Missionary stories filled with the heart of God. Please keep them in your prayers.
It was the last chapel service before the Ministry Immersion Trip (MIT). One by one students stood and shared openly about their struggles, failures, and desire to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. One recurring theme was their feelings of being unworthy to be at IBC. Several apologized for sin they had committed and publicly repented. Most shed some tears and a few wept openly. What a privilege to see God at work in our midst!
I think I was in Sprout’s, the new grocery store in town. I barely recognized him since he’d shaved his head. John oversees a ministry to Native college students in town, a ministry IBC students love to attend, and several have worked closely with him in internships. The ministry is based at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and strives to disciple Native students who are believers, as well and to attract Native seekers. Some IBC students have been involved in this ministry in one way or another every semester for years.
“You’re really getting some quality students these days!” John said with a smile.
“Indeed,” I responded. “I hear all three of the new ones this semester were at One Tribe this week.”
What a month this has been! Thank God, the move is now recent history and I am now in my new location. There was only one day in the process where I felt despairing, which is a lot better than the last mobile home move. I am amazed at God’s timing and grace toward me! Here is a brief run down:
“You should do my car too,” I joked with the students washing the school vehicles.
“Bring it over,” responded one student. “You serve us all year. We ought to at least wash your car once a year!”
And they did! They even vacuumed inside! Now how often does that happen?
Fulltime staff and faculty 2013
Hello,
We are feverishly working on the school newsletter, hoping to have it to you within a week or two. In the meantime, thought I’d better drop you a quick update. It’s time for bed, but, here goes (hope this makes at least some sense!!)…
Term one ends this week and then we head out on our annual fall camp-out at Lake Powell, several hours north of here. So far, as far as I know, all the students are doing well. I am still adjusting to my new Spiritual Formation group of women, and they to me, but after the camp-out, we’ll likely be a lot better acquainted.
Fall is in the air. Frost has destroyed my “garden” but the pellet stove has been unsuccessful in booting up for its first run of the winter. This is the first fall I have actually dreaded winter. Must be getting old… I’ve also been trying to beat the snow in making a major move. I’ve been looking at places to move my manufactured home closer in to town (I really MUST be getting old!). Sure is a complicated process and the options are expensive. But, I think I might actually go through with it if I can talk one place down.
As usual, the students waited till the last minute to turn in their applications. We set a deadline and then charge a late fee until the absolute latest date, so, of course, most of the new freshmen paid a late fee.
This year as I went through the applications I was struck with a deep sadness as I read story after story of rejection, neglect, suicidal attempts or thoughts, and self hatred. I was close to tears after reading one prospective student’s autobiography in particular. Most of these young people have known deep hurt. Most have experimented with alcohol and several with drugs. Several have raised themselves. At least one moved from home to home when his own family became so dysfunctional that he couldn’t stay there any more.
She was sun burned and tired but her face was radiant. “This is such a privilege for me,” she said, beaming. One of the students had just shared his testimony and this hard-working team member was invigorated to work for another several hours before packing up to leave. The woman who spoke to me shared that she had struggled with drug abuse and could identify with God’s work in the life of the student who shared. She went on to say that this week had been hard (her muscles were sore from head to toe) but she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Her intention was to go home and use the momentum she had gained to start being physically active again and shed some of the pounds she had gained since getting “clean.” She was feeling renewed spiritually and physically.
What a privilege to be asked to sing at Jerry and Linda Yonnie’s 40th wedding anniversary party! I realized as I listened to the memories from their four now-grown children that the Yonnies have been a part of my life longer than my own mother was! When I first moved to New Mexico the Yonnies were just starting their ministry at Oak View Bible Church after Jerry graduated from Indian Bible College. For 6 years I sat under the ministry of Jerry as my pastor. Then they moved to Flagstaff so Jerry could take over the office of the president of Indian Bible College. Several years later I took them up on their invitation to join them and followed them to IBC. When they moved to Sanders, Arizona to reopen a church there, I stayed on at IBC, but our relationship continued.
The following quotes are from end-of-the-semester papers that the Personal Finance students were required to write. They provide evidence that God is still at work in our midst even though there have been some hard times. This Personal Finance class has helped me see finances in a whole new light.
It must be spring. A dry, southwest wind has been howling off and on for the past several weeks. It’s almost time for graduation. We have only one more week of classes before the students go their separate ways for the summer.
March was definitely not a trouble-free month. It seemed as though the school was under attack from all sides, but when the dust cleared, Christ was victorious! In addition, as a result of the attacks, I think the school is stronger and more unified as the students participated in extending grace to a repentant fellow student who had fallen into sin. While this was certainly a painful experience for all of us, there is no better way to teach such concepts as discipline within a community of believers, the need for public repentance when there has been public sin, and the ultimate goal of restoration. The hard lesson of consequences, even after repentance, has also been agonizingly modeled in our midst.
My mind is racing. So many things I’d like to share with you…
… opportunities to talk about Christ the past few Sunday afternoons as I get to know a young woman and her adult son who attend the Sunday afternoon meals for “those less fortunate” in the community around IBC.
… grief of dealing with doubts from people who believe slanderous Facebook posts accusing the school of dabbling with New Age spiritism and our president being a heretic.
… reward of being able to share with the student body and most of the staff some of the things I’ve been learning over the years about how to care for this body in a godly manner.
… encouragement at the response from the students to the mission conference and hearing of at least one individual who is taking specific steps to be able to travel to Russia this coming summer.
…sorrow at the passing of the woman who takes me in every two years when I stay in Middleboro, Massachusetts for seven weeks duration, but relief at knowing she is with the Lord.
… joy in hearing stories of God’s work in the lives of several of our graduates as I prepared to write the articles for the recent newsletter.
When we finished reading this passage in our Spiritual Formation group, having just celebrated another birthday (one young lady will be 19 this coming week), our conversation turned to the frailty of our existence, the brevity of our lives, and the necessity of making every moment count for God.
Honestly, I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. Driving that far north in December and January, navigating unfamiliar streets in downtown Saint Louis, piloting my way through a massive crowd of college students . . . just seemed like a lot to undertake at my advanced age and lack of adaptability. Okay, so I’m not that old nor, hopefully, that inflexible, but my fears were real.
In the city of Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, it is estimated that there were as many as 4 million Native inhabitants before European contact in 1496. By 1570 that number had been reduced to 125. In Central Mexico one third of the Native people died of smallpox within ten years of exposure by the Spanish conquerors.
“I hope I can keep ahead of her,” I thought as Sarah’s lesson time approached. Although I only have five music students this semester, they are all practicing and progressing, unlike sometimes. One student is fighting tooth and nail to learn piano, and though it has not come easy for her, she has kept at it and consistently practiced. What a joy to work with her!
Term one is now over and I still was enjoying teaching Introduction to Christian Education when it ended! Now I have an easier term ahead of me but major preparations to be made for the History of North America. I am also in charge of the arrangements and preparations for our annual fall conference October 15-18. I will need to get busy writing/editing the fall newsletter as well, so it will be a very busy term even though I’m not teaching a three-credit course until the third term.
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