A Long and Busy Summer

August 30, 2021August 30, 2021 ~ sharonmaus ~ Leave a comment

Wow, has time flown quickly by!! I just erased my August Calendar and filled in September! (Excuse the internet issues…. all pics will be at the bottom!)

Much has been happening around campus in the last few months – including most of us being quarantined throughout June! We’ve had some minor changes (mostly Sharon’s schedule and involvement) and are continuing to find our place in this community. We were still very new here when everything shut down The other night, we found ourselves talking about how that impacted our ministry and how we have continued to find paths through the strange unknown we all find ourselves in.

First, the NEW

Hilltop Christian School, our mission school, had several retirements and some teachers who have had life changes, a few new teachers have jumped on board, but we are still short people to accomplish what we need to here (know any good teachers willing to spend a season or two here??? 😉 ). Early in the summer, or perhaps right before the school year ended, the school leadership approached Sharon about working in the library. They were flexible enough for Sharon to choose times and days and we officially have her in the library on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons!

Steve had Thursday half days to take a break before Celebrate Recovery in the evenings and he was able to cut back a few hours on Wednesday, too, so he will be home with the kids those afternoons.

Sharon is responsible for the usual checking out of books, but she also has each grade K-6 in time slots through the day for storytime, library activities, and classes on looking up books, book genres and classification and research. We are a few weeks into the school year and so far know about half the kids’ names and have accomplished quite a bit of Curious George-ness! We love Hilltop and Sharon has volunteered as a helper, for errands and other odds and ends since we arrived on campus, so this is a wonderful avenue to expand into the school more and be more involved with our school kids. Please pray for a handful of our students struggling to find a routine. After shutdowns last year, several of them hadn’t ever been in a school setting and a few more have been out of school for a year and a half!

We are still homeschooling (a personal choice predating even having kids of our own for anyone curious) and the later schedule in the library has allowed for no changes in what we are doing at home. We also get to use the library! ( which the school leadership and missionaries made available to us anyway, but now it’s a little bit easier to utilize).

Celebrate!

There isn’t much new or changing with Celebrate Recovery, which is awesome news! Sobriety and Recovery depends on a steady, gradual process. Steve shared his testimony a few weeks ago with members of our church and CR attendees in an informal setting, somewhat separate from and yet still highly part of CR. As a vital and essential service, it hasn’t been impacted in the slightest by the restrictions in the state or on the Reservation, so we continue to praise God for that.

Church and Community Outreach

We have several things going on and having gone on over the last few months.

Sharon finished the house for Liliya and Anzhelika! It was a long June, but it’s finished (Steve will be installing a new stove pipe for their wood stove later in September. The previous one was in unsafe condition and appears to have burned inside the pipe).

Steve is working towards getting back into the jail in Gallup (down town) where it’s been a year and half with no ministry or church services to the inmates. One of those things is likely to be Covid vaccination, so he is getting his first dose this week. Pray for easy appointment, minimal side effects and impact as he gets moving forward on that process and finalizing details to get back into the jail.

Steve is also working through chaplaincy courses, most of which are available online and convenient. He facilitated a supplementary course in our church building in July and attended the same course when it was offered in Gallup. One benefit of the pandemic has been the resources to come through. SO many trainings are being offered, largely free of charge, as organizations see the psychological impact of what is happening: in health, in current events, with fires and hurricanes. There has been no shortage of opportunity for Steve to learn how to address and help people and situations as they come up.

We are starting up a new Bible Study in the coming weeks on Ezra and Nehemiah. We expect there to be several members of the church attending and possibly others.

Sharon is holding an infant and toddler clothing exchange on Saturday – for those of you who attend Mesa Baptist Church, this is our exchange that mirrors Michelle Martin’s event at MBC. This is also heavily stocked by the donations given to us of the overflow after the event last summer ( we’ve been waiting on the Reservation to open non-essential services in order to hold it).

Family Stuff

We have had a great summer-after a nearly a month in quarantine. We were exposed and locked down at the end of May. And then again after Adam came back from camp. No one else got sick after camp, though, so our best guess is he was absolutely exhausted 11pm nights and 7:30 mornings are rough at 8!! We stayed home just in case.
We have had a few visitors through the last few months and it’s been nice to see family up here (come see us! We will show you some sights and have a good time).
The zoo opened back up! So of course we have been! It’s half a mile or so from us and entry is by donation so it’s a great little spot to spend some time with the kids. They put in a gorgeous playground right in the center of the zoo a few years ago and during the shut downs built massive awnings over it. Great for the kids to run and yet not be in the sun!
We had a quick trip down to the Phoenix east valley after losing a friend in an accident. We were very close to him and are still processing it. We would appreciate your prayers as we work through this. While he was saved and we know he is with Jesus now, it was sudden and very unexpected and it’s been difficult to process. We have many many mutual friends who are also struggling to deal with this, please pray for them as well.
Adam is officially in third grade and 8 years old! He was behind when we started last year and caught up quite suddenly over the winter – things clicked! Sharon didn’t have a whole lot of confidence left in teaching ability before it all started making sense to him 😉 He also went to camp for a week down in Vanderwagen, NM. He loved it and has been working through a correspondence based Bible Study with one of the missionaries there.
Millie Anne turns six next week and is working through preschool. She’s been easily frustrated “doin’ school” so prayers would be appreciated for her patience and understanding. Letter sounds can be a rough learning process! She is super involved in Legos, dinosaurs and coloring and that’s pretty much her whole world.
Our van that was on it’s way out officially blew up (head gaskets and so forth). We scrapped it a few weeks ago and are very happy that we were able to get a vehicle BEFORE that happened. We had planned on giving it to a friend to run the rest of the way into the ground, but unfortunately it didn’t really get that far.

More prayer requests:

Our friend Jasper needs prayer after a severe injury. The details are unspoken, but healing will take some time.

Pray over the Bible study coming up, that the right number of people to have a good solid study and discussion would be able to attend.

Students F, Z, T, K and B who are all having a harder time settling in and can get just a little more than fidgety, Pray that they can focus, pay attention, and get the most out of time not just at the Library with Sharon, but throughout all of their school activities.

Pray for our school staff needs,

For the clothing exchange and a good turnout, and specifically that those who need it most will know where to come.

Everyone Helping wrap up the girls’ house
PLUMBING LESSONS!
Final Kitchen!
Living room is done
Finally back in church
Coffee obsessed – Hanging with Hilltop Teachers Laura and Sara
Broken Arrow Bible Ranch

Flash Flooding!
Of course we need to swim in it
Needless to say, it was a muddy week
Our newest friend – Little stray Rocky
He’s one of the good guys
Zoo Playgound
Lightsaber battles – a staple of campus life
Bon Fire with the Neighbors
New Zoo canopies
First of 60 Hacky Sacks!

Downtown Gallup
Rocky has handled every last mouse
Some of this week’s creations
Library Scavenger Hunt
Find George
All coordinated

New family photos taken by our friend Brianna Harriman

We love you all and appreciate the support, prayers and care!

In Christ,

STEVE and SHARON

From Plumbing to Evangelism

June 10, 2021June 10, 2021 ~ sharonmaus ~ Leave a comment

Half torn apart
Getting there
Cue needy kitty
One of Anzhelika’s art classes (aftermath)

Happy (almost) Summer!!

Something that we did not anticipate when heading out to the Navajo Nation was becoming DIY experts! You figure some unskilled, on-the-fly, handyman work might be needed, not unlike your average homeowner, but we’ve learned complex plumbing, basic electric, tile and more! Someone on campus recently told Sharon that “God gives us the skills that we need, we just need to use them.”

Because of this, we felt confident to jump into a major project here at the mission. One of the houses on site had become as nearly unlivable in the kitchen. Two of our young teachers moved into it last summer, for want of anything else on site, and occasionally we would hear about how they were coping with the different issues (mold and mildew, rot, leaks, broken flooring that had become extremely sharp and hazardous). Most of the problems seemed centered in the kitchen. Sharon got approval from the director to tear apart the kitchen. Both of the young ladies are away for a portion of summer break, visiting their families, so what better time to gut their kitchen than now? The kitchen has been pulled apart down to the subfloor (and in same cases, below it), cabinets are out, sheetrock is pulled back to rid of the mold (from a major leak at some point not long before they had moved in). Steve has refitted much of the plumbing to the kitchen and installed new shutoffs at the pipes and the propane line. The house is among the older on campus and so has seen many residents and many repairs. Today, we got the new cabinets in, leveled, mounted, calked and ready for countertop (and something for it is backordered, so that part is on hold). Tomorrow Sharon will level and prep the floor around the cabinets for new flooring.

Somewhere in and around all of this it occurred to us, the aforementioned, we didn’t expect this. Much of our work here (from prepping snacks for the teens to sorting checks and handling mission finances) are supportive roles. We knew our jobs are to help other people do their jobs. This newfound DIY skillset is no exception.

The two teachers in particular are among our paid school staff (our staff and teachers are half supported missionaries, and half paid positions…. very low paying positions). They are fresh out of school and this is their first and second year teaching, respectively. Anzhelika is our pre-k AND art teacher, Liliya is our second grade teacher. They are amazing young ladies who enjoy working at our school, but our tiny mission school is the job for them. Their mission, and the reason they are here, is to partner with the Russian Baptist church not far from here and do mission out in some of the far reaches of the Reservation. Everything from street corner preaching, to dinner with elderly people in a dirt floor hogan with no electric. These gals are amazing and we are so blessed to know them and to be able to fix up the kitchen and dining room (where one gives art classes and the other teaches Russian language in addition to everything else). What a delightful duo of young ladies. Pray no injuries occur during the remaining renovations. Pray Sharon’s cat allergies stay away – so far so good – the kitty who occupies that house looooves keeping her company. Pray for Liliya and Anzhelika to be able to use the renovated space to God’s glory as they continue ministering on the Reservation and with our school kids and pray for their safe trip back here over the next few weeks. Please also pray for their friend Joy, who stays with them frequently and has had a hard year. This, her first, teaching in the middle of the pandemic and with a rough group of kids. Joy teaches at a public school up north, but spends the weekends with the ladies and is involved in ministry with them. Incidentally, Joy grew up an hour from me, so we share a connection to Pennsylvania.
— Having issues cropping these pics, more below —

Now, for the fun stuff. We thought, after 10,608 hours we could leave Covid out of our newsletters, but alas…

*Sharon, Millie Anne and Sara Everett at the April Sharathon*

We had two confirmed cases in office, active illness, with symptoms. Within days, several more on staff developed an array of symptoms from sinus pressure to fever and delirium. No one in our house is ill, but we are under full quarantine (until Saturday presuming no one comes down with any symptoms). The contact tracers (because they stalked us) said anyone vaccinated can be free to continue normal activities provided they were a facemask for the chances of asymptomatic transmission. One such lady – our first grade teacher, Sara- went and got us all the essentials at the grocery store!! Absolutely sweet. She’s also peeked in and checked on Sharon while she’s working on the house renovation (on campus and isolated from others). The Everetts are great friends and we are blessed to know them. Pray for healing on campus, especially for the woman who is experiencing more severe symptoms than the rest of us. Pray our immediately family continues to be symptom free and can return to life on Saturday. Pray, too, for the Everetts. Roger and Sara, that they remain healthy as they shop for and run errands for those of us fully locked down. They are a huge blessing.

Celebrate Recovery attendance has leveled off at seven attendees, but they are faithfully coming, reaching out to Steve and the other leaders and are growing both in their faith and their recovery.
We had a very special gift donated to Celebrate Recovery last month, and Steve was able to use much of it to help get a CR group on the Zuni Reservation (an hour and a half south of us) back on it’s feet after the severe impact of our lengthy Covid lockdowns and the direct lockdown on the Zuni Rez…. no one on or off Rez, road blocks for a good chunk of the year. The Zuni Reservation lifted these restrictions in April. This special gift helped restock Recovery Bibles, sobriety and recovery chips, and other resources that the group needed to fully restart.

Due to the high level of exposure and last minute notification on campus, CR was cancelled last week (for the first time since New Mexico’s original lockdown eased last summer. Tomorrow night’s meeting will still be absent Steve, but one of our other leaders who hasn’t been exposed to anyone on campus has offered to lead it, but quarantine should be lifted before next week, bringing us back to our newish normal. Praise, thank God with us for the CR gift, for other special gifts recently that have been used in powerful ways, for the ability to equip the Zuni CR group and for continued work with our Celebrate Recovery friends. Pray specifically this week for JJ, JH, and also for Darlene J. who is leading tomorrow night.

Family Things:
We had visitors last month!! Grandma and Grandpa visited from PA and we had a grand time! The kids were super happy to see their grandparents in their own house (we stayed with them last fall when we were back east… I think the kids like especially to be able to have them, to show them around and involve them in their lives). We took a road trip around the immediate area, pointing some sights out, unfortunately all of the Tribal parks are still closed, but we had a good time driving nonetheless. Complete with some special coffees for the trip.

Next week, Adam gets to go to Summer Camp! This is a camp not far from the mission with who’s lea are well-acquainted, Adam, on the other hand, doesn’t know a soul. So pray please that we are clear of any covid symptoms before our quarantine lets up and that he has a wonderful experience filled with fun, new friends and spiritual growth.

Millie Anne is stuck home! Mommy plans to try and get her to the movie theater down town as her own special treat. Rumor has it there is a horsey movie that has a little girl 😉 Keep her little heart in prayer too, she easily feels left out when big brother gets to do cool things.

Summer is kicking up, the mission has a team arriving next week to work on the radio station building, Sharon will be finishing up the girls’ house over the next two weeks, Steve is looking at the next classes he can take for chaplaincy and planning more radio programs for Celebrate Recovery, next month Sharon will be logging time in Hilltop’s library, creating new entries for some several hundred books that were donated for the school. The kids are back to school (we school year round with several long breaks, they just had four weeks off) and we are about to study SPACE – we are all obsessed with the Mars missions. In the near future, Steve is hoping the jail will reopen and allow services back in so that can be resumed, and Sharon is talking with school administration about volunteering some hours during the school year in the library, as we do not have a dedicated librarian at this time. Please pray for all of this as summer and fall is definitely our “busy season”.

Love in Christ,

Steve and Sharon

Spring is Here!

April 13, 2021 ~ sharonmaus ~ 2 Comments

Spring is always a wonderful time of year! Everything has been cold and quiet and suddenly, the world defrosts, the sun perks everything and everyone right up! It’s no different here on the Navajo Nation.
The outlook on Covid has improved slightly, despite reopenings and reclosures around spikes and variants. Things are steadily improving and with it, restrictions are easing.

Church

We were able to have church for the first time in over a year on Easter Sunday. Because of the lockdowns and curfews on the Reservation, we have been barred from Sundays until now. (We have been able to meet in homes and hold Bible Studies somewhat, but this has not been an effective way to gather in the health climate and with those restrictions).

Our first Sunday back we were “packed” at about 40 people. We were able to distance, keeping family groups together, sing, offer nursery services AND share communion through the very convenient individual communion packets (like they serve at revivals, camps and festivals with the wafer on top of the little cup!) It was wonderful to connect with the community again in this way after a full year. Steve has taken on much of the sanitizing and logistics of holding services according to both Navajo and New Mexico regulations. This is nothing he hasn’t already been doing for Celebrate Recovery, so it’s something we are able to accomplish with extra time given to it. In addition to this, Sharon is maintaining strict cleaning and sanitizing protocols in the nursery for any infants and toddlers to be able to play safely. We are hoping children’s church will be able to start up soon as well. Pray for these endeavors as we help-as members- to get out local church back to our available pre-pandemic services and resources.

Sharathon

It has been a year and a half since we have been able to hold our Radio Sharathon fundraiser. Annually and sometimes more, it has always lifted a huge part of our financial burden as far as radio services and staying on the air goes. With four functioning stations (currently broadcasting identically across the reservation on AM and FM) it takes work and money to keep our signal live. We’ve had to cancel Sharathon repeatedly since Covid began and on Saturday we pulled off a big, drive-thru/outdoor event! Most of the staff was able to help as well as retired and former staff and local community friends. It was a great time and a sorely missed staple event of the Mission. Sharon organized food for the staff throughout the day (this year, regulations prevent us from feeding the local public except for water and sealed chip bags, which were well enjoyed by all. Staff was well-fed from 8am through 6:30pm!!!). Steve processed donations throughout the day (as is a normal part of his job) and we raised over 8,000 with additional money pledged. Much of these donations come in from immediately local community members who have long-loved our station and are able to give back and help us keep it on the air – not unlike supporting your local Christian radio such as is done with K-Love.
We had 150 or more cars drive thru and many stayed parked, listening to the radio from their vehicles, watching the live music and cheering, honking and praising together. As a high risk community, we have taken special care to continue to be present for those needing it most without bringing undue risk and impact to their health. It was an encouragement to see so many familiar and new faces come through, honk and wave. Praise that we’ve brought in close to this year’s goal, which will offset a huge chunk of operating costs and help toward equipping the new station building which is ever closer to being completed. As a side note: Sharathon takes a lot out of us, it is a big undertaking, even for a single day event…. we might take a day or two off 😉
Bunch-a photos follow… cause, ya know, it was exciting

Library Plans

 Sharon is getting the opportunity to help through the summer at the Hilltop Christian School Library - as most of the teachers are off for the summer updating supporters, seeing family and otherwise taking a break from school and mission life. The work involves getting a handle on a year of low staff, no steady library staff, donations of books and supplies that haven't been sorted or shelved and other maintenance tasks. The kids will often be with her through this project and they can watch movies, have snacks, do crafts and even help out with odd jobs around her work. She's excited to be able to have an impact with the school through this flexible and quiet summer opportunity. And of course, we absolutely love our school, and so the participation in making the library a great resource again for the next school year is something we love. Pray as she works through this that things are smooth, interruptions are minimal, and the rather large job can be completed before staff is back on campus to prep for the school year (from the last week of May through the first of August).

Visitors

We had special visitors today: Joel Miller, the missions pastor at LifeHouse Church in DE came up with his friend Jeremy from the Phoenix area (the Miller family is visiting them in AZ from DE). Steve gave them a tour of the campus, some general life updates and we enjoyed lunch together. Pray for the Miller family as they spend time in the Valley and when they and their sweet kids travel home and for Jeremy and his family.

Thank you for all of the prayers and support! Happy spring, Blessings and love in Christ
Steve and Sharon

2021

February 1, 2021 ~ sharonmaus ~ Leave a comment

January is already over, taking with it the last remnants of red, green and tinsel.

Good afternoon, friends!
I’m writing this from a very touchy wordpress app – looks like it underwent some changes, so this may not even post!

Health Update:
Our immediate family has been well, no one has fallen ill despite repeat exposure to positive cases in the last year – can you believe we are at a year now?
The families on campus and affiliated with Across Nations that had contracted Covid are doing well, and those who had been very sick and hospitalized are all cleared, clean bill of health, off-oxygen and all!! So praise God for that!
Many families have lost loved ones here, many pastors have lost the fight with this new illness and passed on, their families are coping, but your prayers would be very welcome as they navigate life in the aftermath of sudden illness and loss.

Weather
We have found ourselves under several different snowstorms in the last few weeks – it makes for dicey driving as many of you know. It also makes for some quiet days on campus. Some couldn’t make it to the office from around town, school was closed for only one storm, so Sharon and Adam took the opportunity to help clear out sidewalks, steps, ramps, and paths around and between the school buildings. The sun was shining and the wind was minimal, so it was a good time and made for some quick work. And, of course, we played in it!

Regularly Scheduled Programming
January – I think in all our worlds- proves to be relatively quiet.
Last year at this time, Sharon and Adam were tagging along with the radio team to high school basketball games (basketball=life around here…. basketball and rodeo) , making connections, visiting the concession stands 😉 Youth Group was in full swing, community events were unfolding-remember the Valentine’s Weekend radio fundraiser? \/

THAT was a full year ago!!!
Steve’s regular work continues in the office to which he is a great asset in the financial department. He and his direct supervisor -respectively – take care of everything from incoming missionary support to staff pay to outgoing radio construction progress! Often, we (the generic we) do not like discussing money and we don’t make a very heavy point of this regular weekly work in our newsletters, but it’s a fact of life 😉 and a big part of why Steve was brought on. Stewardship of mission finances, progressive work toward future goals, school resources, and individual support are in the hands of these two. Steve and Sue work very well together, and we’re happy to be in this role.
Celebrate Recovery continues, and continues to average between 10-20 participants and leaders depending on the week. Our gathering limits under safe social distancing for the state of New Mexico is at roughly 80 people in the church building, so we have more than enough room to grow into.
We have said before, due to the nature of anonymity that comes with sobriety and recovery programs, there isn’t much by way of update – or photos- that can be made public. Give Steve a call and he would be happy to talk more about CR, the work here, the volunteers, donations and help that come in regularly, and the slow, but steady impact this growing ministry has in the community.
Sharon continues on in volunteering wherever she can in the absence of youth group. Several radio volunteers have been through the mission in the last two months, and she has prepped housing and minor comforts for them. This is a passion of hers, pray it can be grown some with the resources we have on hand.
We were also able to host a dinner evening for Tim and Renee Zook, a couple from Indiana. Tim is, missionally, a radio consultant and engineer and he spent a great deal of time working on our radio with another gentleman, not only getting some bugs worked out, but constructing a new FM tower on the other side of the Reservation where we have an AM station and getting that on the air. Currently our four radio stations run the same programming. They have in the past and will again in the future, run several different programs, styles and languages respectively, with FM focusing more on the younger generation and AM featuring more talk, sermons and Navajo language programs. We enjoyed the company of Tim and Renee and learned more about their ministry as they work with other groups around the country. They’ve been here three times since we have moved to the mission.
Steve’s grandpa from just north of us, surprised us with a wood delivery donated personally and dropped off! The outreach has been steadily growing, with families able to call in and request assistance via wood for heat. (this is also an area of ministry Adam can be involved in. Wood hauling is a lot of work, but what seven year old boy doesn’t want to throw logs around??)

Over Christmas week (it’s been a bit??) we had some “events” to write cards out, pack boxes and spend time pouring into pastors and other church leaders on the Reservation and in the area. This was a great mini outreach in the absence of anything else we could do in the community over the holidays (considering lockdowns and stay at home orders that persist to varying degrees).

Family Update
Not a whole ton going on personally. We’re still catching up, cleaning up, and winding down from holidays and travel. We spent a good deal of the late fall and early winter visiting and updating family and friends after being on mission for a year and a half – fast coming on two years since we left home. It’s been a ride and we love taking you along for it! We are grateful for all of the love, support, prayers and encouragement from all of you.

Sharon uses every real and imagined opportunity to crochet something. Sometimes they are straight gifts – this year she made 55 hats for Hilltop kids -cause we so love our school!! For the last two years, friends and family wanted things they saw and she used the chance to fundraise for our cousin and his wife who are adopting. They’ve close raised all of the money and are in waiting now – matched and ready. This year, any crochet requests will go to fundraising for Hilltop Christian School. She does some volunteering, has gotten to know a few of the kids, is close with most of the teachers and we just love to love on them all. This will be a great outlet for the yarn (and if you feel so inclined to send some, she never turns yarn donations down 😉 ). We’re not fond of “selling and making money” off her hobby, but fundraising for our wonderful school – absolutely!!

Check out Sharon’s experimental Instagram page…. we are hoping to use it for steadier mission photos…. take you along in real time…. in addition to the monthly and/or bi-monthly updates here on the blog.
http://www.instagram.com/mausmission

Prayer Requests:
Praise: all those who have been ill are recovered!!! And those most at risk are already receiving vaccines to mitigate further impact to their health.
Praise: Safety for all over the last few snow storms and sub zero nights. Everyone has done well, with minimal problems. At some point, we slid off the road, but our principal: Bill Naas, was able to save Steve 😉 – on campus, no huge risk to anyone
Please pray for continued health for our school kids and teachers. We have a few high risk individuals working in the school. Sanitizing is in high gear, masks are worn throughout – lots of breaks for the kiddos outside to get some fresh air.
Pray for continued finances as God wills for the radio station. Some of our supporters have blessed the radio with new constructions funds – this is exciting to see others take further interest beyond what we do directly. How cool? PRay the physical help comes in this spring as we get teams to help us finish off. So far – cargo containers are on, build out inside is complete, roof structure is in place and everything is tarped off pending the next leg of construction. As our existing building deteriorates at an alarming pace, we are all very excited to be moving forward on our site plan.
Pray for Jasper (vehicle), Juan (unspoken), Nanette (healing after a dog-related injury), High Life teens K, K, T, J, and N – the only one we have heard from is N. Pray they are all safe and well and we are able to connect in some way with them.
High Life leaders Seth and Sarah as they plan future events that fit within the regulations, and for Tawny who is planning to leave and pursue her future in the next year.
Leaders Wade and Amanda, new-ish parents! as they figure out what their future with the youth group looks like.
Finally, Millie Anne – who has some struggles, she’s speaker much clearer and is trying hard to focus on her school lessons. We feel confident even with the special educational needs she may have, that we can continue to homeschool her, but please pray for patience and understanding all around and that we can continue to learn about her needs to be able to raise and teach her in the best ways possible.

Year in Pictures

December 19, 2020December 19, 2020 ~ sharonmaus ~ Leave a comment

Enjoy a bunch of highlights from before the lockdowns, and some of our favorite moments from during the worst of Covid 2020 (These may not load well on the phones… )

Basketball

In a wild finish, Window Rock got a pair of free throws from junior Cauy Silversmith with 7.2 seconds to net the two-point win.
– Quentin Jodie . Navajo Times . 2/1/2020

High Life

Leader Buddy and two of our teens – Game Night! Jan/Feb 2020
Kicking the hacky sack around
Photography with leader Wade
Our top youth leader Seth in a heated battle with one of our young men

Encounter Work Teams

Of the 16 scheduled work teams, three of ours were able to make it. Plus two unofficial groups to help with special projects. Still, it was wonderful to have Oak Grove Classical Academy, Youth Works mission group, men from Three Springs in PA for the roof work, ladies from Mosaic in Arkansas to help refit and outfit our 5th/6th grade classroom, and a team from Desert Springs ABQ bringing huge trunkful-s of wood.

Ambassador’s Choir Radio Fundraiser

The Ambassador’s Choir was commissioned by KHAC – our primary radio station- some amount of years ago. In February, they put on a two day fundraising dinner and concert event. Sharon spent time helping the Choir out, running errands, prepping meals, and handling tickets. What a blast that was! We had planned for the Choir to hold at least one more event, but the lockdowns initiated in March made it impossible. We are looking forward to future events with them.

Principal and 7th Gr. Teacher Bill & Laura Naas
Nearly all the ladies jumped in to get as much Fry Bread made as possible
Georgia, turning out Fry Bread
2nd Gr. Teacher Liliya Rubanenko
Choir Director and KHAC dj JR Redhouse

What Else..?

Oh yeah, we (us along with the other mission staff) built a swingset, recorded on endless radio, packed thousands of boxes of food, participated in more chaplaincy training classes, made up a bunch of gifts for our school kids and whatever else we could dream up during closures and pandemic-related chaos.