AUGUST 2009 NEWSLETTER
2009 has been a very busy, but exciting year. Here has been what is happening on the "Rez"
YOUTH CENTER: In January a group from UC-Berkeley came to the Navajoland and began renovation on a home that had been essentially donated for $1,000.00. The home belonged to the Starr Family and had sat empty for many years. Located in Rio Puerco Acres in Fort Defiance, Arizona, the house had fallen prey to vandals, graffiti artists, and time. The home sits in a perfect location, right in front of a skate park in one of the toughest neighborhoods on the reservation. UC-Berkeley probably had the toughest job of any mission group that has worked on the house thus far! Over a week, they removed 5 tons of damaged carpet, insulation, drywall, cabinets, furniture, and things we aren't even sure of! While it may have been a project fit for "Dirty Jobs" it was the most important because it started the project going and allowed other groups to come in and actually start renovation and rebuilding. Since then we have had about a dozen different groups from all over the reservation and the country come and work on the house, which will become a youth center, community center, and church. The project has not been without struggles, but God has provided our needs. The addition was built on, a new metal roof was constructed taking the building from a flat roof to vaulted ceiling. A huge fireplace has been installed. The windows are in. It is hard to believe how much progress has been made in such short time. Currently we have an URGENT need to get the electricity, plumbing, gas, heat, air, and alarm system in. The cost of this portion of the project alone will cost more than $30,000. Currently we have raised $7,000 towards the electricity. The good news is that we have a matching grant that will match up to $50,000 of what we raise. So anything donated will be matched dollar for dollar! If you are interested in working on the project or donating please contact us! Check out the latest progress on the youth center by looking at the "Building Project" page.
TUITION ASSISTANCE: This year Rez Refuge is sponsoring, along with Pathways To Success, a Navajo teen at Rio Lindo Academy in Northern California. She started on August 18 and so far is enjoying her new experience. This Navajo Freshman is learning new cultures as well as she rooms with a Foreign student from Africa! We will keep you updated on this young lady as she moves through her first year in high school. She will need your assistance as she hopes to go on an overseas mission trip this spring with her classmates. If you are interested in helping to support this student's tuition cost or in sponsoring her for the mission trip, please let us know! (See "Shavonna" page)
PROJECT NAVAJO CHRISTMAS: Christmas will soon be upon us. We had hoped to start a Christmas Shoebox program this year, but the time and energy that has gone into the youth center has not given us the time to plan!. So we will be sponsoring several families again this year for Christmas. If you are interested in sending a new toy or new clothing item, see the address below. Needs are shoes, girls and boys toys, school supplies, gloves, coats, hygiene products, and girls and boys clothes. For more information, check on our "Navajo Christmas" page!
WILDERNESS PROGRAM: We have had another great backpacking experience. This year we returned to the Weminuche Wilderness Area near Durango, Colorado for a four day trip up the Pine River Trail. The kids had a great time, we did not have any injuries, and we saw plenty of deer, pica, marmots, and other critters...including a bear! We will hopefully do one additional trip in late September and get several car camping trips in as well. Our next project for the Wilderness program is purchasing cross country skis and snow shoes to keep the wilderness program going in the winter as well. (For more details, see this year's "Wilderness" page.)
BIBLE STUDY: We continue to meet with Navajo in our home. It has been exciting as we have also been able to meet at the youth center on a few occasions as well. A few weeks ago, "On Eagles Wings" a Native Youth Ministry run by Ron Hutchcraft and his family met for three days at the youth center and skate park. Hundreds of teens, kids, and adults came out to enjoy games, BMX and skate competitions, and testimonies. "On Eagles Wings" program is run entirely by Native American youth from all over North America. At the end of the third day, dozens of skaters, bikers, and other kids came up and committed their lives to Christ. Alex Froom worked at the center most of the summer and was able to make great relationships with some of these kids. It is our hope to finally open the youth center and start a church skaters and BMXers. I think the pulpit should be at the top of a half-pipe! (Check out the "On Eagles Wings" pics and more at the "Youth Center" page.)
OTHER PROJECTS: Rez Refuge continues to provide wood assistance, love, and support to the Navajo around us. We want to thank all of the mission groups - especially Woodland Community Church from Bradington, Florida and Project Pueblo representing universities all over California for their repeated trips out to Navajoland this year to assist Rez Refuge in loving people. We have counted it a pleasure to share these experiences with each group that has visited. (First Church Crossville and Chico too!). Thanks as well to "Youth Works" for painting the youth center. It took it from looking rundown to looking sharp! Thank you for your prayers, your letters of encouragement, your support, and your donations. We will try to keep these Newsletters better updated in the future. Thank you again.
In Christ,
The Rez Refuge staff, board, and family.
NOVEMBER 2008 NEWSLETTER
2008 has been a great year so far. Your donations were able to assist 6 students with their tuition, provided coal and wood to families during an unusually harsh winter, and provided two additional community development grants. Check out some of the other projects your donations have helped support.
PROJECT NAVAJO CHRISTMAS: It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us! Last year, your donations brought Christmas to 17 kids in 5 families! This year we would like to help 10 families, but we are going to need your help once again to accomplish this. We attempt to provide a Christmas that will positively influence the family, so we don't just give out toys. Families are chosen on the basis of need. Thus far, the families reached would have not had any Christmas at all if not for the gifts provided by Rez Refuge through your support. Families are referred by other Navajo, social workers, and local pastors. Once a family has been selected, we contact the family and get the children's age, grade, shoe and clothing sizes, and a what toy the child would like. Each child will receive school shoes, one set of clothing, school supplies, a toy, and hygiene products. The adults also receive a set of new clothes, shoes, and "grown-up" present! This year we are also trying to provide food boxes as the economic times are making it more difficult for Navajo families to put food on their table. We are looking forward to Christmas this year. For more information, check on our "Navajo Christmas" page!
POSITIVE OUTCOMES: Although we can't give names we can give updates!
One of the young Navajo youth that many of you financially supported to attend "Project Patch" school in Idaho successfully graduated from the program. He is now back on the Reservation attending his Senior year of high school. He should graduate in 2009. He is positive about his future. Please continue to pray for him.
A young Navajo lady that many of you are supporting is currently a sophomore at Holbrook Indian School and is doing very well.
We are pleased to report that all of the Navajo students who received tuition assistance are still in school and doing well.
YOUTH CENTER PROJECT:
We have found the perfect location for a youth center here in Fort Defiance. We have begun renovations and have several mission groups already lined up to begin the new construction phase of the project. The youth center will be on the front lines as it is located in the heart of gangland in one of the toughest neighborhoods on the reservation. Please pray that this project will be finished by summer's end and the the funds needed will be raised! Learn more by going to the "Building Project" page.
BIBLE STUDIES: We are continuing to operate Bible studies in a house church on a weekly basis. Our goal is to reach those who wouldn't normally attend a "regular" church. We are currently looking for a location to meet at on a regular basis for church. The home setting has been nice, but the group is ready for a larger space to meet. By doing this we also hope to expand the Children's ministry, which is very difficult to do in a home. This ministry also provides weekend activities for Navajo youth. Activities include camping, hiking, fishing, and evening activities.
WILDERNESS PROGRAM: The Wilderness Program has been a huge success. This summer we took 5 Navajo youth into the Weminuche Wilderness Area of the San Juan's of Southern Colorado. Kellie, John, and Brooke Van Eyk, Alex Froom, and Aaron Kinlichinee went along as well. We spent 6 days enjoying the great outdoors. For more information check out the Wilderness Program page. Your generous support provided meals, clothing, backpacking supplies, and transportation for the students. Thank you so much for all your help.
CHINLE CHURCH: If you are interested in a weekend mission project and live in the Four Corners area, the Chinle Church needs your help. The drought took its toll on the Cottonwood trees that surround the church and school and they all died. Recently during a wind storm, two of these very large trees fell. It was a miracle that they did not hit anyone or land on any buildings. Church was in progress when the trees fell. Had the trees fallen on someone, it would have killed them instantly. There are many large limbs that, if they fall, could kill or severely injure someone. The trees overhang buildings, so a professional tree removal service is needed. In addition, the roof is leaking badly and has caused the parish to be uninhabitable because the ceiling is beginning to cave in. If you think you may be able to assist this church, please contact us. Check out the wind damage at the "Current Projects" page!
We will keep you updated on the ministry and the Navajo you support.
P.O. Box 2016
Fort Defiance, AZ 86504
928-729-2658
Did You Know? Navajo pride themselves in the preservation of their culture and language. Dine' is the proper word for the Navajo in their language. The Dine' language is still spoken as the primary language by many Navajo. It is estimated that more than 50% of Navajo still speak Navajo as their primary language. When speaking to Navajo elders, it is still often necessary to have a translator if you don't speak Navajo. The Dine' language is part of the Athabascan language. It is very difficult to learn, which made it a perfect choice for the Code Talkers to use during World War II. The Dine' language is tonal and descriptive, in fact it is a very verb-heavy language with very few nouns. Navajo also hold the distinction of being one of the only Native American groups that is still seeing an increase in the use of it's language with younger generations.
This page was last updated: May 26, 2010
May 2010 NEWSLETTER
2010 is almost half over and it has been an eventful year since our last newsletter. Here are a few things we have been up to.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND YOUTH CENTER: Work has continued on the youth center. In the fall the electrical wiring was installed and if all goes well, the electricity will be turned on this week! The plumbing was finished this winter as well. In March the fencing went up around the building and an official land survey was completed to find the exact boundary lines before the fence was put in place. March was a busy month for mission groups. Mount Pisgah Academy came from North Carolina to do some insulating and framing. The toughest of their jobs however was moving almost four feet of snow away from the north end of the building. The winter this year was very harsh. One storm alone dropped six feet of snow in some areas. The cost to remove the snow was pretty outrageous, so the energy of teenagers was used! Why did we have to move the snow? Because the very next week a new sidewalk was going to be poured along the side of the building and the ground needed to thaw out. Southwestern Adventist University was next to come out. The group poured and finished a 60 foot sidewalk. The final week of March, Project Pueblo from UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and La Sierra University came out and worked on landscaping the grounds. This was very important because the fence needed to be secured at the bottom to ensure it was safe and effective. We are now preparing to complete the stucco. This has to be done by June 21, 2010. An art school from New York secured a grant and will hire teens from the neighborhood to paint a mural along three sides of the center. This is such an important community project and we can't wait to see the end results. Please continue to pray for the building phase of the center. Already multiple programs have been held in the center for kids, such as vacation bible schools. Skating competitions and concerts have also been held at the skate park behind the center. Check out the latest progress on the youth center by looking at the "Building Project" page.
VEHICLE: This fall I was impressed to pray for a vehicle. It was a strange feeling, because it was so clear that I was to do this. So I came home that day and prayed that God would somehow provide a vehicle for the ministry. 90% of the roads on the "Rez" are dirt and a good portion of the year they are either snow packed or muddy from Monsoon rains. Many Navajo don't have their own transportation, so they need to be picked up to participate in programs. The ministry needed a vehicle desperately! So I prayed. Within 48 hours I received a call from George Grow at Mount Pisgah Academy. He told me they had just met for their planning meeting for a mission trip to Navajoland in March. He asked me if we needed a vehicle. I was stunned. I had just started praying for one! I said, "YES!". During the process of raising funds, a call was made to a dentist in Asheville asking for funds towards the vehicle. I was stunned to get a second call. "Do you need a cargo trailer?" The Wilderness Program desperately needed one. I couldn't believe a second prayer was being answered. On March 3, 2010 a 1998 Suburban and cargo trailer were delivered to us by the Mount Pisgah Academy mission group. Thank you so much to all those who donated towards the Suburban (4-wheel drive!). You were part of an answered prayer. The suburban is being put to good use and is being used almost everyday in the ministry.
Tuition Assistance Program: Shavonna has done very well this year at Rio Lindo Academy in Northern California. She has maintained good grades and excelled in sports. She will be home with her family for the summer working for the Office of Youth Development. She plans to return in the fall to start her Sophomore year of high school. Thanks to all who have supported the tuition assistance program. (See "Shavonna" page)
Project Navajo Christmas: This year Rez Refuge changed the way we assist Navajo families. In the past, several families were selected based on needs and gifts were purchased for these families. This year, Rez Refuge wanted to impact more people so we teamed up with a local girls home and adolescent treatment center. We still chose a few families to assist as well. A list of needs was submitted to Rez Refuge by the participating programs and we helped bring Christmas joy to over 20 people. Why do we do the Christmas program? Imagine never in your life getting a Christmas present. The staff at the Adolescent Treatment Center told us that several kids just stared at their gift. When asked why, they told the staff it was the first Christmas present they had ever received. When you live in poverty, feeding your family takes priority over buying Christmas presents. Eventually we would like to start working with the shoebox Christmas, but this takes an entire year to plan and execute. Our plan is to attempt the shoebox Christmas program after the center is complete. For more information, check on our "Navajo Christmas" page!
Wilderness Program: Spring arrived and the evening and weekend hikes began. We are keeping busy in the backcountry taking Navajo youth on hikes. In July and September two backpacking trips are planned, both to the Weminuche Wilderness. The July trip will be a four to five day hike across the Wilderness from Vallecito Reservoir near Durango, Colorado to Rio Grand Reservoir near Creed, Colorado. We are looking forward to this trip. The September trip will return us to the Southern San Juan Mountains for the fall colors. This winter we also hope to take a backpacking trip to Havasupi Falls. Why do we do the Wilderness Program? Because many Navajo do not get much opportunity to explore the wild. Many of these "tough" gang kids really change when they are backpacking. Outdoor skills are built and the experience can turn a difficult kid tender and for a moment restores innocence. It builds self-esteem, teamwork, and teaches life skills. If I could run trips 365 days a year, I would!
To find out more information on what Rez Refuge has been doing, check out our Annual Report page!
Thank you again for your support and prayers.
The Rez Refuge Board
Donated Suburban and cargo trailer
