Work and Witness trip, May 2012

A post on the mission trip to the Navajo reservation last year! Let's just pretend I posted this, say, 12 months ago? ;)

And the coverage of my Round Cedar trip begins...

NOW!

Here are the facts about it. v_v

Riding in an RV for 3 days, with really comfortable seats and a table for reading, writing and eating isn't half bad at all, but Utah is ugly.

Hotels that give out free Avengers comics are automatically 10x cooler. xD

We did stop at the Grand Canyon for a few hours along the way...

(Got myself a new pair of goggles v_v)

And there was a cool watch tower thing you could go up inside.

But other than that, it wasn't super grand from where we were... >_>

But on to other matters. 

We arrived at Round Cedar church in the late evening of our third day of traveling. It's basically in the middle of nowhere. The dirt road we took to get there was 5.5 miles long, and it's actually easier and less bumpy to get off it and drive through the field... 

There's no electricity, no running water. Our Work and Witness coordinators brought us water every day for drinking and washing, and if we ever needed the lights on in the church we hooked it up to the generator. It was kinda like camping, only nicer cause we were inside and had big cots. xD

Our job in this project was to put the kitchen together. This church building we stayed in has been built by other groups from Work and Witness, who each put together one piece of the puzzle. One group did he brick work, and another group did the wiring, etc. And we did the kitchen.

When we started it was a completely empty room (but I didn't get a picture of that)... So we stained the cabinets, and sawed a hole in the wall to make a window/counter thing between the kitchen and the main room of the fellowship hall. 

Day one

Putting in the top cabinets... and posing. ;D

Finishing the counter top and putting a frame on the window

And the finished product! ^_^

Seems like basically all I did for 3 days was stain boards from 7:30 to anywhere between 12 and 2 in the afternoon, then they didn't need me to do anything anymore, so I had the rest of the day to myself to do whatever. I didn't think it was much... I thought about that quote, I think it was from D.L. Moody, that said "Many people are willing to do big things for God, but very few are willing to do the little things". 

So I was thinking "Okay, guess I'm doing the little things here..." 

But the days passed, and I took advantage of the trails through the field and went jogging every morning. ^_^

With my free afternoons I usually spent reading, writing a special letter, or doing math homework, along with retrieving any supplies that the ladies needed to fix dinner and such.... they dubbed me with the name "Legs". xD 

Pastor informed me he wanted me to play some music for the service on Sunday. I didn't know what to expect, in a church where most of the congregation spoke Navajo and English, but not all of them... Did he want me to lead music? Just play one song? Put on a concert? O.o

So Jesus and I talked about it for quite a while, and in my free time I would take my guitar to go and practice in the sanctuary, and just be with Him.

When we arrived at Round Cedar earlier in the week I had asked Jesus to let me write a song; to worship Him, to put into words even a small portion of His awesome creativity, to overcome a songwriter's block that still fights against me..

He granted my wish. x) A song was written, and He assured me that all things would work for his glory. After a bit of practice the night before, Josh and I played a song on our guitars, and I played my new one by myself and one other. Tried my hardest just to worship... It went well. ^_^

Pastor Ray and his son Josh, my guitar buddy.

Josh also played guitar for the choir, who sang all their hymns in Navajo, but told us which numbers they were in the English hymnal so we could sing along. Good thing too, since Marissa and I weren't doing a great job at Navajo ad-lib. >_> But it was cool, hearing the same song in two languages. ^_^ Pastor Ray translated each sentence between Navajo and English, which made the sermon longer, but it pretty cool.

Some Arizona- style enchiladas! ^_^ (but I still say Mom's were better...)

We had fun with a few pranks. ;D

On the last night at the church, they surprised me with a certificate... It had my name, and under it my bestowed Navajo name: Aneed Bijad, which means "Young Legs".

After a week at the desert church , it was time to start heading home.
On our first day going back my pastor stopped just so he and I could climb to the top of this arch! Get's a little scary when the wind starts blowing... but totally worth it.

Aaaaand then we went to Arches National Park for an hour or two before hitting the road again. ^_^

The stones on the left are known as the "Three Gossips". xD

My pastor and I were all over the place like salamanders that day. I never knew that he liked climbing, so it was cool to kind of bond with him in that way. He's pretty awesome.

Inside one of the arches.. The camera couldn't even begin to capture how massive and awesome everything was. 

Aaand that's about it! We made it home safely after a few more days of travelling, and life moves on. ^_^ But I'll never forget the people I met in Round Cedar, and how they live. Being there - being anywhere out of your place or comfort zone to help others - can show and change you so much. You appreciate things more. (Including motel showers... A week in the desert without a wash = massive smell and grease.) <_<
But anyway, yeah, it was.... well, it was a wonderful experience. One that not to many people my age get the privilege of having. I made new friends in awesome people, saw what it's like when people worship in multiple languages, and saw God in just a fraction of his glory. x) Looking forward to doing it again.