Thankful for our Trip to Rehoboth

Our trip to Rehoboth was filled with so many memories of serving those in need, hiking in beautiful landscapes, learning about Native Americans and growing in our relationship with God & each other. What a blessed time it was! We are so thankful to God and to all those who supported us in prayer.

Check out the presentations below that visually summarize our trip:

Great movie put together by students: CLICK HERE

Last Full Day. A Full Last Day.

Eleven courageous students left on a hike at 6:30am with Mr. Rink. It was about a two hour hike up "Mt. Rehoboth".

We attended and led the service at Church of the Nazarene in Gallup. Arianna sang, Steven played the guitar, Olivia played the piano, Mrs. Grandlienard read Scripture, Fabian prayed for the offering and Mr. Wiener preached. Our group probably doubled the attendance. The service made an impression on all of us. To God be the Glory!

After lunch about 20 of us went into the nearby mountains for sledding. It was great fun and also very funny. Then after dinner we went into the Navajo Code Talker Center, which is located in the Rehoboth middle school. This museum is in memory of Navajo soldiers who used their language in the Pacific theater in WWII. The Japanese were not able to break their code, and the Navajos helped the US defeat Japan.

Our devotional time was prayerful and powerful. God worked in our midst. What a great way to end our last night in Rehoboth. This trip has been wonderful on so many levels. Thank you for your prayers. And now we look forward to coming home!

Our 12 Hour Day

From 9:30am to 9:30pm. What a great day! We first enjoyed the Gallup flea market, filled with Native American crafts, food and lots of other stuff. Then it was off to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Next we had a quick stop at the oldest continually running trading post in America. At 2:00pm we finally arrived at Canyon De Chelly. We hiked down into the canyon. The views were...were...well, words cannot explain. See the photos. We left about 4:30 and spent over 3 hours driving through vast western desert, snow covered roads in Ponderosa Pine forest, and Navajo towns back to Gallup. We ate dinner at Earl's Restaurant, one of Gallups oldest and most popular restaurants. It was a wonderful day of travel and enjoying God's creation.

Window Rock

Canyon De Chelly

Serving and the Summit

Believe it or not, due to weather, Rehoboth Christian School was canceled for the second day. Our service involved half of us returning to the Church of the Nazarene in Gallup. They organized clothes and food to be distributed to people in poverty. They also went door to door at low income housing to distribute food and publicity materials for the church. Our other project was at Bethlehem CRC (about 25 minutes away) to help with cleaning projects at the church building and in the parsonage.

After lunch we visited the Perry Null Trading Post, a well-known and historic store in Gallup. Students enjoyed seeing (and buying) Native American jewelry and other items.

We then went a big hike up to Pyramid Mountain. For over 2 hours we enjoyed the wild west scenery and beautiful vistas.

Our devotions were led by Pastor Stanley Jim, a local Navajo pastor and CRC minister. He challenged us to be more committed to Jesus.

Being Flexible is Important

Rehoboth received about a 1/2 inch of snow. School was canceled. But the real reason for the cancellation was that the roads were icy and the area does not have salt trucks. Additionally, the school buses can drive up to 40 miles away to pick up students in rural areas. So we were flexible.

Instead of three groups, we had two. Thirteen students stayed at Rehoboth to do various projects: clean our dorm, clean out storage rooms and load the back of the pickup with trash for recycling and the dumpster. The rest of our group went into town to feed the homeless through the church of the Nazarene. After passing out food in the city to homeless people, they joined another church who was sponsoring an outdoor hot lunch for the homeless. Students served food, talked with those who came and even a few prayed with people. They returned with enthusiastic testimonies of God at work.

At 2:00pm we had a geology presentation by Mike DeJong. At 3:00 we went to visit Georga, who is a Navajo rug weaver. She demonstrated how to make wool into yarn and then how she makes tapestries.

After dinner we played a group game in the gym that was a version of kickball–great fun! Then we returned to our "living room" in the dorm for devotions. Again, a wonderful time of sharing, Scripture and prayer.

Zuni Indian Reservation

Breakfast was at 6:30, believe it or not. We then traveled to the Zuni Indian Reservation to serve in the Zuni Mission School. The distance was 42 miles, but the travel time was over 1 hour and 20 minutes. Once there, we led chapel. This chapel was like Tuesday's except the audience was kindergarten through 8th.

Students served in classrooms and the library, helping students one on one with a class project. It was  beautiful to see our students sitting all over the room paired up with Zuni students.

After lunch we learned more about Zuni culture in an old Catholic mission church. Once back at the school, Pastor Mike, who has ministered in Zuni for over 25 years (and whose wife is the sister to former TC teacher Mr. Engbers), debriefed our time in Zuni. His stories and insights touched us all.

At dinner, students were told to sit in alphabetical order according to last name. They were not thrilled with the idea. But it was so worth it. Within minutes active conversation (and some debates) were happening that would not have occurred without the special seating arrangement.

After dinner we went to Mrs. Tornow's sister's house for dessert and games. It was a great fellowship time with tasty treats and lots of games, including ping-pong, air hockey & pool.

Our devotional times have been a highlight. We sing, read God's Word, share as a whole group and in small groups. We pray. Tonight we formed a big circle (really an oval) and each person offered a prayer–a holy moment!

Chapel time

Our chaperones at work!

Former Catholic Mission

Game Night

Day of Service

Tuesday Serve groups

• Church of the Nazarene: cleaned and organized a food bank in Gallup that ministers to the homeless.
• Indian Hills Elementary School: students worked in classrooms tutoring students and helping teachers.
• Rehoboth group: We led the high school chapel. Ariana, Olivia and Steven led the singing. Mr. Wiener led a skit and then talked about Jesus calming the storm from Mark 4. We also did various projects from working in the preschool, helping the HS secretary, and cleaning out a room filled with decades worth of paperwork.

At 3:30 we hiked First Canyon along the Hogbacks (the small mountain/hill range behind Rehoboth). This hour hike surpassed expectations with unexpected beauty.

After a dinner of Navajo Tacos, we learned more about Native American culture through stories, music and Indian dance by a skillful 6th grader. Our devotions focused on service.

A Great First Day

We arrived around 3:20 just as the Rehoboth students were leaving on the buses. After settling into our rooms in the dorm, we took a walking tour of the campus. For dinner we had "green chili stew". It tasted better than it sounds. It was not green and was more like a very tasty soup with meat. Our devotions involved a name mixer game, singing, personal reading of Scripture (1 John 4:7-12), small group sharing, large group sharing and prayer. The focus was on living as a Christian community. We also had a meeting about our service projects tomorrow. Our group is bonding well and everyone has a great attitude. Thanks for your prayers!

Landed!

Everything went well at the airport (except two students losing their boarding passes; don't worry, they made it on the plane). Very smooth flight. A three hour flight was only 2 1/2 hours. Finishing lunch at Subway or Burger King and about to drive to Rehoboth!