Witnessing a miracle!

Well, here I am again! I was trying to get this published on Sunday evening, but I am late, but for a good reason. I am so happy to hear that people are monitoring our little blog. I also have a correction to make. It is actually bright outside during the full moon here. I guess I just had not been here long enough to know that yet.

Jerry isn't able to add much to the blog information, so I am going to update you on a few things about him. He told me this past week that he had never had a job that was so rewarding every single day. He said that he enjoyed working at SBS and that it was his most rewarding and enjoyable previous place of employment. However, here at Red Sands Christian School he has a rewarding experience every day. Every day he gets to see his class children learn and put things together AND (because of the Christian curriculum offered here) he gets to teach Science and History and all subjects from a Christian perspective. Even in the English curriculum capitalization and punctuation are taught using scripture. World history teaches about the Egyptians, along with the Hebrews and their history. He gets to see the children learn Bible verses and Bible history. He is also pleasantly surprised by some of their existing knowledge. The first six week grading period is up soon and he is excited to see how their grades will finish out.

This week and last week, Jerry and Daron spent most afternoon/evenings working on the Roberts house. The Mr. & Mrs. Roberts and their three children ages 7, 4 and 1 are still living in one of the Hogans here on the property. While it is comfortable enough to sleep, they have been here over a month and still have to go outside to take a shower at the shower house and to go to the restroom or get a snack. It is also getting cold here at night so we really need to speed up the completion of their home. They have been hanging insulation, dry wall and interior doors. The house has a way to go before it will be completed, so please pray for that! After completion of the Roberts house, the construction will begin on the second staff house, which is slotted for our family.

We also have a new staff member that is preparing to enter the mission field here at Red Sands! Please pray for her and her family as she builds support at her home church and prepares her children for the move. When she gets here, the plan is for her to live in the "Old School" building, which is now the current library. After completion of the second staff house, she would then move into the trailer.

On Thursday, September 11th, we all prayed during opening program for the survivors and the family that lost loved ones in the terrorist attack on 2001.

Friday morning, the school took park in a community activity. The local Indian Health Center sponsored a 4 direction walk for Diabetes. Our whole school participated. We started out headed on Leupp Road North at mile marker 69 and walked into the town of Leupp. Our group was the first group to arrive at the destination point. All walkers received bottled water and a piece of fruit. The walk was to raise community awareness about the prevalence of Diabetes among the Navajo population. I think that this was a great chance for our children to be a part of the community activities and that next year and maybe all of their lives they will be encouraged to join in on activities like this. Also, the community got to see our children walking and representing our school very well. They walked about 2 1/2 miles. The kindergarten class did very well to complete this exercise! We are all very proud, as should the children be and their parents!

On Saturday, the Diehls went to town. That's what we call it here. We all loaded up into the pick-up truck and drove into Winslow to do various tasks. Kelcy got a hair cut (this time from a hair stylist and not from Abby). We went to the Library and checked out some books. We did our weekly grocery shopping and looked at some used furniture stores in Winslow. This day, we also spotted a Navajo Taco stand. We had to whip the vehicle back around and park and get a taco. The Navajo Taco is the traditional fry bread, covered with beans and beef mixture, then lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese. Delicious!

On Sunday at Red Sands Christian Church Jerry started teaching Sunday school. He is teaching the "Facing the Giants" small group Bible study series to the adults here. The total attendance here was 28 on Sunday morning. This Sunday was the monthly pot-luck at Dilkon, so we all loaded up and drove over to Dilkon to enjoy the service and take part in the fellowship meal. The Roberts also went as a family. While we were in the building, it just kept filling up. We ended up with 31 adults and children in attendance at Dilkon church that Sunday evening service. We heard a wonderful lesson from Mr. Bill about serving the Lord in your mission field at home and in places like Red Sands. How we should always be about "The King's business." Excellent!

This is the miracle. I promise you I am not exaggerating, but we fed all 31 people with Mr. Bill's roast, one bowl of salad, one bowl of fry bread and one 9 x 13 cake for dessert. AND I saw at least two plates go home with one of the Navajo ladies. It certainly wasn't five thousand people like in the Bible, but I was still amazed and then there were some leftovers for the people to take home. God is so good!