Thanks

We are all safe at home after a 29 hour van ride from New Mexico. We spent some time de-briefing and talking about things that happened and possibilities for the future.

We thank everyone that we met in New Mexico and we thank you all for the prayers. We all felt like we made many new friends on this trip. God is good!

Sunday, February 8 at 10:30am, we'll be talking about our trip with a slide show, music and stories from the week. Please come!
Monroe Community Church
800 Monroe
Grand Rapids, MI

Zuni Christian Mission School

This morning, we left before sunrise to drive about 33 miles south to the Zuni pueblo.



We did the morning chapel at Zuni Christian Reformed Mission School.



We had an opportunity to meet with the teachers and pray with them.



We also helped out in the classrooms for a couple of hours and then had lunch with the kids.



After lunch, Pastor Mike Meekhof of Zuni Christian Reformed Chruch gave us a tour of the area which has a lot of poverty. The bread ovens below are a typical sight.



On the way out of Zuni we stopped (about 3 times) to take photos of this incredible mesa! Last chance to take in some of the beauty...



We are leaving at about 5 am tomorrow morning. Thank you for your prayers this week... please continue to pray for our trip home tomorrow!

Up at O'Dark Thirty

This morning, we woke up early to go out to the Rehoboth Cemetery to see the sunrise with Stanley Jim, a Navajo who works with Home Missions. It seemed like a good idea to get up and walk on the frozen solid deep red clay ruts in 16 degree temps in the dark through the frost-covered sage bushes and go up to a cemetery in the dark. It was unforgettable! We sat on the top of Resurrection Rock and listened intently as Stanley told us stories of the people and shared with us his own story of coming to know Jesus. He came back and had breakfast with us and we prayed for one another. It was such a blessing for all of us!

The sun rose over the mountain. The little buildings on the top are hogans where the Navajo used to live. Now they are used only for ceremonial purposes.

After breakfast, I helped out with a couple of math classes, Scott helped with history class, and Betsy worked in the kindergarten. John cleaned up the paint mess, while the other guys set up for chapel. We met before chapel and put our last thoughts together on what we wanted to say. The theme of the week was about purpose and we wanted to talk about rejection and how that gets in the way of our purpose. Betsy did an introduction and started with prayer.

Scott talked a little about his own rejections and John preached about some notable Michigan people (Thomas Edison & Michael Phelps). I read Psalm 53. Jeremiah and Eric led worship with some great music.

In the afternoon, we helped at the Church Rock Academy after school program, and after supper, we went to see the Rehoboth Middle School Choir Concert, so it was another full day. Tomorrow, we are heading to Zuni. Keep us in your prayers!

Down from the Mountain

After the awesome mountain climb of yesterday, we got right back to work on painting the stage. We spent time last night talking about the climbing experience and what a high it was. We were joined in our devotions by a friend of Eric's who is a social worker for the Gallup area schools. She told us about the poverty and sad home situations of many of the kids in the area. We also learned more about the culture in our visit yesterday at the Navajo museum.

The photo below is a view of Church Rock on our way down from the mountain yesterday. One thing we talked about is how we can get so focused on our struggles to climb up that we forget to stand back and look at the big beautiful picture sometimes.

Here are a few more scenes from yesterday:

Cactus

Flea Market


Navajo Museum

This afternoon, Scott, Betsy & I helped out with the after school program while the others finished up the painting job. As I talked with a little first grade girl on the bus to the library, I heard just a bit of her sad home situation and it was heart-breaking. She was from one of the other schools in the area.

For supper, we joined the Rehoboth CRC for supper at the fellowship hall and had an opportunity to talk to more people. Soon, we will be meeting with Ron Polander who is the Executive Director here, and he will give us more of the background to Rehoboth.

Painting and More Fun...

We have packed it in these first two weekdays. Monday, we put a good afternoon into painting the stage for their new theater which is being converted from the old gym. We put a layer of primer on it, and tomorrow, we'll be painting it all black.






The way our work is lining up this week, we found that the best day to take a day for checking out the area was going to be Tuesday. So in the morning, we headed over to Window Rock, AZ.



We had lunch in Gallup and looked at some of the pawn shops there. Then we went to Pyramid Rock with the goal of making the near 7500 foot summit by sunset. We had just over an hour to do it and they told us the hike was 1.5 hours. So we set out. Scott with his true servant heart caught a ride back to Rehoboth to prepare supper.

The weather here has been strange, but amazing. It's very cold at night, in the teens, and by 11 am in the morning it gets up to the 40's or near 50 (today 51). The sun is so bright and hot that we can walk around without a coat. It's strange to see the red clay mixed with snow.

The views on the way up were awesome!

We were thrilled to make it to the summit by sunset.

Look at the awesome colors on the way down. It got dark and John & I lost the trail once, but waited for our flashlight toting traveling companions and made it safely down.

Starting the Week Off Right

Wow, we are blown away by the blue sky here! Remember how we only had 3% of possible sunshine in GR in December? They have 97% sunshine here!!!

Sunday, we spent the day recuperating from the 33 hour drive. We went to Rehoboth CRC in the morning where Jeremiah & Eric opened the worship with a song. We did a little hiking in the hills around the campus in the afternoon and met later that evening for a meeting, to watch the sunset and the moon rise. It was so amazing!!!

Our day was packed Monday - starting with opening the middle school chapel with songs and stories. We worked on a big painting project all afternoon, and now everyone is waiting to eat a late supper, so I have to go, but I wanted to give you a bit of our day.



See you soon!

Thanks for the Prayers - We are Here!

We left Saturday morning at about 12:40 am and drove and drove and drove... we stopped at the road side last evening for a photo op and to wave hello:



after about 30 hours of driving, we pulled into Rehoboth just as the sun was about to rise Sunday morning. Perfect timing - God is good!!!



What a beautiful view...!!!



It was also great to see a "real bed." ;)


Altogether, it was a good drive down. The six of us had many good conversations, prayers and meals together on the road. It was so cool to see how God used the long journey to move us from being the "Rehoboth Group" to the "Rehoboth Team."

Please continue to pray for us as we explore this area and develop relationships with the people here!


Betsy & Julia

Ready, Set, Go!

Tonight,we're meeting down at MCC at 11pm to pack up the van & trailer from LaGrave Ave. CRC. And we hope to be on our way soon after midnight! Please keep us in your prayers - especially for our safety and that we don't run into much snow.

See you in New Mexico!

Prayer Requests

Today, our group met for the final time before leaving for Rehoboth this coming Saturday. Rick VanTil from Home Missions met with us to give us some ideas of what to expect and what to look forward to, and we spent some time in prayer. We are all looking forward to what God will do during this trip.

Please pray for us as we get ready to leave. The following prayer requests were written by Betsy and I couldn't have said them better myself, so please pray for -

1. Final preparations, especially for Jeremiah as he is leading us down there.
2. Safe travel through the night-- we leave GR on Saturday morning (10th) and return from NM the next Saturday (17th).
3. Unity as a group-- the names of the six people going are: Jeremiah, John and Julia, Scott, Eric, and Betsy.
4. Organization & Flexibility: as of now, there are general ideas for our work there, but pray that we would be able to do some meaningful work (for us, but especially that our work would be meaningful to them).
5. Building relationships, especially in establishing a long-term connection between MCC and the churches there! This is huge for us!!
6. Physical, emotional and spiritual strength throughout the trip. Growth as a group and for our church's vision for mission work.
7. Ability to transition back to our church life when we return and be reminded frequently of our brothers and sisters in New Mexico throughout the year.