August 1, 2009

Good evening friends and family,

I am writing this from our hotel in Albuquerque.

This morning we woke up and packed our bags and cleaned up the building where we were staying. A couple of students woke up at 4am this morning and went to the school to finish grouting the tile. I was proud of them for their determined attitude to finish what they had started. We left the reservation at 9:30am and arrive in Albuquerque at 11:30. We got a quick lunch at burger king and then headed to the hotel. We all spent a nice afternoon relaxing and getting cleaned up. I took everyone to a New Mexican restaurant tonight. We had a great meal and then headed back to the hotel.

We will be arriving at Dayton International Airport at 9:50pm on Sunday night. We look forward to seeing you there!

As this trip comes to an end, I want to thank you for all your prayers. This was an unbelievable trip and your prayers were a key part to the success of the trip.

See you tomorrow!

Jon Biggs

July 31, 2009

Well, our time in Gallup has almost come to an end. On Saturday morning we will head back to Alburquerque.

We worked this morning to finish our construction projects. The tile all got laid. Tomorrow morning a few students will wake up bright and early and grout the floor. We finished our work week by cleaning up the school and trying to leave it in better shape than when we came.

I think everyone was ready for some much needed rest and relaxation. We finished our work at 2pm. Everyone spent a few hours in the afternoon playing cards or napping. It was great!!!!

Tonight we went to a Rodeo and had a great time. It was out in the middle of no where. I think it was definitely a cultural experience. The highlight of the night was when we all rode the mechanical horse! The students got a big kick out of watching me ride the horse. Unlike many of the students, I did not last very long and went flying. I am already feeling the pain of this and am sure that tomorrow will not be any better! We finished the night with a wonderful dinner at Sonic.

We will miss being here at the Smith Lake School and living in one side of a duplex. But we are also looking forward to getting back to see our loved ones. I can’t wait to see my wife and baby. I heard Olivia on the phone yesterday and the days can’t pass fast enough.

I hope you have enjoyed following our trip through these emails. The remainder of emails will not be nearly as interesting.

Until Next Time,

Jon
Sent from my BlackBerry device

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

Sent from my BlackBerry device

July 29, 2009

Well it is 3:14am and I have been trying to send this email for over an hour with no luck. So I have copy and pasted the entire email into text messages to Joe and will try to send the email from his phone. Now, I REALLY hope you enjoy this email. Jon

As day 6 comes to an end, I thought that instead of hearing from me again you may like hearing from the ones who are making the difference here in New Mexico. I hope you enjoy the following brief testimonies from the team.

The time we have spent here in New Mexico has been amazing. At first, many of us felt like we weren’t doing as much as we hoped, and we were a little disappointed. Looking back now, we couldn’t be happier. We have formed so many great relationships, done a lot of construction, reached out to so many kids, and have been an encouragement to many of the believers here. I wish everybody could see the trip through our eyes, because we see God working in suchwonderful ways. -Kyle

When first venturing on this trip it appeared to be just that, a trip. It didn’t feel accomplished as far as the spiritual aspect. However, by the end ofthe day today I was able to see the small changes that had taken place and those are the ones that will stick. God is truly evident here! -Carolyn

This trip has been amazing and I can feel how the people are opening up to us. I am also getting closer to God on this trip.- Robby

This trip has been an amazing life experience. I’ve learned so much about the Navajo culture and about my own walk with God.-Sam P.S I don’t think being a tile layer is a sound career choice for my future!

Ya’ah’teeh! Down here in the Navajo land that means hello. The last six days of this missions trip have not only been life changing but also heart changing. It has been the best six days of my life! I can’t believe how much work can get done with such a small group. I can’t wait to come back and share my story with you. -Connor

The people here are amazing and it has been great getting to build relationships with the people who live here. It is also cool being able to feel a sense of accomplish when we finish a project we have been working on. – Liz

I’ve been having so much fun on this trip. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to come here. I really feel like I am making a big impact on the Navajo community. Please keep us in your prayers. -Erin

So far this trip has been a phenomenal experience, far beyond what I ever could have anticipated. The blessings, miracles, and God’s loving hand could no t be more evident. He has most certainly given us a mature and marvelous group and the grace and provision is immeasurable. Thank you all for your prayer s and I cannot wait to return and share our experiences with you. -Christy

I am blessed and thankful to be a part of this mission. Upon arrival we were greeted with the words, “we prayed for the perfect team and here you are.” I confess I doubted the wisdom of that statement but am experiencing God’s amazing grace and provision as we build relationships with our Navajo brothers and sisters and help re-build this old burned-out school into a much needed Christian community center. We have learnt that this building represents hope to this lost people and I am blessed that God is allowing me to participate in establishing His Mission of Hope!-Joe

So there you have it! I hope you have been as moved by reading these as I was typing them(sorry for any typos, it is late). Please keep us in your prayers over our final two days. The students have to decided to pass up most of their day off on Friday to continue working on the school. I have a very specific prayer request for the next two days. Please pray for the mortar we are using to lay tiles. Yes I said mortar. Every batch we mix is coming out different has been slowing us down. The students have a very specific goal that they want to reach before they leave but the mortar must starting mixing correctly for this to happen.

Well, it is past 2 a.m back home and my fingers are wore out from typing this email on my blackberry. The sun rises very early here.

I will leave you with what we talked about in our debriefing time tonight. We were talking about the ministry of reconciliation out of 2nd Corinthians. The prayer for this trip and for life when we return home is found in the final verse of the this section at the beginning of chapter six. It reads, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of Salvation.”

God bless you all,

Jon, on behalf of the New Mexico team.
Sent from my Blackberry.

July 28,2009

It’s hard to believe we are at the end of day 5 of this amazing journey.

This morning we continued on with our construction efforts. The students have given themselves clear goals for what they want to acheive while here and they are very determined to acheive them. Today Joe and I were able to really step out of the way and let the students take ownership of their jobs. The building we are working on is being restored so it can be used as a community center. Our students know that their work here is going to have a direct effect in reaching this community.

After lunch, I was invited to sit in on a conference call between World Vision, local ministry leaders and a solar power manufacturer. The purpose of the call was to discuss bringing solar power energy to the reservation to help create jobs and lower energy cost for people who are struggling to make it. It is an effort to empower the Navajo people to help them support themselves while reaching out to them. These parties realize they need to reach out to the whole person to be an effective witness. It was an honor to be on this call and was very inspiring.

We held the second day of our basketball clinic today. In the morning we prayed for more kids and God was faithful. Today we had 22 kids show up for the camp. Basketball skills were not really developed but these kids sure had fun! We are realizing more and more that just providing SOMETHING to do for the kids and families on this reservation is one of the best ways to reach the Navajo people. Our students displayed a great attitude and just loved on these kids. At the end of the clinic Kyle Provost gave his testimony to the kids.

During the clinic a lot of adults showed up athe gym wanting to play volleyball. We weren’t expecting this but didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to build relationships so we played volleyball for a few hours and had a great time. Again, our goal is to connect people to this community center so that they will continue to come back long after we leave to be ministered to.

After dinner, we took the night off. We all played a few games of volleyball and some full court basketball. We finished the night with ice cream. As I type this, the students are laughing and playing games. Pranks have been running rampent among the guys. The most common is the deflating of air mattresses. Today I came back to find my airmattress replaced with luggage with a sheet over it. The idea was for me to think that this was my bed and to jump down on it. To bad for Sam, Kyle, Connor and Robby I am much quicker than them and saw it coming. This group of students did not know each other very well before we left but they have all become very close.

Yesterday in my email I talked about one of the factors of why people cannot escape poverty is because of a “loss of hope.” I would ask you to pray for our cooks this week. They are starting to open up to us and today shared with us that their cousin committed suicide this past week. They shared that he had just lost hope and saw no future. Again, this is very common on the reservation. Our hearts go out for them.

Please pray for Pete Balon of Cornerstone Ministries. He is a man with a great vision and heart for his people. He shared with me today that he feels as if his people are the forgotten people in the United States by both the American government and Christians. This would fit into the first cause of poverty, a “marred identity.” You are going to get an opportunity to meet and hear Pete on October 25. He will be speaking at a World Vision conference in Cincinnati and we have asked him to come spend the evening with us at ccc sharing about his ministry. You will not want to miss this.

Parents, you have a fantastic group of students who are chasing after God with a great passion.

Until next time,

Jon Biggs
Sent from my BlackBerry device

July 27, 2009

Good evening from New Mexico,

First of all, my apologies if you received multiple emails from me this morning. I was not receiving a confirmation that my email was going through so I kept trying. I heard back from a few of you who said you received my text anywhere from 3 to 58 times. I think a little exaggeration was going on.

We are coming to the end of day 4 here in New Mexico and we are looking back at another great day. This morning we went back to our construction jobs. The ceramic tile team had a set back as we had to re do a portion of our work from Saturday because of a weak batch of mortar. But there was no complaing. The students all worked hard and I was very impressed at what we accomplished.

In the afternoon, we hosted the first day of our basketball camp. A total of 3, yes I said 3 kids showed up! We had a great time with the three little girls who were better ball players than most of our students. Our students ran this clinic as if there were 100 kids there. They had an amazing attitude. This afternoon flyers were handed out to all the local communities and churches. I believe we will have a bigger crowd tomorrow but we will be thankful for whatever God has in store. Our goal as a team is to connect kids to this community center that will be serving the community for long after we are gone.

After dinner, we had an amazing treat. Pete Balon who is the founder of Cornerstone Ministries of whom we are partnering with took us on a 30 minute drive up to the top of a mountain. On the way up we saw a few wild horses and a wild cow. The top of this mountain is one of the highest points in the Navajo Nation. It was a breath taking site as we watched the sun go down and debriefed on the day. Pete shared with us how God has opened the door for his ministry to take ownership of the mountain we were on for free. The nation believes in Pete’s work of community development and wants to help him. Pete would turn this mountain into a ministry center and retreat center for pastors. This man is an inspiration to be around as he faithfully and humbly seeks after God’s plan for the Navajo people.

We finished the night with ice cream and many laughs. Everyone is asleep in bed and we are all looking forward to the new day a head of us.

We have been spending a lot of time on this trip talking about what causes poverty and holds people there. There are two main factors that lead to this. The first one is a “marred identity.” The Navajo people definitly have experienced this with their history. The second factor is a “loss of hope.” They have lost hope that their life can count for anything while they live on this reservation. I learned tonight that in a neighboring community there were 30 suicides just last month. As I have said in my two previous emails, the students and leaders are developing a growing burden for these people and their need for a Savior.

Parents, you have children who are experiecing some major life change and paradigm shifts in their thinking. I would ask that when they return home that you spend a good amount of time talking with them about this trip.

There were many curveballs thrown at us in the preparation of this trip. It really got to the point where I would just laugh when another one would come up. I would often say that God must really have something special planned for this trip if we are meeting so much resistance. And I sure was right!

This is a fantastic group of students. I have thought many times today how thankful I am that each one of them is on this trip.

Until next time,

Jon Biggs

My apologies in advance if you receive multiple emails. I am in the dessert!

July 26,2009

Well we have come to the end of day 3 and all is well. We had another great day today.

We went to a local Navajo church this morning.We had a great time of worship in both english and Navajo. After lunch, our cooks served up another great meal.

Since it was the sabbath we did not work today. We did spend the afternoon and evening sightseeing. I believe we are in some of the most beautiful land in America. We travelled to a park where we saw some dried up volcano’s and something called the Ice Cave. The Ice Cave is a cave that grows ice in the middle of the dessert. Today there was 22 feet of ice. It was 31 degrees down at the ice which was a welcome cool down. Isn’t God amazing? He can even grow ice in the middle of the dessert!

We enjoyed a very authentic navajo meal tonight at a local restaurant called Pizza Hut. We had planned on eating at a local place but arrived in town too late. After dinner we headed to Walmart to pick up a few supplies and then headed home.

We are all anxious for tomorrow to come. We will be continuing our consturction work in the morning. Then in the afternoon we will start our basketball clinic.

Please be praying on Monday that God will bring kids to the clinic and that it will move smoothly. Tonight on the car ride home I asked the students if the trip was living up to their expectations and they all replied… “Much better than I expected.”

Thank you for all of your prayers. Please pray for the Navajo nation of which our hearts are growing a deeper burden for as each day goes on.

Until next time,

Jon Biggs

July 25, 2009

Good evening friends and family!

We have come to the end of our first day in Gallup. What an amazing day!

We arrived at the Smith Lake school at 11:30am. This is the school we will be working in this week. This school is being turned into a community center. We ate lunch with a group of Navajo pastors and they shared with us about their ministry and then we prayed together. For me, it was a very moving experience as we prayed with these men who are on the front lines ministering to a very Godless society.

After lunch we headed right into our work. I must say that the skill level is on our group is very minimal when it comes to construction. However, I couldn’t be prouder of our students. They dove right in and did an amazing job! Carolyn and Sam joined me in laying ceramic tile and did an awesome job. Joe, Erin and Kyle installed ceiling tile. And Christy, Robby, Liz and Connor painted doors. They were all pros by the end of the day.

At dinner, the Pete Balon,founder of Cornerstone Ministries who we are partnering with spoke to the students about his story and how God is working in his ministry. The students were highly engaged and asked some great questions.

After dinner, the boys went to the gym and played basketball while the girls made signs for the basketball clinic we will be putting on Monday and Tuesday. We were told today to expect 130 kids for the clinic. There are 10 of us on the trip. I have been thinking about Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish for the 5,000 today. Praying he will multiply US for this clinic!

I couldn’t be more encouraged as we end our first day here. All the students are in great spirits and excited about the week. They all great attitudes.

Please continue to pray this team and for the Navajo people for whom we as a team are developing a growing burden for.

Until next time,

Jon

July 24, 2009

Hi Parents,

I just wanted to take a minute and give you an update on the first day of our trip.

We are having a great time and everyone is happy. We had a very smooth trip from Dayton to Albuquerque. We had two girls who were flying for the first time today. They were both nervous but both Erin and Carolyn handled it great and I think they both may even like to flying!

We got to our hotel at 7pm tonight(2 hour time difference) and settled into our rooms and then   headed to Applebees for dinner. It was my birthday today and Connor Glass made sure the whole restaurant sang to me. It was definitely memorable. They also sang to me in a crowded shuttle bus today! After dinner, all the students went swimming at the pool here at the hotel and they are now all in their rooms.

Tomorrow morning we will have breakfast at 8am followed by a time of group devotions. At 9:30 we will leave the hotel and head to Gallup. We are scheduled to be there at 11:30. We will have a time of orientation and we will head right into our full week of ministry.

Thank you parents for trusting us with your kids. I believe that God has something great in store for them on this trip and I am excited and honored to be able to be part of this experience.

I will do my best to update you each day on how the trip is going. I cannot guarantee this as I am not sure what the internet situation will be at the reservation.

Until Next Time, Jon Biggs

Just a reminder….

There is NO REFUGE on Friday nights

for the rest of 2008. We will resume in 2009.

Take this time to hang out with your friends and family.