New Mexico Mission Trip Continued

Wow, yesterday was a packed day.  I would have posted Day 2, but the lady at our hotel kept telling me to get internet you must be by the lamp.  What lamp?  No one was able to figure that out.  I can tell you I checked out the lamps in our room well but no internet.

This morning over breakfast, Kelly said he got right on the internet.  How one might ask?  He asked her if the hotel had Wi-Fi.  She got him right on the ‘net.  Oh, well, lessons learned along the way.

Yesterday was a packed day.  We started out by visiting Calvary Church in Albuquerque, NM.  Some of you might have heard Skip Heitzig on 106.9.  This is his church and they have about 12,000 in service each week.

Current Series by Skip Heitzig

He was there and we all really enjoyed his message on teaching versus preaching.  My family went to the 8:00 service together, then I volunteered in their Children’s Church.  Jeff and the boys went to their youth service.  We got some great ideas and loved the laid back atmosphere.  Some of our team even enjoyed the service outside by the ponds, where they video cast the service.

We left afterwards and began our voyage to Dolce, NM with Chief Faber.  Kelly told us getting there was half the fun and, yes, he was right.  Five cars following each other can prove interesting at times but we made it by 5:00 pm New Mexico time (2 hours earlier than our time at home).

Breathtaking Scenery

We checked in and headed to the church for a cook-out with 55 people.  I really enjoyed meeting many of the local people.  They were friendly and shared their social ills with me, many of which are not much different than ours at home.

One of the men, Gary, shared with me his saddness that the youth do not appreciate what they have.  He said a new high school was built a little over a year ago but was already trashed.  He was sad that they take so much for granted.

Gary also shared with me that the graduation rate is around 28% here.  The year before, out of 100 students, only 14 graduated.  The tribe has decided that the people cannot get their payouts at 18 unless they have graduated.  He told me they are very mad but he thought it was a great decision.

Eating with the People in Dolce

He shared how Christ had delivered him from alcoholism 7 years ago and the depth of its hold on the people here.  He told me there are many 12 to 14 year olds here that have Sclerosis of the liver already.  There is no cure.

We concluded the evening with devotions and began early this morning.  The playground project is going along well, though finding a place without prairie dog holes was a job.  They are everywhere!

The playground is coming along.

All the children and youth helped Jeff and I clean the sanctuary.  We steam cleaned pew cushions and the dirt in the machine was black!  We gave all the pews a good washing with Murphy’s Oil Soap and cleaned all the windows.  I discovered a room of “stuff” and we threw away, cleaned up and organized it into a great playroom.  The other ladies sorted a whole room of clothes and toys into groupings and reboxed it all to go to the Rosebud Reservation.  The people of the church here actually go in missions to Rosebud to help them that have much less than they have.

We are truly being blessed by testimonies and the people here in Dulce.

Beautiful children of God

It is beautiful!  God is good…

More pics

New Mexico Mission Trip-Day 1

Well, we all got to New Mexico!!  Most of us met for devotions at the airport and then departed on different planes destined to Albuquerque, NM.  After many hours on the planes and in the airport waiting, my kids couldn’t wait to hit the pool.  They said it was freezing!!  Good, better to swim some laps.  Mom is ready for them to burn off some energy for sure:)

We met another mission trip from Pennsylvania headed this way in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.  They are also from an United Methodist Church and were headed to a Methodist mission in New Mexico.  I sat beside one of their youth on the plane and found his story interesting.  He attended a church of 100 but met one of the youth from the other UM church that was taking the mission trip.  The youth asked him to go, though he lived one and a half hours away from their church.  He accepted the invite and there he was, flying all the way from Pennsylvania to New Mexico without really knowing anyone from their church.  What a testimony!!  I truly hope Christ moves in a big way in his life this week since he has already stepped out in such faith.

It is truly beautiful here in a different way.  The mountains…wow.  God’s glory is evident here!