Accounting News and Notes

Our last day was uneventful. We had breakfast at the Best Western. We spent the rest of the day in the Albuquerque, NM airport, on the Delta airplane, and in the Atlanta airport.  Most people read books, shopped, or worked crossword puzzles. Two of the church vans arrived to pick us up. Most of us got home around 7:00 p.m.

Although our Mission Trip to the Pueblo Pintado community and the Navajo people in NM was over our journey was not. Our families will be forever changed, our lives will never be the same, our new Navajo friends are now a part of us forever, and we are already making plans to see again soon our Navajo brothers and sisters in Christ.

This was our last day at Pueblo Pintado. The shirt signing and saying of good-byes was intense.  Hayden, one of the kids in Vacation Bible School is a very good artist. Nathan and Dawn bought an eagle picture from him. Kristin has an art degree, and she was able to talk to him about putting together a portfolio for college and about what he could do with an art major (graphic artist, cartoonist, etc). 

In the morning, Trey and Ronnie had gone in the vans to pick up the kids. Neither one of their favorite kids were at home. That afternoon, they decided to go in the van to take the kids home. The van took a short cut, and found both boys playing alongside the road.  Trey and Ronnie were able to say good-bye. Definitely, God knew that the desire of Trey’s and Ronnie’s hearts were to see these boys before they left, and He provided by leading the driver of the van to take a short cut that had never been taken before. 

As the team was driving off of the reservation to head to Albuquerque, we stopped by the White Horse Church to see the construction work that had been completed that week.  Marleeta and Carol went up to the pastor’s house. Carol gave Sophie her prayer square to use to remind her that she was being prayed over for safety when she had to hitchhike into town.  Carol left five Bibles – one for Sophie and four for the church. 

Then, we returned to the vans and went to Albuquerque. We spent our evening in Old Towne eating dinner and shopping.  We were greeted there by surprise by Arnold, Rachael, Amber, and Mallory. They spent the night at the Best Western Inn with us. 

Today at Vacation Bible School, the kids were given Bibles from the American Bible Society. A cameraman was walking around making a video of the kids receiving their new Bibles. We also had water day. After lunch, the Pueblo Pintado fire department was there to open up the water from the fire hydrant to hose down the kids in the high school parking lot. The kids rolled around on the asphalt with the water pouring down onto them.  One of the boys pushed Marlene, one of the Navajo women, into the water.  She was a good sport about it.  Pam played around in the water with Mikayla, Sophie’s daughter. The Sugarloaf Community Church adults made sure that all of the teenagers got wet. The firemen allowed Tom to help in spraying the water on the kids. Tom had spent several of his working years as a fireman, and you could tell that he still had a love for the work even as a retiree. He was grinning from ear to ear as he manned the fire hydrant. His wire Penny asked Arnold Billie if he thought that they might have a shirt laying around at the fire station that they could give to Tom. That afternoon, Arnold showed up at Penny’s house with a shirt, and they went over the house where Tom was staying to deliver the shirt. Tom was glad to receive that gift. 

We had planned on taking a trip to the mesa that evening, but God had different plans for us. There was no gas at the gas station. After dinner, we listened to a talk from Valerie about the Navajo foundation of education. She explained to us the circle of life that started with the east, then moved to the south, the west, and the north in that consecutive order. The Hogan, which is a Navajo home, where many of the Navajos live is round representing the cycle of life with the door facing the east representing the beginning of life. Also, the cafeteria at the high school is built in a circle to represent the cycle of life. 

 After this talk, Nathan noted in his journal that it was interesting that we spent two hours sharing experiences in the cycle of life. It is not possible to note all of the things that were shared here, but I do feel that it is important to share some things that really stuck out that were brought up during this time. First, much praise was given to the kids on this team.  They took on leadership roles in Vacation Bible School, and did an awesome job. Some of them babysat kids that were too young to be at Vacation Bible School. Others helped out with construction. Their contributions to this team were invaluable.  Next, the food on this trip was awesome. Tom and Penny along with their helpers Robin, Susan, and Carol definitely outdid themselves here. Pastor Tommy and his wife Dee were grateful to be on a mission trip and feel that they could blend into the crowd and not be “on” all the time.  They could just be themselves and enjoy serving.  Kevin shared that he really missed his family, and that the team made him feel like he was family. The construction team worked very, very hard and did their work with excellence. Susan said that every fifteen minutes was a miracle. The kids gave her the encouragement and the strength to be able to do what she did in Vacation Bible School with the sign language and the story time.  Sam shared how much his wife Patti had influenced him to come on this trip.  Her testimony of last year had made him want to come. We never know how much what we say can encourage others to want to go. Also, there was one person who gave up something very valuable that this person felt that the Lord was leading to give to one of the Navajos.  This person struggled with giving up this item, but did so in obedience to God.  This sacrificial gift brought much joy to this person in the end. Tami did an awesome job of organizing this team and putting everything together.  Her husband John gave her very strong support and also was an outstanding spiritual leader. 

The sharing time was lead by Andrew and ended with a foot washing by him and John Dillard.  It was very moving as they washed our smelly feet and poured out wonderful words of blessing over our lives.

We had about 63 kids at Vacation Bible School. Among those kids was Ronnie’s favorite kid from last year.  Ronnie was glad to be able to reconnect with him again.  At the Adult Bible Study, Emma brought fried Indian bread to share with everyone. Carol said at first that she had had a big breakfast and that she would only be able to eat a small piece of this bread. Well, the bread was so good that she ended up eating the whole piece of bread with honey on it. The women all laughed at her because of her gross underestimation. Marlene gave Carol a flowerpot that she had painted. It has Noah’s ark on it.  Carol gave her a hug and told her that she was not going to let this get out of her sight. She did not, and some of the women were pointing at her with the flowerpot in her hand at lunch. Marleeta noticed how the women helped clean up the crafts at the end of the day. All we had to do was start cleaning up, and they plunged in full force making sure that everything was left in good order.

John Dillard, Nathan, and Howie spent the morning at Nelson’s house putting in the new window. John shared John 14:6 with Nelson and later brought Bibles to Nelson, Philip, and Nelson’s nephew. Nathan then dropped back by the church and left his prayer square on the podium at the White Horse Church. 

Every day, Vacation Bible School ended with Ken gathering the kids around him to get them to recite their Bible verse for the day and to review what the kids had learned the previous day.  On this day, the kids were very responsive to Ken. They did sign language of all of the themes for the last three days – Believe in God, Obey God, and Trust in God.  The fourth and fifth graders were taught Proverbs 3:5 in sign language.  It was neat to see the kids eager to answer Ken’s questions from the last three days’ lessons. 

After lunch, Carol got one of the vans to drop her off at the Senior Center to play Bingo for an hour. The seniors were so excited to show the craft that they had done for the day.  Carol sat between Mary and Virginia. She was especially impressed to see that even though Mary was the oldest person at the Senior Center, Mary had a very good grasp of the English language.  Virginia did not have as strong of knowledge of the English language, and Carol got the honor of helping her with her Bingo card. At the end of the day, the seniors were very good about helping to clean up the tables. Virginia gave Denise a necklace, and Patti and Carol received a necklace from Helen. It was later learned that Denise and Patti were showered with this abundant love every day. 

Pam, Jim, and Philip, spent the day painting the storage room at the Senior Center and putting down tile there. Mark was working in the bathroom.

In the afternoon, Dee kept several of our kids and some of the Navajo kids busy making signs for the carnival that we held in the evening for the community.  Also, Kevin and Diane took pictures throughout everyday and loaded them into the computer set up in the dining hall so that we could enjoy them when we were preparing for the next day and during meals. 

The carnival was a lot of fun. The kids played games like the Cake Walk, the Horse Shoe Toss, and Guess the Gum Balls. There also was fingernail polishing.  Ken Powers and his son Alec were among those who got their nails polished.  (LOL!!)   There were about 100 people at Bingo. Robin was the main Bingo caller, and Dawn enjoyed giving out cards and space covers to all of the players. We served hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, chips, and cookies for dinner. It was sad to see the Navajos run to the food table when it was announced that the food would be taken up in five minutes. They swarmed around the food table taking any food that they could get to take home. That was evidence of not having enough food at home. 

The number of kids for the Vacation Bible School today was 60, and there were 7 in Adult Bible Study and 25 at the Senior Center. After registration, the kids were given the opportunity to get their face painted. Beverly used this time to give the kids a summary of the story that was being told in VBS that day. Adriano asked Ken Powers who created God. Then, he thought for a while and said, “I know. The Holy Spirit created God.” 

The construction crew completed the painting on the White Horse Church. The church was transformed from light blue with dark brown trim to tan with dark brown trim. The pastor of the church expressed her appreciation to them by preparing for them a delicious lunch of Indian tacos, pinto beans, onions, lettuce, salsa, fruit punch, and watermelon. 

Dee, Tami, Turner, Quinn, Kaylee, Ashley, and Madison spent the afternoon cleaning out the storage room at the Senior Center so that the construction crew could start painting and replacing the floor there on Wednesday. When they pulled stuffing mix from the top shelf, they found rat droppings. All I can say about this is “yuck!” 

The evening activity was Bingo. Julia won one of the games and chose one of the Navajo women to pick out the gift and keep it. To see one of our elementary kids truly grasping the meaning of giving was touching, and this set a precedent for playing Bingo if anyone on our team won. 

The first day of Vacation Bible School was a success!!  We had about 45 kids in Vacation Bible School, 6 women in Adult Bible Study, and 25 at the Senior Center. Ken had three neat experiences that came out of Vacation Bible School. A girl named Sasha came up to him asking for Molly, one of the girls from West Virginia. Another girl came up to Ken and told him that he was right near her heart on her t-shirt. This showed Ken that the kids do remember us, and we do make a difference in their lives. A boy named Lawrence shared with Ken that his brother had been run over and killed by a car. This revealed to Ken that the kids did have some trust in us to be able to share such precious information with one of us. Marlene, one of the women in the Adult Bible Study, gave Dawn a sterling silver bracelet.    

Pam, Jim, and Philip spent the day scraping paint off of the White Horse Church. In the afternoon, Alec, Trey, Ronnie, McKenna, Andrew, and Lauren joined them and scraped paint off of the third wall. The arrival of the teens really encouraged the adults in their work.  

John Dillard again reminded us that church was what we do in every part of our lives from home to work. Life is 90 percent about showing up, not necessarily being busy. 

We visited the White Horse Church and were literally welcomed with open arms.  The local pastor wanted us to lead the service and requested to hear testimonies. The pastor, one of her daughters, and her niece Sophie lead the special music. Then, Doug, Tami’s dad shared his story of being in an accident that left him in a coma.  He miraculously came out of the coma as a result of the prayers of friends and relative. God spoke to him that he had not been giving his best to Him so during recovery, Doug read the entire Bible from cover to cover. Now, he will not let an opportunity to share the Gospel with others go by. Then, we had a moving testimony from Dawn and Pam. Dawn shared about leading a support group for cancer patients in another church. When she was at a team meeting several weeks ago, she saw Pam and asked who she was. She realized immediately that Pam had been in her cancer support group. Dawn told about being raised on an Indian reservation and being alcohol and drug free for 26 years. Pam shared about moving to Texas and then coming back. She had also decided not to go to Pueblo Pintado this year until much friendly persuasion from the Powers family. God definitely brought Pam and Dawn back together to serve on this mission trip, and this was a confirmation to both Pam and Dawn that they were supposed to be on this trip.  

The message was given by John Dillard our spiritual leader, on the story of Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king, and in this position, he did not have the authority to speak to the king.  Nehemiah had a passion to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt after the Israelites had been in exile.  He waited prayerfully and patiently for God to fulfill His plans in his life. John reminded us that when God has a seemingly impossible plan for your life, you and God are a majority. He will work everything out in your favor to accomplish His plan in your life. Nehemiah went to the king and received a paid vacation to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 55 days.  

Andrew shared with us that the church is not just a building. It is the people and that everyone is needed to do the work. Then, we received a moving testimony from Sophie, the pastor’s granddaughter about backsliding into a life of alcoholism and being a bad example for her daughters, nieces, and nephews. She had recently made a decision to come back to the Lord. You could see the sadness in her eyes because of her mistakes.  Denise took this opportunity to share with her how her daughter McKenna had gotten their family back into church and told her that it was never too late to be a good example.  The service ended with praise songs that were led by Doug and a prayer from its pastor.   

We spent the afternoon setting up for the next day.  As I was writing in this journal in the afternoon, Kristen was pulling tumbleweeds out of the basketball court so the kids could play basketball during sports camp.  Kristen pointed out to me that the small tumbleweeds were harder to remove than the larger ones.  She said that it was like the sins in our lives.  The larger sins are easier to see, and you can take care of them immediately like David and Goliath.  The smaller sins like watching too much television get deeply rooted into your life before you realize that they are there and end up being more difficult to let go of.  Kristen’s hard work prepared the basketball court to be used by John Dillard and Philip to develop relationships with some of the kids over the week. 

After dinner, John Dillard reminded us of the great commission and using a fishing box, pulled out a lure.  He said that each one of us has different gifts that allows us to be able to reach different people and that all of our assigned responsibilities were important to make this mission trip a success. 

This was the perfect day to begin our journey to Pueblo Pintado.  The day was bright and sunny with a few clouds dotting the sky.  Everything went fairly smoothly at the airport.  It was just the normal travel hassles – loss of some cosmetics and some shuffling of items in luggage to prevent any extra charges.  Having two hours at the airport to eat, read, work on crossword puzzles, and talk was an enjoyable break before boarding our Delta airplane for our three and a half hour flight from Atlanta to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  On our flight, we were able to gaze at blue skies and large fluffy clouds making different formations outside of our windows.  Patti was reading a book on the airplane that opened with the following quote from Albert Einstein: “There are two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”  What a neat way to start a mission trip, being reminded to see everything as though it is a miracle.  

When we arrived in Albuquerque, Tami, Madison, Andrew, Mark, Lauren, Ken, and Philip greeted us at the airport.  They had five vans waiting for us.  We loaded the vans with luggage and headed to the Golden Corral for lunch.  The rolls and the desserts won out as everyone’s favorite foods.  Then, we started on our drive to Pueblo Pintado, NM to serve the Navajo Indian community living there.  Surrounded by flat-topped mountains and beds of lava, the drive was breathtaking.  As we drove through the area where she grew up, Pam shared fond memories of family and growing up in the area.  We made a brief stop at a Wal-Mart for construction and Vacation Bible School supplies before continuing our drive to Pueblo Pintado.  When we pulled up to the cafeteria at the high school where we would be working during the week, God reminded us that He was the One Who was in control of this week.  Rays of sunshine piercing through heavy rain clouds revealed to us His magnificent glory and left us standing for a moment in reverence and awe marveling at His greatness.  

Pam and others had put together a meal of lasagna and salad, which we ate before going to see where we would be staying for a week.  Our accommodations were five duplex homes with air conditioning, kitchens, closets, and mattresses on the floor.  In one home, Robin, Dawn, Penny, Susan, and Debra were quick to pick up brooms and mops and start cleaning at 8:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. to our bodies).  The rest of us watched with that stunned deer-in-the headlights looks in our eyes unable to do anything but get ready for bed.  We lay down to the sound of a symphony of frogs croaking outside and a large downpour of rain eager to see what God was going to do with and through our efforts of the upcoming week. My constant prayer on missions is that I not have an agenda or goal of my own and that I seek only to love and serve those in Pueblo Pintado and fellow mission trip members.

Our family just completed its third family mission trip with more already committed to on the way. Going away with your family on a mission trip is truly a life changing opportunity for all of your family dynamics. The lessons both you and your children will discover will be a defining moment you will refer to time and time again. There is nothing like being the hands and feet of our Savior. Over the next few days I will be posting a day-by-day dairy, which was done by one of our mission trip leaders. Come along and see what God might have in store for you and perhaps leading you to discover your first family mission trip.

In the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ

“Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God, that it is doomed to failure unless Christ be in it.”

“Dare to Attempt Something so Great for the Kingdom of God that it is doomed to failure, lest Christ be in it!” This is the motto frequently used by Randy Pope, the pastor of Perimeter Church in Duluth, GA. An explanation even our children could understand might be “I double dog dare you to try something so cool that you will fail, unless God himself helps you.” Just like the story of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, God calls us to be bold in our faith. Not bold in all things, not our work, not with our spouse, but in our faith alone.

The best definition I have ever heard of being humble or meek is “power under control.” Jesus had all the power in the world but he came to save the world and not to rule over it as many had expected. If you are willing and open, able to be burdened for His tasks, God will lead you to do great things in his name that only you can do. There are many nuances to our lives and exacting circumstances for which you alone will experience. Accordingly it is up to be us to accomplish what he lays on our heart and to hear his words guiding us to move forward. Life’s defining moments for each of us will present unique opportunities that both by past life events and our God given leanings only we can achieve. Be willing to be Jesus hands and feet doing great miracles that are only possible with his help and prompting.  In this way, we can all work to make this world a better place for us all physically and spiritually.