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.”