Arizona Mission Trip 2008

Well, after a long and grueling, yet wonderful 11 days we limped back into the church late on Sunday night. Van troubles, a well-timed flat tire at midnight in Bakersfield, and some small bladders all contributed to a longer than expected trip home. But the Lord is faithful and kept us safe and the unity intact. There are many, many stories to tell from this trip, time does not permit me to recount them all at this time. I do have some pictures and a few videos that I will post to give some idea as to what took place in Kaibito and on the White Mesa. There will be a mission trip update during July's Lord's Supper service. So, make sure that you are available to attend and can hear some personal testimonies from our trip. If you know any student or adult that had the chance to go with us please ask them to tell you about what they experienced. I'm sure they will have much to say about what the Lord did on the Rez.

Video clips:

I love this video clip of John Kim. He was one of the students from the Corvallis Korean Church that went with us. His love for the kids was clearly demonstrated through his patience and gentleness with the kids as seen here.

One of the unique experiences of doing a VBS on the reservation is piling kids in the van from the community and bringing them to the VBS. This clip shows Russ bringing a van load of 23 kids back to the church. We thought that was a lot until a few days later when he was able to squeeze upwards of 36 kids into the van.

The church that we stay at isn't very big, but that doesn't stop all the kids from having fun as they learn about Christ. Here is a glimpse at what the group does to begin and end the VBS. We teach them simple songs that contain Biblical Truth and motions to go along with the words.

Photos:

This is what happens around the 9th hour of being in the van...

This is George Mann. He is one of the Bible teachers at Kaibito Baptist. He led a Sunday School class for the adults on Sunday morning while Bryan Bernard led a youth service for the students.

This is Benny. He is also one of the teachers at the church. He played the roll of MC for the church service.

Some ladies in the church sang a few songs for us in Navajo. Tim Saffeels did a great job of playing some impromptu piano to accompany them.

We were then asked to lead in a few songs. Jacob Domeyer led us in a few hymns while Tim accompanied on the piano.

Testimonies are a big part of the Navajo services. Caley Williams, Zac Bell (not shown), Jane Kim, and Daniel Ha all gave their testimonies.

On Sunday afternoon we spread out to go door-to-door inviting all the kids in Kaibito to the VBS that week.

This is the sign on the church.

Sunday evening was filled with lots of prep for the VBS.

More VBS prep.

You guessed it...more VBS prep.

This, too, was after some VBS prep. These guys broke concrete blocks and made room inside of a hogan on the mesa for the VBS at George Mann's place.

This, too, was funny. You'll have to ask Matt or Tim about their blue shirts that they wore EVERY DAY!

As the kids arrived each day we would play with them outside before the VBS.

Snack station during the VBS.

Jacob Ross helps a little dude with the game.

Josh Hudson led the Bible lesson each day.

Here we see what the VBS is all about. Even during the snack time our students take advantage of the opportunity to share Christ with these kids. Each of the snacks, crafts, and games was tied into the Bible lesson for the day.

On our last night in Kaibito the people in the church made us Navajo Tacos. Here we see Jacob, Shelby, and Ari learning how to make fry bread.

Last, but not least, we have Chef Dorri. We ate so well on this trip people will want to come back just for the food!