Thank You for letting us share our IBC story with you…
A glimpse of our past
My name is Luckie and my wife is Lanora. I am full Navajo and grew up and went to school on the Navajo Reservation in Gray Mountain and Flagstaff, Arizona. My wife, Lanora and I met in grade school where we both received Christ as our Savior. She is half Anglo and half Navajo also from the Navajo Reservation in the Grand Falls area. We have been married for fifteen years and our children are Camron and Madison.
For high school I attended a Christian boarding school off the Reservation. That is where my wife and I met and we both received Christ as our Savior. Lanora is half Navajo and half Anglo from the Navajo Reservation close to Leupp, Arizona. Our Reservation is a welfare state with no running water and little electricity. Both of our families had some church influence and were culturally traditional, with both of our grandfathers being medicine men.
The Turning Point In Our Lives
For 15 years now we have lived in Flagstaff. After we got married we started attending a church with other Native Americans. Throughout the years we felt like something meaningful was missing from our lives but could not pin-point what it was. We had heard the Gospel over and over but discipleship was not part of our Christian walk. We followed man-made rules to prevent us from sinning, but those rules became more important than our relationship with God and listening to His commands.
Before getting connected with Indian Bible College (IBC) we knew our marriage was in trouble but had no clue how to fix it. We also lived out of fear that one wrong choice or thought would condemn us to hell and so we were trying to earn our salvation back over and over. We had no understanding of the beautiful grace-filled God whose eternal family we were a part of. After starting at IBC we found that we were missing a deep and personal relationship with our Savior, which also distanced us from the people around us.
We craved close friendships but were afraid of sharing our true selves with others. We needed trustworthy, nonjudgmental friends who were also believers who would show us what it means to honor each other in marriage and who would model healthy parenting. We needed help understanding how our direct relationship with God impacts our relationship with others and what the Bible really means by the church being the body of Christ. And these are exactly the things God has provided for our family within the past six years and we love Him so much for that!
In August of 2012 we started out as students at IBC, which ended up being a much greater answer to prayer than we could have imagined! Through our involvement at IBC we became involved in a cell church plant. We are now growing through our leadership roles within our church family. This model fits tremendously well with our culture and enhances our interaction and understanding of the Bible. We have seen God bring about transformational growth not only in us but also many others as we seek His direction for our lives…..
In May 2018, I received my Christian Ministry Certificate and my wife received her Associates in Biblical Studies. We have NO school debt! Since then, Lanora has joined the staff. In her words, “I get to be Jason’s executive assistant and am excited and humbled to do so!” When I join the staff, we will both be part of the IBC ministry. Weare thankful for the process of relying on God for His provision which has increased our faith and given us confidence to take this step into this new chapter of our lives as we continue to obey Him. Our family is also anxiously looking forward to the upcoming changes and gaining more time each week to do ministry together as we continue building relationships and investing even more in our children.
Bible College has challenged us to live our lives intentionally, daily. We used to be Sunday Christians, but now we are every day Christians. God placed me in leadership at home, within the church, and at work, which seems to have been training for my future role at IBC. In June 2019, I plan to join the IBC staff and begin my training to become the next business administrator. I will also be working on receiving my bachelor’s degree in business. Over the years there has been much prayer concerning my job and now we can see God had more in mind than just doing my job well and living out Jesus before my employees. Another prayer over the years has been for us to go into fulltime ministry and to do so debt-free. We have achieved our goal and are debt free!
My future in ministry
My desire is that while I am at IBC I will be able to be a much bigger part of the lives of students and my fellow staff, especially the men, in order that I might share my life’s experiences. I want to visit churches on the Reservation and work with other believers to cultivate a network of churches working together to support each other. I want to be part of training up church leaders through our cell church for the reservations. My heart is at IBC and I am looking forward to learning my new role and being part of this ministry team.
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