Journey to Dine Bikeyah - Part 6

Flagstaff

After Chicago, we stayed for a time with family in Kentucky and Kansas, but then we left for Flagstaff, AZ stopping off at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch to work for the last week of Summer 2010.  Flagstaff lay just beyond the southwestern boarder of the Navajo Rez, and was nested in the southwestern scared mountains of Dine Bikeyah called the San Francisco Peaks.  Here Robby and I began to get more training to aid us in our future ministry.  While there, we realized we were being swamped with too much ministry and streching ourselves way to thin.  Thusly, we stepped down from part-time ministry/missions work to better be able to focus on our growth spiritually, educationally, and as a couple. 

Flagstaff was an awesome city, a mix of Hippyishness with Old Westerness meeting in a modern college town, and though it was beautiful, and traditionally part of Dine Bikeyah, it still was not "Home".  After a year dwelling there we returned to Broken Arrow Bible Ranch for a summer, and are now journey towards a more perminate place, either here in the Vanderwagen area, but more likely, in Thoreau, NM at the southeastern side of Dine Bikeyah, in sight of the beloved Mt. Taylor, the southeastern sacrade mountian of Dine Bikeyah.

What does this journey hold for us next?  Little do I know, save He who created all of Heaven and Earth, tis He who charts our course and show us the path to walk,.. May we His servents but listen to His guidance, and follow His path.

Aidan an Lindisfarne

"He cultivated peace and love, purity and humility; he was above anger and greed, and despised pride and conceit; he set himself to keep and teach the laws of God, and was diligent in study and in prayer...I greatly admire all these things about Aidan." ~ The Venerable Bede

Aidan an Lindisfarne lived in the years 600 to 651AD in Ireland and then in Northubria.  He was first a monk on the Isle of Iona, and devoted himself greatly to pray and studying of word.  After a failed attempt by another missionary to reach the Northubrian Anglos, Aidan pointed out respectfully some ways ministry could be done among the Northubrians, and thusly he was sent as a missionary among them.

Aidan loved to talk to the unsaved among the Anglos about Jesus.  He would not ride a horse, because it deprived him of opportunities to witness about Christ while he traveled.  It was easier to talk to people, he thought, when you were on their level.   Later on, King Oswin of the Anglos of Northumbria gave Aidan an expensive horse thinking it would in rich the life of the ageing missionary.  Aidan had not ridden very far before he gave the horse away to a poor person.  King Oswin became angry with Aidan for doing this.  Aidan asked Oswin if a horse was more important to him than one for whom Christ had died.  King Oswin, who was a Christian, repented and asked Aidan's forgiveness.

In 635 A.D. Aidan founded the monastery on Lindisfarne.  From here he preached to and brought Christ to the Anglos of Northumbria.  It is from this word Anglos we get the modern word English.  He was a man of leadership and yet great humility, and often is an inspiration to me in my walk with Christ.

Normally on this day, August 31st, I send cards to people who are in some place of leadership or missions work, as a way of encouraging them, much as Aidan an Lindisfarne would have done.

Journey to Dine Bikeyah - Part 5

Chicago:

Here I was age 25, having just gotten done with my first summer working in Dine Bikeyah at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch...  Now I was in a city far diffrent from the Pinon Pine and Sage Brush covered desert which I was in love with.  There I could hear the lone coyote howling his lonely watches through the night in the near by graveyard where he lived.   There I could here the ambulance bring the injured the the hosptial 3 blocks away all hours of the night from my 5th story window.  There I could feel the brezze from the water of lake Michigan 8 blocks away.  Yet my heart had no peace.   I was a wander in a strange land, far from the place I call home.

It was while we were there that Robby and I realized that we would never truely be home till our feet were firmly planted in Dine Bikeyah.  The more we talked with friends, some who wished we could stay forever in Chicago, and some who had been to Dine Bikeyah, and encoraged us to follow our callings... the more we knew we just had no peace in the city.  By the time our 14 months living in Chicagoland was up, we were restless and trapped by the buildings.  Still I love the city, and would like to visit and see old friend... but forever Dine Bikeyah is home.

Journey to Dine Bikeyah: Part 4

Of Didean and Marriage

The year of 2007 was a major one for me, as it saw one dream be born and die, only to re-birth another calling long laid aside as unable to do.  Didean, which in Irish Gaelic mean "shelter or haven" and "God's shelter",  was a dream of mine to create a safe haven and place of fellowship for those in the subculture communities.  When I found and was able to buy a two-story Victorian house built in 1905, I was excitic.  The day in June I got the keys for it, Robby came to help with it as a grounds keeper.  Neither he nor I had any intrest in eachother at that time.  Slowly we began to fix the place up to become the haven it's name entitled, but tides were turning.  That October the place where I worked for good money, closed its doors.  The economic downturn had begun. 

By this time, Robby and I had begun to really care for eachother, and on November 14th, 2007, he asked me to be his wife.  I said, "Yes!"  The next morning, the first person Robby called to tell about us being engaged was his mentor, Dino Butler.  After he got off, I asked more about Dino and how Robby knew him.  That is when Robby and I learned, both of us had been called to Dine Bikeyah long before we knew the other.  For 11 years at that time had he been waiting, and I had been waiting 9 years.  Both of us had thought the doors had closed.  Thus as the doors of Didean for ever closed, and we were married December 15th, 2007.... the doors of Dine Bikeyah began to swing open for us, together.


Still, there would be at least two more chapters before we were safely on the eastern side of the Rez, and those chapters are following: Chicago and Flagstaff

Journey to Dine Bikeyah: Part 3

Of Celts and Subcultures

Since I was 8, and learned both my birth and adopted families are of Irish blood, I have been fasinated with all things remottly Celtic.  For nearly as long as I have studied the history and cultures of Native America, have I poured myself into the History of Celtic Ireland, and then the Celtic history of Europe.  By age 15, I had found Celtic Christian music, and fell in love with the music of artists such as Moya Brennana, Iona, Eden's Bridge, and the likes.  Then I began studying the lives of Patrick of Ireland, Brigid of Kildare, Columba of Iona, Aidin of Northubria, and many others... their lives began to encorage and shape my own.  Their faith in the Trinity grew mine, and their constrant striving to live simple lives, discipel others, and always show hosiptality began to echo in my hearts desires.  Their callings began to melt into my own calling to Dine Bikeyah, how ever I would be able to minister their.

At 18 in New Orleans on my missions team, I met my first Christian punks and goths.  This got me thinking, was I also subculture?  I had never fit with the main streem cultures.... and among them I found a home.  The March I was 19, I began to dress as a goth, and do outreach to goths.  This was before all the death and sorrow had flooded my life.  For the next 8 years, I would call the christian goth community my home, and to this day many of those who still minister among the subcultures are counted among my family and friends.  Some say that time in my life I was side tracked from my true calling in Dine Bikeyah.  I would tend to disagree with that.  While ministering among the Goths and Punks, I met my now husband, Robby.  While working among them, I learned to deal with the issues of putting our faith and lives in Jesus, above what is culturally the norm.  I learned how to divide the good from the bad in a culture, and to focus on the good while slaying the evil parts.  All of this I would need to know once I got to Dine Bikeyah, all this would be very important because it is the struggel Native believers are having with their own culture.  Even more so, the Native youth who are also, as many are, part of the Goth, Emo, Punk and Metelhead subcultures.

As always, God knew what He was doing on my journey-task... where He was taking me, and where I was going... even if I could not see how each twist and turn, and some of the dark things which happened to me, of which I do not speak... would work together to get me ready for all to be done in Dine Bikeyah.

And yet... There was still more of a Journey left as Didean and Marriage will show.

Journey to Dine Bikeyah: Part 2

The Years of Illness and Death

Just after learning of my calling to Dine Bikeyah, I became very ill.  I went to doctor after doctor, and while they could treat some of my issues, not all could they figure out.  Thyrioditis was what they said I had, but the medican was making it worse.  For nearly 2 years, except for a few good months where I got to do things like camp, I was stuck in bed or on the sofa.  Weakness and the fear of death were two of my compainions, and I was just 16 and then 17 years old.  By the May I was 18, the symtoms eased, and I thought I was well for good.  I went both to camp and then to my second missions trip, this time to New Orleans.  While my illness never laid me as low as it did those first two years, it kept haunting me.  Then finally at 21, I learned I had a immune disregualtion, that most likely is a cousin to lupus, but not full blown lupus.  The doctor said, since I had such issues with the medicans over the years, to try taking a green tea capusal every day, drinking alot of green tea too, and then eating alot things like brocally and melons.  Not a bit of that hurt my feelings any.  Durning that whole time I had nearly given up on working in Dine Bikeyah, except for short visit.... I thought the heat would kill me.  Little did I know that back in Kansas it was not the heat that was killing my system every summer, but the very high humidity.  After I learned that was the issue... Dine Bikeyah again became a goal, not just for ministry but because it would aid my health.

Durning this time, the summer to winter I was 19, death came visiting my door.  Not my own death as I had so long feared, but the death of many close to me.   It began with the death of a dear friend and mentor, Samuel Meadows, then continued as my uncel Bob (my dad's sister's husband) died, then my mom's cousin, who I called Uncel Phil, then a lady at church who's son I carried for in nurcery, then my cousin Bobby-Jo (my dad's sister's daughter; same one who lost her husband).  The death of Samuel had shattered my world, as he had been a teacher, a mentor, and to me, in my strange ways, a father figure.  Then with the other deaths componded upon it, I entered a fog.  For a time, sharing it with my beloved Elk Hound, Wolfy, aidded me, but then she died from cancer durning the middle of the human deaths, and I was alone....

While both of these events happend while I was still a teen and into my early twenties, they grew and shaped me in many ways into the woman I am today.   I could not be able to face much I do now, had I not gone through those things when I did.  This chapter lead to the next: Of Celts and Subcultures

Journey to Dine Bikeyah: Part 1

The Journey Begins: How I got on this Journey-Task

Dine Bikeyah: The Land of the People, the Land of the Navajo.   First time I ever heard that word was when I was just 16.  It was August and I was sitting in a cold theater watching Rich Mullins' musical Cantical of the Plains.  When I learned Dine Bikeyah was the Land of the Navajo, my heart started crying right then.  It was as if God had spoken to my heart and said, "This Dine Bikeyah is where I am calling you.  You are going to the Navajo."  It had been a year since I left Mexico, having realized I was not called there full time as a missionary.  Now at last I knew where in the world I was called... to Dine Bikeyah.

But just where was and what was modern Dine Bikeyah like, I wondered.  As time went on, I would learn Dine Bikeyah is in parts New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.  The Four Corners is located on the northeastern side of the Navajo Reservation.  If you have been to Four Corners, you have been to the Rez...but not the deep Rez thats for sure.  Window Rock, AZ is the captial of the Navajo Nation, and as of 2010 the population of the Navajo Nation is: 

More and more my heart cried to get to Dine Bikeyah... then the time of illness came...

The Goal...

Of late, much prayer and thinking has been done on both Rob and my part.  Just what is the goal we have as a couple and as missionaries?  How does it look?  Where will it be?  When will it be?  How will we get from here to there?  All those thoughts have been weighing on our hearts and on our souls.

As we sit here at the eastern edge of Dine Bikeyah (Navajo Rez/Navajo Traditional Lands), we are seeking for work and a place to rent, while we work towards becoming full time missionaries.  More and more, Rob is being pulled into discipleship ministry with youth.  This fits strongly with his talents and giftings, and he does it often without planing to anyway.  For me, hospitality and missions are my strong points, with having people over (hard when you dont have a home) and web-based ministry have always been strong points.  I am seeking how I might better do this soon.    For now I have started the Kildare Card ministry, to help encourage others in ministry at various times throughout the year. 

What is the dream?  The dream would be to have our own land, our "Desert Kildare" to do ministry from.  It would be a place to have people over for food and fellowship.  It would be aplace to discipel native youth and young adults.  We would have wood burning stove, and maybe stone work inside somewhere.  Outside we would have a few dogs, cats, sheeps, horses, goats, and chickens.  It would span anything from 5-20 acers.  Yeah... it is just a dream, and we would be happy without most of that as long as we have a roof over our heads, four strong walls surrounding us, a bed to sleep on, and a kitchen to cook in.  Mobel home, fixer upper, build from a foundation, what ever.... just a place of our own is the dream.

Summer is over... Kildare Cards begins...

Here it is, mid-August.  My, my, how the summer did fly past.  Here we are, with 8 weeks of camp gone, having seen many young people come to the Lord and grow in the Lord.  It is soo humbling to see how God can use our pasts and our present, to aid in the changing of lives.

For a few years since I learned one of my major gifts is hospitality (the other being missions, big surprise! hee, hee!) I have been struggling with ideas on how share and aid with that.  I actually get upset and cranky when I cannot use my gift.  For a while I have been mulling over an idea in my head.  Why dont I start a card ministry?  It can travel where ever I live until Robby and I get settled out hear on the Navajo Rez, and it only costs a little money.  One does not have to have a house or even their own appartment to share hospitality.  Thus my "Kildare Cards" ministry was born just a few weeks ago while I was home visiting my parents in Kansas.  I have picked diffrent dates, typically one a month save for July, to send out cards, what date and why for now I am still working on.  My mom even got excited about this idea, as it does not take alot of space, and she had alot of cards she could share with me...  Now stamps and people to send them to is all I need.

A Move....

After much prayer and considering, my husband and I are moving... to Gallup, New Mexico.

What about college some might ask?  We finnished our first year, and mayhaps that was all we were suppose to be there for.  But every door closed for us to go back for this year, so we take that as the answer.  There are many dores open for us here among the Navajo on the eastern side of the rez, and we have many friends over here as well.   Life will be better....

Crazy Summer

Here we are at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch for the Summer.  I am busy hunting for a job, and planing on a week long trip to Kansas to visit friends and family come July.  Still no new funds for rent.  It is not easy... feeling like I am not doing anything to help.  We were able to babyset over the weekend, and that is what paid the phone bill.  Praise God for that. 

Robby is busy this week at BABR with his campers, they are such cute little guys ranging in age from 8 to 12.  I am helpin with the worship team on weeknights...as there are no job places open of the eve anyway.

Hopefully soon I can share some stories with everyone from camp and the area over here between the eastern navajo rez and the zuin rez.