DAY 2 // Yá'át'ééh Abíní.
Yá'át'ééh abíní. That is “Good morning” in the Navajo language.
Today was work day. Before breakfast, a group went to Home Depot to gather wood and paint supplies while another group began working around the church grounds. One of the needs at Hogback is a wood ramp that will allow Philip (the preacher) to get out of his home easily without having to use the stairs. He has some issues with his sight and this project will be a huge help to him. Another need was basic clean up of the grounds. There were weeds to pull, brush piles needed to be moved into the main pile, the shed needed to be cleaned & organized, and other various manual labor jobs were completed. Another big project was figure out how to fix the leak in one of the bunkhouses. Plans were made and supplies were purchased and that should be fixed tomorrow. Also, there is gazebo on the property that received a fresh coat of paint (a very nice light blue color).
The second part of our work day after lunch included working at a church members home. Rewind to earlier in the morning, John Green and myself (Shane) drove to the ShipRock church of Christ, which is on the reservation and met with someone who lives on the property. They showed us some projects that were needing to be done at the church and were able to show us the location of a home that was in need of some work. We drove a few miles down the street to the home and spoke to the lady who is wheelchair bound. She lives on the same property as another relative. When we drove up to the home, we were greeted with the Navajo word, Ya’at’eeh abini which means “good morning.” The kindness showed at the home was wonderful. The Navajo are very kind and welcoming. She told us about a few issues that she was having at the home and some other projects she would like to have completed. We gathered information on what was needed to be fixed and headed back to Hogback. Fast forward to after lunch, a group headed out there to begin work on those projects and we will continue again tomorrow.
At 6pm, there was a meal for the members of ShipRock & Hogback church of Christ followed by a Bible study at 7pm. During dinner, we were able to fellowship with the members of the 2 churches. The conversations that were had were just like we had known them before. They were extremely friendly and just all around great people. At 7pm, we headed into the church and began the Bible study. They started off the evening singing Jesus Loves Me, but in the Navajo language, which was wonderful to hear. We sang a few more songs led by Hunter H. (our summer intern). John Green led the Bible study on Romans 12:1-2 on the topic of “Mindset” and how we should have the mindset of Christ in everything that we say and do. We ended with a prayer and talked with the members. We learned many things about them and they learned many things about us and we are looking forward to tomorrow evening for our next meeting!
Personally, just after 1 full day of being here, I can tell you that this trip will be successful. The Navajo are very appreciative of the work that we are doing and you can tell it really does make a difference with us being here. If you ever have the chance to visit and do mission work out here, you need to take that opportunity. We pray that the connections that we are making out here will continue to grow and more good work can be done with these churches and that they will grow and be able to share Jesus with others.
