Saturday, July 11, 2015

Hallelujah! by Sam Kim

As we sat around the fire and listened to a young man who was one of the most reluctant to participate at the beginning of the week rap about Christ, while his mom who a few days ago seemed critical toward us sat with us with joy and love toward her son and us, I kept thanking and praising God. It is truly He, and not us, who redeems all things, and make them new and good. What an amazing blessing and privilege that He'd do such things through His people!  As we gazed into the bright stars above us our hearts sang out "Hallelujah! You are so amazing!"


Praising Jesus, Sam 

Praise God for a faith-filled Vacation Bible School! Our lessons focused on God's plan of salvation, and the Holy Spirit was present each day! It has been an honor to teach the Good News of Jesus to these precious children and teens! Thank you for praying for us and for them. Pray that God continues to help them understand His enduring love for them found in Jesus!








Exploring God's glorious creation in Window Rock, Arizona and Navajo, NM!




'What an amazing time this has been' by Dawn Jorgensen

Ya at eeh abini. (Navajo morning greeting, unfortunately without punctuation!) Blessings and greetings from New Mexico on this last day of our vacation Bible school. What an amazing time this has been! The Lord has truly come before us; our fears of not having anyone come to the church for the programs and fellowship have been blown away by the ever-present desert wind. We have been amazed at the types of “challenges” that we faced: scrambling to make more food, find more chairs and provide more supplies! Our God has been working mightily, and the people here are hungry for nourishment of many sorts. They are often waiting for us when we arrive, even though the meals aren’t to start for a half hour. They are reluctant to leave, asking if they can help just to be able to stay at the church with us. They are sharing their time, their expertise in crafts and cooking, their very lives with us, and we are so blessed. We have had an average of 30 children these last 3 days, and most have some type of familial relationship with the other participants. 

Each day different adults come and stay, perhaps thinking they will just drop off their children, but God has other plans. They converse with us, do the crafts that the children do, learn about Jesus and usually eat!  We are so grateful to be developing relationships with the folks here, and are eager to see how the Lord grows us all as we continue on this spiritual journey together. We have a bonfire tonight and, if the weather holds, a wonderful time of star gazing and exploration with Mr. Frank. Tomorrow consists of service projects at the church and some home visitation with Pastor Tim before some free time for sight-seeing. Sunday we’ll worship with our new friends at Shepherd of the Valley, and pray for their own VBS which starts Monday! We’re all so grateful for your prayers; thank you for sending us with full hearts, open arms and lots of supplies! We are ever aware of our OSLC family constantly praying for us, interceding, blessing. We are so thankful to have you all with us in spirit. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all of the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12) 

Blessed to be in Christ with you,

Dawn

Campfire praises to the Lord! S'mores and marshmallows were a huge hit, but none could compare to Mr. Frank's presentation under the stars on the church campus! Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!



Each child received two Children's books at the VBS. They both proclaim the awesome love of Jesus!


Friday, July 10, 2015

Star man Mr. Frank showing planets, stars, etc.. from his telescope. Praise God for His glorious creation!



'Many relationships are being built' by Mr. Frank

Hello and blessings from the Navajo nation! In addition to the beautiful surroundings of painted mountains & lush greenery,  the fantastic atmospheric displays observed on our return commute, we have been blessed to deepen a renewed friendship with the Norton's and visit with our sisters and brothers of the Navajo. Whatever trepiditations  we packed with us on the flight out here have been left behind as we serve, meet and converse with all ages. The VBS program has been blessed with increasing numbers of children as the word has been spread that there's much fun happenings occurring at the church! With such a gifted and talented team leading the effort, in partnership with local brothers & sisters, we pray for a rich harvest.

Sam and I have been assisting in improving the properties beauty and safety, mostly by trimming the trees and preventing erosion of the roadway. Trying to help make this a beautiful welcoming sanctuary for the members and neighboring  community in such a richly  beautiful country. It has been a pleasure working with our brother Timothy and occasionally the young people to improve the property.

I thank you all for the prayers and support for us out here, as we meaningful feel your presence daily, as we work for The Lord among the Navajo people. Many relationships are being built. 

Blessings to you from us!  Mr. Frank


Vacation Bible School--praise God for His kids in Navajo nation!




A great time serving the Lord


















Hello friends at Our Savior Lutheran Church! Adam here having a great time. Everyone is having a great time serving the Lord. Miss Karen and others made a great lunch which was a big hit, everyone wanted seconds. Today we played and sang fun songs and games and more kids came. When we broke into our groups the kids really got into the lesson. The teachers added actions into the lessons to make them more engaging. Everyone had a great time with the crafts today; the older kids made leather crosses and the younger group did sand art. When the kids had mastered the memory verse, John 14:6, they were rewarded with lollipops.  The Norton’s miss everyone at OSLC, Leslie says “Hi.” (Philip says that he caught a 16-foot fish that spoke Gujarati fluently.) Today was another fun day at VBS.    

Fondly, Miss Karen and Adam 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

We are missing Guy and praying that he will be able to come in future years.

We miss Guy McAdam, our dear brother in Christ.  He was not able to make the trip due to health issues.  He participated in all of our training sessions and was planning on making the trip until late Sunday evening.  He sent us with a laptop that he put together for 'whoever needs it' at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church.  Pastor Tim Norton is praying through who to bless with this computer.
We miss you, Guy, and send you love and prayers from your Navajo teammates!

The team with the Norton family in front of their home in Gallup, New Mexico! We were blessed to spend the evening with them on Thursday. It is such an honor to serve Jesus alongside all of them. To God be the glory!


Mr. Frank (aka Mr. ketchup and mustard!)


Pastor Tim and Karen teaching and sharing Jesus' love with the 7,8,9 year old kids


Praising the Lord at Vacation Bible School!







Kristin helping the Pre-K children with crafts at Bible School on Thursday


Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church; Heidi teaching the little ones about God as Creator; Finding one of God's amazing creatures--a horned toad




Life on life sharing in Jesus' Name



Sam and Frank trimming trees on church property


Balloon games at VBS!


My first day of VBS was unbelievable by Jennie Sienkiewicz

Howdy folks! Jennie here!!! I still can’t believe I’m here in New Mexico. It seems so unreal to be here with everyone. My first day of VBS was so unbelievable. I made so many new friends! (I hope to leave with a pen pals!) At the church there were so many children there.  I was very excited to meet everyone there. After the ice cream social tonight, we played fun games including tag and animal kingdom. It turned out to be more than I imagined. It was so fun to talk and make new friends and help out with the teachings of the Bible. 

They remember my name! by Adam Sienkiewicz

Hi folks, it’s Adam!!! My first VBS day was quite an experience for me. When we got there it started slow but people were showing up around when we started. The Sloppy Joes were really sloppy.  I thought they were a big hit based on the Navajo’s facial expressions. After lunch we gathered in sanctuary and sang fun songs. (There was giggling from some of the people!) After the fun songs, we gathered in age groups and everyone enjoyed the crafts. I met some new friends and they remember my name! I can’t wait for the next day of VBS with the Navajos. 

First Day of Vacation Bible School

This was our first day of Vacation Bible School. We were blessed with about 20 children. Our opening was in the sanctuary, praising God with songs. We broke in our Bible study groups and we talked about the creation of the world and then we made fun crafts. We really observed the beauty of God’s creation on our ride to and from the Navajo Nation. The rocks we saw on the way were very unique formations that reach up to the sky.  On the way home the colors of the rocks and landscape changed because of the thunderstorm and sunset. 

Blessings, Jane

Adam, Jennie and Frank tried their first Navajo taco--and they all said it was delicious! It's a specialty here in the local restaurants!


Drive into Window Rock--can you see the rainbow? What a sign of God's faithfulness to His promises! He is the Faithful God of the ages!



Monday night meal in Window Rock, AZ in a local Mexican Restaurant with Tim and Leslie Norton

Praise God for safe travels from Boston to Window Rock!  We arrived Monday evening about 7:00 p.m. in Window Rock.  We were warmly greeted by Tim Norton and his daughter, Leslie!  What a joy to see them again!  We ate at a local Mexican restaurant and are so thankful and excited to begin God's ministry here!  Thank you for your prayers and love, senders!