The Mission Update April 22 through May 18th

April 22 through May 18th


Miss Springer, Mr. Bill, Mr. Diehl and the school kids planted a tree in the playground for Earth Day, April 22nd. The school celebrated the National Day of Prayer by having a prayer circle after the morning opening exercises, May 1st. The girls and I were sick the week of April 27th, pretty much all week. Saturday May 2nd was my birthday! I spent the morning and afternoon in Flagstaff with Ms. Stephanie, a friend I have made here. We did some errands and some shopping and then had lunch. It was a nice time to get to know Stephanie better!

The month of May just flew by! Murray Christian Fellowship, who is due to arrive this month with a work group, has also sent a wonderful surprise. In partnership with a local book distributor (local to Murray), they have assembled almost 1,000 books to donate to the school library! Some of the books arrived by freight carrier! It was like Christmas here. We got to check out the new books and see what a wonderful gift the Lord had provided! The school kids, especially the older ones, immediately began checking out the new books. I love books and it was very exciting to see so many books, most of which I had never read!

On May 12th, the work group from Murray Christian Fellowship arrived. They were a great group that worked hard! Some of the group built shelving in the library to hold all the new books and the books we already had in our library! By the time the group left, the shelves were built, the books were organized and re-shelved in the proper places! I have to say, it was very exciting for me to see the finished product. I sometimes just go over there to admire the new library room! Other members of the work group painted the exterior trim of the church building and the library building, scraped the trim on the school building to prepare it for painting, and did various other jobs throughout the mission that needed to be accomplished! The Murray group invited us to go with them to the Grand Canyon on Saturday, May 16th. We had a wonderful time! Abby & Kelcy clung to Andrea & Stephanie like they were new family members. We all finally got to see the Grand Canyon. I hope that everyone else enjoyed it, in spite of the fact that I was constantly reminding my two girls to stay away from the EDGE! Abby, Kelcy and I all managed to conquer our fear of heights (mine and Abby's) to get to the top of the Watch Tower at the canyon. I didn't stay very long, but I did make it up there and look out for a second!

On Sunday morning, Gracie rode with Jerry out to the reservation to pick up the church goers. She made fast friends with the kids in my class. Gracie stayed in class with us and spent some more time with the kids and I was very grateful. I could tell that meeting Gracie had really made a difference in their day and probably their life! Next, the group from Murray led the worship services at Red Sands Christian Church. They did an excellent job. The church building rocking and the people inside were enjoying the modern style worship songs and the instruments! The group had such a wonderful, God-given musical talent. It was very enjoyable. After the worship, the Murray group leader, Mike, delivered the sermon to the congregation. He did a great job and we really appreciated his willingness to share the Lord's message with us!

The Murray group traveled to Dilkon Christian Church that Sunday night. They took part in the worship service and did a great attempt at following the Navajo singing, even without having Navajo hymnals! A few of the Navajo ladies had prepared Mexican food for the pot luck that night. We had a feast of taco salad, enchiladas and chips and dip. We all enjoyed the fun and fellowship, and (as always) the spectacular scenery views that Dilkon provides.

The Murray group said their goodbyes on Monday morning and left for home. The school kids missed them, as did the staff! Thank you all for your work and your encouragement!