New Mexico Missions Trip- Day 7

July 30, 2009

We just had an experience that I will tell you in advance that I will not be able to do justice to in explaining to you. One of the most meaningful parts of this trip has been being able to work along side of and dialog with the Navajo pastors serving on the Navajo Nation. Tonight, in our evening debriefing Pastor Bobby and Mark shared out of God’s Word. These men are faithful servants of God in a truly Godless society. They spoke to our students to encourage them about the work they had done while being here this week. As I have shared, we put on a basketball clinic this week. They made it very clear to our students what a big impact these students have made on this community. Pastor Mark shared that most of these students are from single parent homes and many children are abused sexually, physically and pyschologically. For them to be able to have this safe haven this week was the best ministry we could have provided. I was very pleased from our students to receive this affirmation from these great men.

At the end I asked Pastor Mark, Pete and Bobby to pray for our students. We joined hands and stood in a circle and these three men who are truly on the front lines of spreading the gospel prayed for our students. I have been in a lot of prayer meetings but I can never remember being part of a prayer time like what we experienced tonight. The prayers were bold, faith filled and passionate. It is an experience that I will always remember and treasure.

We continued in our construction efforts today. The floor tiling continued to be frustrating today for the team. The mortar would not stick and we were pulling up as many tiles as we were putting down. Although frustrating, the students did not complain one time and continued to persevere.

We have built a good relationship with a young couple who was doing the cooking for us this week. Their names are Lee Andrew and Amberlee. They have a 8 month old babe named Mason. Our students adopted Mason as a baby brother this week. This baby hardly ever hit the ground. As I shared with you earlier in the week, their cousin committed suicide this week and so they had to leave today to get home for the funeral. Our students wanted to reach out to this family in a practical way. So they all chipped in some money and bought them a pack n’ play for Mason. They did not have a crib or pack n’ play for Mason and he would sleep on the floor. You could tell the family was truly touched and I was proud of our students for wanting to do this.

Tomorrow we will be working in the morning and then taking the afternoon off to go to a local festival. We are looking forward to a little rest and relaxation tomorrow after a long week.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We have felt them. We look forward to seeing you all soon and sharing what has happened on this trip.

Until Next Time,

Jon

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