life that is too committed to the busyness of the
world. They view “church” as one more thing to squeeze into the
calendar. When we truly live for Christ, He becomes the framework that
supports everything else and we fill our calendars around Him not just
to include Him.
Ladies Corner:
Winter is approaching fast and we are looking to do a “warm and fuzzy”
drive. We are soliciting donations for hats, gloves, scarves, socks, and
coats. We will accept any of the above mentioned or gift cards to walmart
and target as well as money to purchase these items. We would like
to collect any of these items by Friday, November 10. Thank you in
advance for anything you are willing to give. If you have questions,
please email me at hidlynnr@gmail.com or call us at 928-697-3096.
On the Back Burner:
We are approaching the end of 2012 anticipating a lot of change to our
mission team and with a lot to be excited about. Heidi and I are expecting
our first child in early February. Dan is getting married to Rose in just over
3 weeks. I’ve been talking with a number of young men who are interested
and seriously considering coming to work on the Reservation. There is a lot
of potential for growth and development in this work. There is a reason that we refer to this as a mission field. The church is in its infancy and has plenty
of challenges, but we have a mission here and we’re working with a purpose.
We’ve talked a lot in the past about the trailer that the church acquired to use as
a parsonage of sorts. Dan has been a trooper to live there in various stages of
disrepair over the last 10 months. When he and Rose are married, he’s going to be moving into her trailer in Chilchinbeto. Heidi and I have decided to move into the trailer at the church building. It’s going to save us some money and help us to stretch our support further and to better prepare for the added expense of a baby, which I’m told are expensive and need things.

September 4, 2012

Summer Summary

We had sooo much stuff going on this summer, that of course I never updated on, so I want to sum up the big events and post some cool pictures.
The last week of June, we were the directors of the annual reservation church camp. We introduced some new, fresh ideas and I think everyone had a blast. Some exciting things were camp t-shirts, minute to win-it games, splitting into 4 teams to do everything from pray, memorize verses and play field games. We also tie-dyed t-shirts, had a volleyball tournament, and of course had great Bible classes for all ages. We had 85 in attendance of all ages.

Immediately after returning from church camp, we had a work group from Denver come and work their tails off in the trailer and around the building. They made some real progress. We also did a lot of hiking with them and devotionals. Here is a pic of a devotional after a short hike.


In the beginning of July, we had an opportunity to take a short trip to Phoenix where Nick's mom and step-dad were vacationing. Later in July, we had another work group come from Phoenix for a whole week. They did some work around the trailer and advertised for our VBS coming up the following week.

The last full week of July was our VBS, put together by a group from Ft Worth, Texas. They did all the teaching and brought all the materials, which was a true blessing.



August 1st, we left for a loong trip to visit family, supporters, and attend Polishing the Pulpit in Tennessee. We were gone for about 3 1/2 weeks. It was a blessing and we came back recharged and ready to get back into the work. Here are pictures of our nieces:


June 18, 2012

New Sister in Christ

Let me introduce to you, Alice.
She is a very sweet lady who serves everyone in every chance she gets. She is easy to talk to, caring, and loves her family. She has been attending services since last fall in addition to several studies Nick has had with her family outside of regular services. In a study with her the other day, she said she has only missed two Bible studies since she started coming. TWO!!! That's incredible, especially for someone who isn't even a member. I don't know how many of our members could come close to saying that. She has a desire to learn and do what's right. After much prayers, studies and patience, Alice decided to put on Christ in baptism last evening! We continue to pray for her family members as well.

June 12, 2012

May Newsletter

The Main Dish:

May was a month of highs and lows. We spent much time in the spring preparing to plant the garden. Essentially, I had a greenhouse in my office for the past two months preparing seeds to grow. In March, we did a lot of digging with the work group and prepared the soil. We had a work night with the church in May and planted most of the seedlings. Almost all the beds were planted and the last week of May, our worst sandstorm hit and basically blew everything away. The chain link fence fell down on one side, then drug through the garden, destroying anything even remotely salvageable. While this was such a discouraging moment, we will be re-planting in the very near future.

One of our old members, Alfred Gene, moved to Texas over a year ago for work. A few weeks ago, his family was in a very bad car accident, killing his niece and nephew while severely injuring his sister and other niece. Al sat by his one-year old niece in the hospital for two weeks in Albuquerque. Some of the brethren in Albuquerque spent a lot of time visiting with him, which is a true blessing. We had an opportunity to go to Albuquerque, visit and have dinner with Al. While this tragedy is taking a toll on Al and his family, Al knows his niece and nephew are in a better place and he has an opportunity now to be there for his niece and hopefully be by her side for a long time to come. The little girl’s father is somewhat absent and her mother is still in bad shape, physically. Al could change his niece’s life forever. Please be praying for this family.

In terms of outreach and events, we had a giveaway day at the building that included anything from clothes, to chairs, to a furnace! Usually what happens is a burst of people come through the doors for the first two hours and then it’s a ghost town. Instead of just packing all the clothes back up, we went over to the recreation center where people set up like a flea market. We were able to give away a lot more clothes there and meet some more people in the community. The biggest victory was meeting a woman who grew up attending the church of Christ on the Joy Bus. She had a desire to come back to church and the next day, she attended services. She has been attending every Sunday since then and even helped plant the garden!

Work continues on the trailer. Thank you to those who have donated to the cause. The last weekend of May, we had a small group from Phoenix come in to work. They installed all the windows, patched drywall, built steps and a small deck, took out the skylight, finished one of the bathrooms and built eaves. They worked hard and got a lot accomplished. The trailer could not be completed if it was not for wonderful volunteers who give up their time and much energy.

Ladies Corner:

The first weekend of May, we had an amazing adventure down to Prescott, AZ to attend a ladies retreat. Thirteen ladies and teenagers from Kayenta attended, which was the largest group! We were so proud to have so many ladies eager to give up their Friday and Saturday to spend with each other learning from God’s word. The theme was “What’s under your hat?” and we all left with at least one hat we decorated ourselves.

At the end of the month, two of my best friends from Pennsylvania came to visit. We did a lot of sightseeing, but I also thought I would take advantage of their experience in teaching children’s Bible classes while they were in town. They have been teaching children’s classes for years and majored in education so I knew I could learn from them. They both taught our regular children’s classes, while myself and another one of our members observed. We gained some great ideas on how to improve our classes. I was definitely blown away by how great they handled the class and held the children’s attention.

On the Back Burner:

We always talk about how our summer schedule is very busy. This year between June and July, we have church camp, three different work groups coming including one to conduct VBS and a couple visitors from back home. August will be no different as we are making plans to visit family, several supporters and attend Polishing the Pulpit in a three week “tour.”

April 10, 2012

What a fun Sunday!


Our Easter Sunday started with worship at 10 am. Dan preached about the resurrection of Jesus, but also why it is important to remember Jesus and what he has done for us every Sunday. Without remembering Jesus' death, we have no forgiveness of sins. After worship service, we had a nice potluck with tons of ham and other delicious treats. We cleaned up all of that and had our evening service early at 2 pm. This was pretty neat, because people stayed for the afternoon service that normally wouldn't. Then the craziness began with an Egg Hunt for all ages. Over 300 eggs were hidden behind the church building followed by a water balloon toss and raw egg relay. While Dan was winning the water balloon toss, Nick thought it would be fun to start throwing water balloons at him from every angle. Needless to say, it ended in a pretty wet and fun battle.

April 6, 2012

Parts of February and March Newsletter

The newsletter was really long, so I took out chunks of it for our blog.

February was an exciting month for the growth of the church. I was able to continue some ongoing Bible studies that really have begun to show promise. One of those studies was with Justin Curley. On my birthday, of all days, Justin decided to be baptized. He has grown up around the church and has shown a real passion and boldness in sharing his faith. He’s a young man who has a lot of potential to someday be a tremendous leader in the church here.

Through February and March we held a couple of workdays on the trailer. The end goal is to have Dan move into that trailer and live on the church property. He’s been a real sport as his current living conditions are pretty rough. Until we get the doublewide in livable shape he’s staying in a small camping trailer and using the church buildings office, kitchen and bathroom. With some of the high winds we’ve had already this March we’re lucky Dan didn’t blow into New Mexico. So far this year we’ve lost part of the trailers roof and had an entire section of our chain link fence blow over. The windy season here is challenging to say the least.
In mid-March we had a group of nearly 50 come from the Northwest church of Christ in San Antonio, TX. This was the biggest work group Kayenta has seen since the construction of the building. Josh told me the other day that the biggest work group they ever had was around 25 people. Last year, we had all of our summer groups fall apart so this was essentially our first work group to visit the work since Heidi and I moved here. Hosting our first mission trip group, we basically just didn’t know any better. Planning for that many people is a HUGE undertaking. It was worth every second, but there is no denying it’s a lot of preparation.
The upside of having a group that large is that we accomplished an unbelievable amount of work. In the weeks leading up to the mission trip, we made a list of literally every little thing that could possibly need to be accomplished and we very nearly knocked out the entire list. Inside the trailer they accomplished in one week what would have taken us months. Last year, we were able to plant two garden rows. This year we’ll be planting five. That is exclusively because of the work of this mission trip group. That is a job we could not have done otherwise.
Aside from all of the physical work that they completed, every morning they signed up for time slots throughout the day and then one by one stepped away from the tools and the worksite and went someplace alone to pray. It was amazingly powerful to see prayer become the focus of our day. I regret not taking more time to join in that exercise.

I think that the awesome amount of work they accomplished, combined with their singing and their positive attitudes, their engaging our members who were able to be around, it’s going to have a huge impact on our congregation into the future. We really can’t thank those guys enough for their willingness to come and work and their great example.

March 23, 2012

Courageous!

Last night, we watched the movie "Courageous" as a congregation. 30 people were there, which is awesome!!
If you don't know, Courageous is a God-centered movie, mostly about fatherhood. Everyone should see the movie, but most definitely fathers. Seriously- go see it now, before it's too late. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie with all of its heartfelt moments, downright sad moments, and humor, but mostly for its strong push to encourage fathers to be better fathers. This movie is not just talking about spending more time with your children, but making a conscious effort to impact your children in the most positive way; to make a purposeful effort to see your children grow up to be followers of God and contributors to society. The Bible illustrates what it means to be a good father and this is where all of our answers should come from.
This movie also makes a point of displaying what it's like to grow up without a father or a father that isn't so purposeful. To drive this point home, I found some statistics. 63% of teen suicides come from fatherless homes. 90% of all runaways and homeless children are from fatherless homes. 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes. I could go on and on or you could visit this site to learn more: http://www.dadsworld.com/parenting-statistics/importance-of-fathers.html
Children need to feel loved and important and special. Be a better parent today or mentor someone who needs that kind of love.

March 19, 2012

Lessons I have learned

James 4:10 states “humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” I had a humbling experience this past week. Through the Bible, God and others, I learned that I am not in control of anything and I can’t make anybody do anything. But, let’s stop and think for a minute. God is in control of everything and He has power over everything and everyone. So often, I sit and ponder how I can help people change and influence people to change and in reality, make people change. My mind goes over and over what to say to someone when I think they need a change in their habits or attitudes or actions. I think about the lessons I could teach in ladies’ classes or teen classes that would press their heart to change. As I am pondering everyone else’s problems and how to change them, I am getting angrier and angrier. Their actions are causing resentment and bitterness in my heart. Now I know all about only focusing on what I can control. Focusing on other peoples’ faults will not do any good or make that person any better. The only thing I am creating is a bitter heart for myself.

So what did I learn this week? What is it I can change to help others change? Let us remember that God is in control, so the answer is prayer. What can I control? I can control my prayer life. I can pray more often, for more people, for more situations. When someone aggravates me and pushes me to make them want to change, I can pray for that person. God can change that person, in his own way and in his own timing. I might be a part of that change or it might be someone else he uses to influence them. Or, God can simply use his word to change their heart, desires, and actions. God can also change my heart and help me have a more gentle and soft attitude. I learned this week that I am not in control, but God is in control and he can change people through many different avenues.

To put this into practice, a situation came up the other night. A woman from church wanted to talk to me about some problems she was having with her teenage daughter. Her daughter has been drinking and popping pills and dealing with depression. Based on what I know about their family, I think the daughter needs more structure and discipline. I also think her parents need to be more united and be better examples of God’s word. I gave her the advice of starting to read the Bible and pray every day with her daughter so her daughter knows that the void she is feeling can only be filled by God. Her mother needs to be the example of how a Christian should live. I also told her I would be praying for her family. But, I am not just going to pray that the teenage girl finds the answers she is looking for and stops turning to substances. I am going to pray that God would work through this family to change their lifestyle, their dynamics, and the way they love each other. I am going to pray that God would work through me or someone else to influence them positively. I am going to pray for the right words to say when this woman wants to talk about this situation again. Most of all, I am going to pray for patience with this family as they seek a change.

February 7, 2012

Newsletter, Jan 2012

With the New Year comes a new team (the addition of Dan Keele) and new strides we are able to make within the church. Our attendance has been high through the month of January, averaging 50 every week. Many visitors continue to attend and ask questions. Speaking of which, we had an opportunity to study privately with one of the visiting families. When I say one family, I mean 15 of them! They always have a lot of questions and they are truly seeking the word. I laid a good foundation for the Bible as our only authority, and then fielded a host of questions ranging from gambling to what happens after we die. It was an intense study but very rewarding. This family continues to attend faithfully and gets involved in the fellowship and work of the church as well. I have also studied a few times privately with a teenager, Justin, who is very eager to learn the word.

We had the privilege of hosting the monthly reservation- wide Bible study in January, concluding our study of Hebrews with professor, Wayne Burger, from the Bear Valley School of Preaching (pictured above). Not including ourselves, we had 12 members of our congregation in attendance. This is always a huge deal, because it means our members giving up their Friday evening and Saturday morning to study the word, something you don’t see very often.

In our first attempts to get the new trailer into livable condition, we held
a workday to get all the trash, debris, floors, and unwanted cabinets out and into the dump. It was a huge success with 13 people showing up to work. The trailer is structurally sound, but in need of some pretty serious renovations. The last occupants of this trailer burned coal in the wood stove while the roof pipe was disconnected. Nearly every surface is covered in ash and dust. We plan to hold another workday in February to wipe down the walls and start priming for paint. (Priming for paint gives the impression that it’s further along than it truly is) We’re hoping to get it in livable condition by June and completed by later this fall.

Now that Dan is a part of our team, we have weekly meetings to plan upcoming events and solidify teaching and preaching schedules. We also take a look at all of our members and visitors and decide who might need visited and/or studied with. Lastly, we talk about overall goals in the church and ways to get there. One goal is to get the men in a better position of leadership. We are slowly getting them involved in co- teaching and leading devotionals. We love having a team-mate again. Especially while I have been sick this past week, it’s been nice to have someone available to cover for me.

We are blessed to have a lot of groups interested in coming out this spring and summer to work on projects and help with evangelism in the community. Last summer we had some groups interested in coming, but then they all fell through for financial or travel reasons. It seems as though our luck is going to be different this summer. I have spent a lot of time in January communicating with various leaders in different
congregations to work out the details of their trips. We are thrilled that other people are so excited about the church here on the reservation. It’s really great to see so many people want to come and be a part of the work here.

Every month we really have plenty of positive things to look at to be thankful for, but maybe more than any month since we’ve moved here I feel like the work here is really growing and succeeding and moving in the right direction. Truthfully, I have never felt better about the work than I do right now. There are so many exciting things going on in Kayenta right now, and a big part of that is the planning we’ve done for the summer and future of the church.

The last week of June, we have our Reservation church camp. This year, I am the camp’s director. As far as I know, I am the only person at our entire camp who has been to another church camp (including Heidi and Dan). We had a long team meeting yesterday afternoon to try and plan out some new activities and develop some ideas to improve camp. We have a plot of land that is completely undeveloped in every single way. There are no cabins, no buildings, no restrooms, no shelter houses, no
utilities or running water. It is the definition of the term “roughing it”. We plan to start some rustic and simple improvements to the campgrounds. We are really excited to get to camp this year.

This summer we are going to make an effort to bring 5 interns out across the entire Reservation. This effort is going to take a lot of preparation. A lot of preparation. We need to find the right guys, put together a plan to work with them, interview, check references, schedule their travel, work out the finances, etc. It’s a mess of organization to get an intern to the Reservation, but it’s a great experience for the students and a pretty nicehelp for the mission works. The hope is that if we can create a good relationship with a large number of interns then we can begin down the road to recruit a new wave of fresh blood to this work and strengthen the whole through better missionary efforts.

January 16, 2012

2011 year in review

This is a long one, but it's a whole year.


Now that we’ve come to the end of the year, we wanted to take a look back at the past year’s events and look ahead to the goals and plans for 2012. The congregation here has gone through a lot of change in this past year. The biggest of which, obviously, is the loss of the Austin family. In March, Josh had an opportunity to go to Denver and work with Bear Valley as a coordinator of one of their largest extension schools. That meant that for the first time in nearly a decade the pulpit here has been filled by someone other than Josh. The rest of the family’s presence have been missed too. Six people don’t disappear around here and go unnoticed, especially six people who contributed as much as the Austins did.

The congregation has continued to grow in spite of the losses of a number of families and individuals. We’ve had new people move into town where others left and we’ve had at least nine baptisms in this past year. That number includes five men who are under the age of 25. One of our long term goals here is to train men to be the leaders in the church. We want to see Navajo men become preachers and teachers and Elders and deacons. Baptizing new men into the church is a positive step towards accomplishing that goal.

We could talk about a lot of numbers and statistics and they wouldn’t begin to tell the story of what’s happening in the work here. True growth isn’t measured in attendance, in the offering or in the number of conversions, but in the condition of the heart. That doesn’t mean that we don’t pay attention to some of those other tangible things, but we try not to judge ourselves by them. Along with nine new converts in this past year, we’ve seen a few people be restored to the church. Obviously, when someone gives their life over to Christ we are filled with joy. In a similar way, when someone who knew the truth returns to do what is right, it is a tremendous victory for the church. Those occasions have been some of the most precious to us, personally.

A big event on the 2011 calendar was the garden project, which amazingly went an entire year with the unoriginal name: “Garden Project”. Our garden received mixed reviews this year, and depending on whom you asked the answer might be quite different. (Yes, I just used the word whom. Appropriately. Someone forward this to my past English teachers.) Since I write the newsletter you get to hear my review of the garden. It was fantastic! It didn’t attract 100’s of followers and eager participants. It didn’t feed the masses. It didn’t spread through our community like a wildfire. It didn’t produce any blue ribbon vegetables (this year). It didn’t even lead to any new families placing membership at the church.

It did, however, create a small buzz in our neighborhood and open some lines of communication with our immediate neighbors. It did on occasion cause people to say, “You’re that church that started the garden?” It did produce vegetables in what used to be an empty lot full of broken beer bottles and it did serve to feed - or supplement- some people in need. Measuring by those standards, it was a success.

As a master gardener, I am woefully inept. We lost good cauliflower and broccoli only because I lacked the knowledge to know when it was ripe. We lost our beets to a barrage of beetles. We failed to stake our tomatoes and they grew into a gigantic mass of vines that was impossible to penetrate.

The “Garden: 2012” (any takers on that name?) will be better. We’re better at recognizing what problems and pitfalls a garden will have and we’re better equipped to handle them. We’ll make a bigger push to involve the church in this summer’s garden and we’ll be smarter about using it for an outreach. Last year, we bought seedlings in Flagstaff for our garden and our hands were tied a little bit based on what was available at the nursery. The only problem with the nursery in Flagstaff is that they live in an entirely different climate than we do. They have trees, water, good soils, shade and cooler days, less wind, etc. This year I am going to start our seedlings from a seed and focus on the types of plants that both grow well in our climate and are more filling to eat. Things like potatoes, melons, carrots, beans and cucumbers instead of the lettuce, hot peppers and beets we planted last year. It’s a work in progress.

Billy Kniffen and his wife, Mary, also known as the two hardest workers in the world, graciously gave up their time to visit Kayenta. Billy has been described to me as one of the world’s leading experts in water catchment. He’d never say so, because he’s as humble as he is hard working. He designed a water catchment system for us. The average rainfall in Kayenta is less than 9 inches a year. In Columbus, Ohio where I grew up it’s 38.5; in Nashville, TN it’s closer to 50. We don’t get much water. Now, thanks to the Kniffens, we have a system in place that will capture enough water to keep our garden watered for an entire growing season, in theory. Most people will find this paragraph boring, and that’s okay. I’m really excited about it. Watering a garden as big as ours with just rain water is cool- extremely cool.

Last summer, we made another huge development for the work in Kayenta by hiring a college intern. Cory Landolt came to us after completing his freshman year at Harding University. Cory did a great job for us here in Kayenta. Last summer, was essentially phase one of our plan to increase exposure and strengthen missionary teams on the Rez. This summer we plan to bring out more interns across the entire Reservation and eventually increase the number of mission workers.

In addition to some of these larger events throughout the year, we have maintained a hectic normal schedule. We meet for services three times per week, hold a Bible Study on another night and then a monthly Bible Study for the entire Reservation once a month. We had both a clothing drive and school supply drive at the church building this year. We continue to have an abundance of visitors to the church and do whatever we can to study with them and teach them the truth.

This past year, Heidi and I have had the opportunity to be a part of some retreats, workshops and lectureships that were just outstanding. We’d like to be able to do more of that. We recognize the importance of taking time for ourselves and for improving our marriage and our spiritual life. Recognizing a need for it and doing it are separate matters. I’d imagine that nearly all of the ministers reading this could find some bit of truth in that.

Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville, TN is an example of just one lectureship that was excellent. It was a great opportunity to get to meet new people and visit with some of our supporters and to get recharged spiritually for the work we’re doing.

The plans and future of this work are really exciting. Dan Keele is here. The new trailer has arrived. Garden:2012 is right around the corner. I’m the director of church camp this summer {gulp}. We have as many visitors as we’ve ever had. Our sights are set on tackling our goals and this church is moving in the right direction.
Many good strides were made for the church in 2011 when it comes to the ladies of the congregation. We have managed to keep ladies’ nights going every Monday through the year. This includes Bible studies, crafts, eating together, cooking together, and so much more! Many of our members really look forward to Monday nights, but it’s not just members. We have a few ladies who never attend services, but show up on Mondays almost every week. It has become a great evangelism tool! In addition, some of our members have stepped up to lead devotionals and other activities. It is such a blessing to know the ladies want to take ownership of this event.

Ladies Corner:
In September, we held the first ever ladies day on the reservation. It was a huge success with close to 50 in attendance. The feedback was incredible and we are making this an annual event. We also started a relationship with the local women’s shelter. This was led by one of our members, Jennifer, which is so encouraging. We collected items to give to the families at the women’s shelter and hosted a Christmas dinner for them. We hope to continue this giving and start providing more help for the women’s shelter throughout the year.

One area I personally tried to focus on was spending more time with and developing relationships with the teenage girls. In the spring, I held a study on sexual purity. I thought the study went well, but only one or two were in attendance every week. Also, I learned a huge difference between teens raised in the church and those new to the church. I had my work cut out for me and I would like to try something different in 2012 with a focus on foundations of faith. There were other ways I connected to some who were not in that class. I had an individual Bible study with a girl who ended up being baptized, Josslyn. I started tutoring one of our teenage girls, Lucresha, almost every day for a while. I set up at the flea market with a troubled girl, Annie, in hopes to talk to her and help her do something productive. I am trying to be a mentor, guide and friend to some of our girls and hope to continue this in 2012.

Lastly, my children’s classes went really well and right now, another lady is teaching the 7-12 year olds, which is a huge blessing! We come up with our own material, but we are looking to purchase new curriculum with solid Bible teaching and also stimulating to the children.

If you have any suggestions or know of any solid material, please contact me. We are looking for a few options to choose from. Also, we would love to have people come out to do a workshop sometime on how to teach children’s classes. Please contact me if you are interested.

New Bible studies, attendance still high!

Our attendance Sunday morning was 55, again a really high number for us. Sunday night, we had 34! This is great! There are a few faces that haven't been around in a while who seem to be re-committing themselves to the church. One made a comment to Nick that she was really enjoying the teachings and thinking about them a lot. This is great news!
Nick started up his study with a teenager again, Justin. He seems really eager to learn and do what is right. Another teen girl, Chelsey asked me to study with her this week, so we are getting together on Thursday.
Aaand, we finally set up a study with one family that's been visiting for a while. They attend every service and are really eager to learn as well.
Pray for these families as they look for the truth.

January 11, 2012

Sometimes some one surprises you

In case you don't know or understand, one of our main goals with the church here is to not be needed anymore. We desire for Natives to run the church and be self-sustaining without an outside "missionary" helping. This can only be accomplished by getting members of the church to step up and start leading and initiating things now.
For the most part, I am in charge of Ladies nights on Monday nights. When we were gone for Christmas, a couple of the ladies took charge of events. I was amazed and so proud of them when I heard that they kept things going. This past Monday, another member, Velda, volunteered to lead something. I had no idea what to expect, but had confidence in her. She came to the building on Monday night with snacks, decorations, and a whole table of stuff planned for the evening. She led some songs and a short devotional. She encouraged us to remember how much we are blessed. Then she asked everyone to fill out a notecard with information about themselves. By the end of the night, we all got a partner that over the next two weeks, we are to get to know, hang out with and encourage. We are to log everything we do together. At the end of two weeks, the partners with the most activity win a prize. This is such a wonderful way to get people to know each other!
I am so proud of Velda and the other ladies who lead and serve for the church.

January 9, 2012

Start the New Year off strong!

We had an wonderful long trip home for Christmas. We had a lot of quality time with friends and family and my 2 month old niece.

We all know what happens in January. We make a bunch of New Year’s resolutions. Some of them we follow through on and most of them are long forgotten by February. No matter how you look at it, the New Year does feel like a fresh start and a whole new set of opportunities. I definitely feel that way about the Church here in Kayenta.

In this coming year, we hope to do some new and exciting things in the church, especially because we have a new team-mate, Dan Keele. Dan just graduated from preaching school in December and he is on fire to preach the Word of God to anyone who will listen. Let me take a moment to explain how well our team is balanced. Dan’s greatest strength is talking to people and evangelizing. Nick’s greatest strengths are preparing lessons and improving the organization of the church. I love to do paperwork and anything administratively. This year we will be starting Teen events again and Nick will be teaching a teen class. Dan plans on doing a lot of evangelism at places like the flea market. At the end of 2011, we moved a trailer onto the church property for Dan to live in. This year, we will have a lot of work projects to do on this trailer. We already had a couple guys come to assess the repairs and plan a trip out this summer. We also want to try a new event called “fifth quarter.” After a high school basketball game, we invite everyone to the building for pancakes and a devotional.

By the way, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to blog more about the work, so stay tuned!!!