A Typical Day

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Want to see where we will be working?  Who we will be serving?  Watch the video above. 

On Saturday, June 8, 2013, at 4am in the morning, we take the first step in our journey when we board our bus (yes, bus!) in the parking lot of Grace Episcopal Church.  We will have our hammers and nails, our sleeping bags and air mattresses, our snake bite kits and toothbrushes, our journals and our hearts.  Our first stop will be for the night in Elk City, Oklahoma. 

On Sunday the 9th, we will arrive in Crown Point, New Mexico, where we will enjoy dinner and Orientation and Worship, lights out at 11 pm. 

During the week, we will be joyfully jumping from our sleeping bags at 7:00 am sharp ... ok, I added the joyful jumping but we will see.  After breakfast, we will be further nourished by morning devotional before heading out to the work site. 

Crownpoint is in the midst of the Navajo Nation, the largest reservation in the United States.  Here, 56% of the people live below the poverty line, 44% are unemployed,  and 38% of the homes do not have electricity or running water. But the numbers don't explain why.  With only one grocery store, one gas station, and one Laundromat, the jobs in Crownpoint are few.  And because many families do not have cars or money to afford gas, they cannot easily commute to the towns with jobs about 50 miles away.  Also, consider that Crownpoint is located in the middle of a desert like setting far from many natural resources.  The most common type of homes on the reservation are trailers, government built single family homes, and hogans. 

On the worksite, we will first meet with the home owner and understand their story.  Then our work will begin.  It will consist of heavy home repair, remodeling, or new construction.  The intent is not to simply do cosmetic work but to do work that will make a big difference in the life of our homeowner. Often lunch is offered by the resident with a homemade local meal.   

After dinner, we will rock and roll with a Next Step Band and worship team. Though the work projects are key, worship is a critical part of our journey and is woven throughout every step. Worship will start out with some fun games, then we will sing worship songs with our band.  We will reflect on the day and on God's presence.
 
On Friday, the 14th of June, we will have a change of pace and celebrate with the community. 

Saturday, the 15th, will come too soon.  We will board our bus and begin our journey home.

Please pray for us and follow us.

-The YMO Team 

 

How do LEGOS and Mission Preparation go together?

L E GOS ?

An update from Reed....

 

Recently, YMO Hinsdale held a “Rock-A-Thon” fundraiser. We were supposed to rock in a rocking chair for 24 hours straight. That didn’t work out super well.

 

About eight hours into the experience, Father Chris started preparing us for an experience that he said was a life-changer. He said he really felt sorry for us, to say that I was worried is an understatement. The way he described it, I truthfully thought we were going to have an exorcism. He told us we weren’t allowed to talk to any adults that will be monitoring us. He then brought us upstairs and separated us into two teams.

 

 

 

As I entered my team’s room, a bag of Legos were on the table. We immediately assumed that we had to put the pieces together, but we had no idea what the model was of. So, we sent our first team member into the observation room, who informed us it was a helicopter. After about twenty minutes of trying to assemble it, Father Chris took me and another member from my group and swapped rooms.

 

 

 

 I went into the other room and I saw that a race car was being made by the other team. After about fifteen more minutes, my original team came into the race car room. After ten more minutes in there, Father Chris brought us back into the helicopter room, and the helicopter was FINISHED. I was in awe. I had no clue they could finish it. However, I found out later that Chris just swapped the unfinished helicopter with the finished one from the observation room. Although it wasn’t anything physically extreme, like I thought it would be, it was still a learning experience for all of us, because we learned about ourselves and how we work together as a unit, which will help us greatly in New Mexico.

 

Thanks for listening....Reed

Thank you!

YMO Mission: June 8-16, 2013

 

THANK YOU!  

 

From the generosity of our parish, friends, and families we raised over $20,000 in the Rock-A-Thon for our upcoming mission trip to Crownpoint, NM.  

 

We are so grateful to all of you who supported us in our first fundraising effort.

 

You are invited to follow with us in this journey through our preparations, travels, and experiences by reading our blog.  To subscribe to it simply:

 

·        Go to www.ymomission.blogspot.com

·        Scroll to the bottom of the page

·        Enter your email address in the "Follow Us" box on the right

·        You will then receive an email asking you to authorize this

·        Simply click on the link in the email and you have completed your subscription

 

New posts will be added several times per week as we bring you with us on this exciting journey to serve God’s people.

 

If you have any questions about our mission to the Navajo Nation, please don't hesitate to ask any of us on the Missions Team or feel free to add a comment below and we would be happy to respond. 

 

The YMO Missions Team:

Youth	Staff
Claudia Casas	Danielle Arthaud
Laila Drury	Sam Hostettler
Vivian Drury	Cynthia Hurd
Nathan Hill	Cindy Jackson King
Henry Hostettler	Heidi Jones
Sofia Howson	Louise Meyer
Kirsten Jones	Chris Pierce
Matt Kaczynski	Emery Pierce
Alex Kane	Julie Pierce
Claire Meyer	James Powell
Nick Naimo	Merribeth Rhoads
Ansley Pierce	Linda Robinson
Ellen Pierce	Mike Robinson
Amanda Powell	Kelley Summers
Emily Powell	Loretta Summers
Alden Pritchard
Olivia Pritchard
Maggie Schwartz
Ellie Sprague
Bennett White
Reed Willman

 

We have a lot to learn...

"...As one's knowledge of Navajo life increases,

one learns that the Navajos have created

out of their human material a house of wonder.

Their intangible culture matches

the splendor of their land.

In terms of life—not of goods—

it is we who are poor, not the Navajos."

John Collier, Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1933-1936.

 

"This land that may seem arid and forlorn to the newcomer is full of stories which hold the spirits of the people, those who live here today and those who lived centuries and other worlds ago".

 

There is so much to learn about the Navajo People and, in preparation for Mission, it is now time to learn.  The Navajo history is rooted in travelling. Navajo tradition tells of the movement from three previous worlds before the present fourth world was established and populated by the Earth Surface People. It was only because of the knowledge and wisdom gained by going through earlier worlds that the present world could be established. In more recent history, the Navajo people were forced on the Long Walk in 1864 when more than 8000 Navajo walked to Fort Sumner in southern New Mexico, three hundred miles south of their familiar four sacred mountains. For the Navajo people, the march to Bosque Redondo remains one of the darkest periods of their history; over 2500 died during this period of four years of government captivity.

The Navajo "Night Chant"

 

Happily may I walk.

Happily with abundant dark clouds may I walk.

Happily with abundant showers may I walk.

Happily with abundant plants may I walk.

Happily on a trail of pollen may I walk.

Happily may I walk.

Being as it used to be long ago, may I walk.

So, I just downloaded a few books to my Kindle so as to learn and to have for the long travel by bus to Navajo Nation. 

• Blue Horses Rush In by Luci Tapahonso (recently named First Poet Laureate for the Navajo Nation)
• All is Beautiful All Around Me by Gerald Hausman
• Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story by Oliver La Farge
• Navaho Legends by Washington Matthews
• Ceremonial of Hasjelti Daijis and Mythical Sand Painting of the Navajo Indians by James Stevenson
• Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Navajo

 

In "A Prayer", Luci Tapahonso she writes of driving between
Santa Fe and Albuquerque:

I can easily sing
for that time is mine
and these ragged red cliffs
flowing hills and wind echoes
are only extensions
of a never-ending prayer.

 

Happy Travels - Louise Meyer

 

33 Days!

3 3   D A Y S

In almost one month, we’ll be departing from the Grace at 4 AM (yes, that’s right, the morning) on our less-than-glamorous journey to examine the metaphorical poverty in our own lives.

At our weekly meeting last night, Father Chris gave us a glimpse of some of the cultural aspects in Navajo Nation that would be starkly different from here in the Chicago suburbs. To make sure that both everyone going on the trip and our devoted blog-followers are on the same page, I decided to compile a list of cultural sensitivity rules we’ll have to pay attention to as we begin our expedition to Crownpoint.

1. Lack of eye contact is a sign of respect, and never approach an elder unless they initiate it.

2. Gift giving is a sign of great affection and respect, and all gifts should be graciously accepted.

3. Family is a sacred and important part of Native American culture, so many people refer to others as “cousin”.

4. Taking pictures may be considered as insensitive while on the work site, so make sure that you have full permission before taking any.

5. Bandanas are not to be worn. They’re how Navajo youth identify gangs.

6. Anything with a lizard or other reptiles on it should not be brought, as it offends the Navajo creation story.

7. Clothes should be appropriate and respectful, meaning no tank tops, short shorts, or two-piece bathing suits.

I hope this helps everyone while they’re packing, and gives you a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of Native American culture.

- (a still fever-stricken) Laila Drury