LAGUNA & ZUNI PUEBLOS & HOPI TRIP

Back L to R: Pastor Jack Lankhorst, R Tesso, Richard Ayala, Paul Potter, Jon Caprio, Dr. Rod Soholt.  Midle: Daniel Ceballos.  Front L to R: Pastor Jane Lankhorst, Kelly Smith, LeAnn Alanis, Lora Mahony, Paula Soholt

Click here for photos

Our trip to the Zuni & Laguna Pueblos in NM and the Hopi villages in AZ last week was phenomenal! We saw God move in miraculous ways every day. Here are a few highlights...

LAGUNA & ZUNI PUEBLOS - Through an invitation to the Laguna Pueblo in NM we were able to join the tribe in their July 4th celebration (on July 3). We provided several giant jumpers and slides as well as cotton candy & sno cones free of charge for everyone. We also provided a large Bingo event with great prizes provided by the generosity of our church members. The Laguna tribe was so gracious and the Governor (John Antonio Sr.) presented us with a beautiful pot filled with “goodies.” What an honor!

We also visited a few of our dear friends in the Pueblo of Zuni.

WINDOW ROCK - We paused for rest at the Window Rock Park, the location of the Code Talkers Memorial and the Tribal Headquarters for the Navajo Tribe.

HOPI - With donations through our "Adopt an Elder" Program we were able to bless many families in Zuni and in Hopi with gift certificates for food from the Kykotsmovi Store, managed by Tommy & Julie Canyon. This is a new program and we foresee it to be an avenue to assist many Hopi elders in basic provision for food. Please see our page at http://hopi.org/adopt-an-elder for more information.

THANK YOU - Jane and I want to thank each member of the team for a very successful trip! We love you all! 

Please take moment to view some of photos by clicking this link: Photos

Pastor Jack Lankhorst

On May 29, 2010 RestoringTouch became an official Non-Profit Corporation under the IRS 501(c)(3) status. All of our Native American Ministries (Hopi, Zuni and any future tribes), our involvement in Cambodia with orphans, etc. and Ethiopia are under this umbrella. This status enables us to be eligible for grants and all donations will be tax-deductible. Christian Life Center is currently our main donor and we have seen the Hand of God at work in the finances!

DUBAI & ETHIOPIA

Jane and I recently went to Dubai, United Arab Emirates & Ethiopia, Africa.  We spent a restful 3 day vacation in Dubai and then traveled to Addis Ababa, the capitol city of Ethiopia.  While in Dubai, Jane and I got off the "beaten tourist path" (as we always do) and our hearts were burdened for the people in the Muslim faith.

Click here to view our pictures

In Addis we met with the Foursquare Area Missionary for Eastern Africa and with the Foursquare Pastor, Abraham Ferede and his wife.  We spoke in their Sunday evening service and had a GREAT time! We were so blessed to worship with them and to experience God's Presence in a very powerful way.  We were able to give a gift of $1,000 to assist Pastor Abraham as he serves and leads the Foursquare Pastors in Ethiopia.  Pray for this great church!

We then did a site evaluation of Victory Bible College for Transworld Accreditation Commission.  The staff and students were so sincere in their dedication to God and the campus was truly a place dedicated to knowing God better!  (I celebrated my 63rd birthday there and they really went all out  :-)

Thank you for your faithful prayers!  We are planning another trip to Ethiopia in the future.

Click here to see the ancient city of Harar in Ethiopia.

HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

CNN stated "Haiti earthquake death toll remains anyone's guess as bodies are still lying in the streets. However, today Haitian Red Cross estimated up to 50,000 people could be dead and another three million hurt or displaced. CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta Tweeted from the ground in Haiti today, saying he has never seen what he saw in Haiti.”

Specialized medical teams of doctors, nurses and paramedics from U.S. Foursquare churches will begin arriving in Haiti next week; other Foursquare churches across the country are preparing to send teams as quickly as trips can be coordinated. In addition, Foursquare missionaries Charlie and Darla Finocchiaro, who live in the Dominican Republic, are now in Haiti as well to assist Foursquare National Leaders Guy and Soeurette Thomas. Please pray for our Foursquare teams that are seeing the need and taking immediate action. If you or your church is interested in helping the devestation in Haiti, please contact David Wheeler in Foursquare Missions International (dwheeler@foursquare.org).

Christian Life Center will be sending financial help to Foursquare this week. And please pray for Haiti to rise out of the ruins quickly.

Below is a video of Jonathan Hall, Director of Foursquare Missions International, as he address the Foursquare Church.

ZUNI, NAVAJO, HOPI WINTER TRIP

I want to thank the following for taking time out of their schedules to be a part of the team:

• For the entire trip - Jon Caprio, and the Foursquare Ignite Students
• For Zuni & Navajo - J.R. Tesso, Kelly Smith & Nick Smith
• For Hopi - Richard Ayala & Alec Bryan

On ZUNI we had the opportunity to reconnect with our friends during a very important ceremony called Shalako. During the first week of December six families host and welcome the Shalakos (the giant couriers of the Rainmakers) and the Longhorns (Rain Gods of the North). Shalako brings the old year to a close and welcomes the new year, and asks for rain, the propagation of plants and animals, and the health and well being of its participants. It is also a reenactment of various important tribal myths.
Then at Shelley Chimoni’s house (Shelley is the Head Tribal Council Woman) I met the Governor of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico who gave us an open door for the future! :-)

On NAVAJO we spent time with Lyle & Christina Claw, and his parents. During that time we had the privilege of watching the last night of a special 9-day Navajo ceremony called Yeibichai. We were the guests of Lyle’s wife’s family. Lyle also shared with the Ignite team about ministry to Native American people. You can read about Lyle’s ministry online at www.clawinc.org.

On HOPI we visited and ministered God’s love to several families in the traditional villages including Old Oraibi, America’s longest continuously inhabited village (over 950 years!). Here we encountered extreme cold, snow and power outages. Access to the villages on top of the Mesas was “exciting!” Because of this the stores and gas stations were all closed. But none of this stopped our being a blessing wherever we went! (Genesis 12:2-3)

When we visited Anna in the village of Mishongnovi (Anna, left, is an amputee) we noticed she had been without power due to the power outage. As well, the temperatures at night were in single digits with strong winds. We were able to send $500 to purchase a small wood & coal burner!

We also took part in the Hopi Special Needs kids and families event held at the Hopi Cultural Center restaurant. The power outage prohibited it from being at the Veteran’s Memorial Center. Attending were the newly elected Tribal Chairman, Vice Chairman, a representative from the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Miss Hopi. Pastor Jack spoke and did a magic show for the handicapped children.

Thank you for enabling us to be a blessing to the Indigenous Peoples of America!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM CAMBODIA

Here is a link to the 2009 Christmas card from Ted & Sou Olbrich and the ministry in Cambodia.  www.missionreports.com/christmas_2009