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!