The plans were all set, Christian Heritage Church (financial support and Knights of Refuge doing the work) and Mission M25 had the opportunity to assist Montana Indian Ministries, Pastor / Chief Bruce Plummers in serving the Navajo people in western New Mexico. Our point of contact and host, Pastor Jerry Salazar had all the ground work in place.
Then the weather report changed, a place that rarely gets rain, was going to receive up to 5” of snow, with heavy rains. The schedule was moved up and we left earlier than expected in order to get the 33,000 pounds of water and food and the six chicken coops unloaded from the two tractor-trailers hauling them out. They just cannot navigate the mud, and mud there was.
We all arrived in time to get the trucks back on the road before the heavy rains and the following rain. We worked as quickly as possible, assisted by people four people from Montana, one from Phoenix and one from Albuquerque and seven from Amarillo.
Fortunately, we were offered the ‘studio’, a small building without much heat to sleep in and some of our guys moved the luggage in before it began to fall. This was so much better than the tent we thought we would be sleeping in. The ‘outhouse’ was still a ‘chilling’ experience but it made the reality of where we were more vivid. The nights were in the high teens and the days in the mid 20’s but it is amazing how it is ‘no big deal’ when you are running on compassion driven by a sense of urgency.
We spent the next three days delivering thousands of pounds of food, water and firewood. Yes, firewood. It is a humbling experience when you meet a lady with food and water and she ask, ‘do you have firewood?’. She went on to say, ‘we burned our sofa last night because we had to stay warm’.
The team could only get to six of the houses to deliver the chicken coops and laying hens. The mud was so difficult to navigate on the roads. Then there was the mud we had to work in to setup the coop and pens.
The team was blessed to participate in Home Missions, missions in the USA. We believe in reaching the world, but Jesus sent His disciples first back to Jerusalem. We must reach our home land. The reservations have less that 5% born again Christians on it. As Bro. Plummers reminds us, ‘the American church has failed miserably at reaching the people living on the reservation.’ He also reminds us they need Jesus, not our culture, a mistake of the past.
Due to several circumstances in Montana, Missionaries Cory and Janna Jones family could not make this trip. They remained the home reservation and took care of the daily needs of Montana Indian Ministries and advancement of the Kingdom.
