New Mexico Mission Trip-Bisti, NM

We started the day bright and early yesterday.  We left Farmingon for Bisti, the home of the Bennally family and the church.  We traveled somewhat paved roads into what seemed to be the wilderness, save for a few plants and natural gas facilities along the way.  Seems the Navajo have natural gas on their land but no rights to it.  We turned off onto a sandy road and waited a brief time for Brittany Bannally to meet us.  She is 14 and met us in her Suburban at the road.

I was amazed at the remoteness of the area.  They have been having unusual rains and the roads have all washed out.  The back window of the Bennally’s Suburban is broken out because all their other cars got stuck in the mud.  They tried to pull them out with a chain, the chain broke and busted the window.  We traveled the sandy roads, took a few turns and arrived at the church.  Everyone was so glad to see us arrive.

They have no running water so we had to bring our own.  The children and I primed and painted the siding on the new church building.  Chief Faber and Jeff used the ladder to get the high spots and the rest of us painted what we could reach.  Shasta, Taylon and Tru helped us the whole day.  They got all of it primed and almost the whole building painted before they ran out of paint.  They had much fun painting each other all day too.  We teased Lonnie, Chief Faber’s nephew, that he was turning to a white man.  He teased us back about needing sunscreen soon.

I got the opportunity to go into Farmington with Rhonda to the food bank.  Charlotte Laney went with us as well.  We made the drive and arrived at 1:00 pm, when they open.  There was already a line of people.  We went to the back and met with a wonderful lady that knew Rhonda well.  They take about anything they will give them.  We started out with 7 huge bags of cabbage.  When those were loaded, she asked us to come back in.  She then proceeded to give us three boxes of chips and some hot chocolate mix.  We loaded that and were asked to come back inside again.  This was repeated over and over, leaving us with cabbage, a case of bakery cakes and deli items, 6 cases of frozen meats, chips, hot chocolate mix, tomato juice and other various items.  They gave it all away to the people who came to the church service.

When we got back, I got to use my trailer backing skills to back the trailer between the fence gate.  It took me a few times to get the hang of it, but my horse trailer days eventually came back.  We then loaded up and went to find the cows.  We threw them onions, which I didn’t know they would eat.  All is free range so you might find them anywhere.  We had much fun trying out the community well and found the water from it is literally burning hot.  It comes from a volcano in the mountains and that is where everyone in the community goes to gather their drinking water.

We ended the evening with a wonderful dinner of Navajo Indian Tacos prepared by Leroy’s mother.  We then gathered for a service with the local people.  The children sang several songs for us and we visited with the people.  Chief Faber gave his testimony in Jicarilla Apache and then in English.  They asked Jeff to preach also.  He did, with a Navajo interpreter.  They were hilarious together.  I haven’t enjoyed a sermon like that in a while.  It was a treat!

After the service, we gave all the children backpacks with supplies and all the adults a goody bag of hygiene supplies.  Everyone liked them.  We finished the evening with everyone going around the church shaking everyone’s hand, something they do whether we are there or not.

The day was full of accomplishments as the men began and finished the playset.  The children got to play on it during the service.  We got many things done but spending time with the people here was the best!!  God is truly at work in a place so remote one feels they can’t possibly still be in the US.  Today, my family and Chief are going with Leroy to gather wood in Colorado.  What will God provide today?