Just in the last couple of weeks has it gotten warm here and we welcome it. As a form of self defense we bought a plastic pool for the neighbor kids. With school out they show up at our door wanting to be entertained and the pool has provided a lot of hours of fun for them. As a matter of fact, the pool has made us very popular in the community and other families have brought their children over to swim as well.
We are into our second month of summer break. The mission has seen many visitors, some of which are praying about coming to work in the fall. We are confident that, as He always does, God will send the teachers and support staff that are needed. Projects are being done around the grounds, a trailer remodeled and the Vo-Tech building coming along. Besides the building projects there will also be many Vacation Bible Schools at homes in the community. We want to see Jesus doing what He came to do--opening blind eyes, setting captives free, healing the brokenhearted and binding up their wounds--here in this place with the people we know.
The Lord has given us new friends. Frank is a doctor at the Red Mesa clinic. He and Susan showed up for church one Sunday and have been coming ever since. Both were veterinarians for large animals in a past life. Even though only Susan is a believer, we have found many common interests and have done a number of things socially with this couple. Susan and I (Kathy) do a weekly Bible Study and this has been such a gift for both of us. They are great people. Please pray for Frank's salvation. Perhaps the Lord has brought him to the "backside of the desert" to draw his heart to Christ. And if God chooses to speak to him through a burning tumbleweed, there are certainly plenty of those around.
It seems like the summer months are as full as the school year, only filled with different things. I will be taking a woman to Albuquerque for cataract surgery in a couple of weeks. Because of the distance, this will be a two-day trip. When I took her for the preliminary checkup I got a traffic citation (ouch!) for speeding so I don't plan to repeat that. Greg's extracurricular activities (that is, apart from the normal things like studying to preach and finishing up on the woman's house he's spent the past year building) have included cow wrangling. The Blackwaters have many head of cattle but all the men in the family are either too old or too out of shape to chase cows. That's where Greg comes in, hours spent hunting the wild cattle down, getting them into the corral, helping brand and other unspeakable indignities cows have to endure. Because he's doing the job, he really ought to look more of the part with Stetson hat and boots instead of his normal attire of ball cap and athletic shoes. Oh well.
One thing I really do appreciate about the summer months is more freedom to get out and enjoy the desert. Time to spend praying and refocusing, in preparation for the new school year. More time to read good books. I'm really wanting to use the time to the best advantage, that of knowing and experiencing Him.
Next month we have visitors coming in two batches and then we hope to go to Spokane to see our kids there. And that will pretty much wrap up the summer. We start school the middle of August.
Thank you, each one, for praying for us and sharing with us here where God has put us. His purposes. His power. For our days in this place.
With love, Greg and Kathy Staley
Spring News from Becky
posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008
[From: Becky Knopf]
Hey family and friends,
My Dad had a stroke on April 23 and by the 30th, he was in glory. In the 11 days that I was in Detroit, my students went on their field trip, and went to the Academic Meet. I was back in time for our school Field Day [lovely & fun], for the last week of school [ZOOM!], and for the two graduations [very nice, both].
I plan to be in Westland with my mom all summer, Lord-willing. It still hasn't 'sunk in' about Dad being with Christ Jesus, and not being at home with Mom. I have felt Christ's presence so real and close-up lately, that it is hard to pray. It helps me when people say, "I know what you are feeling; I lost my dad –- years ago." I am trusting in the Lord with all my heart. (Prov. 3:5) I am casting all my cares on Him, and He is taking good care of me. (I Peter 5:7)
The Valdois are loading up a trailer with the help of some friends from back home even as I type. They fed all of us who are left here a great Curry meal for lunch. MEgan and her mom will be packing up Megan's home, too. We will miss these 3 workers and are still waiting on God's provision of replacement teachers and bus drivers. We praise the Lord for Hannah Barr, who plans to come teach 2nd grade, Lord-willing.
The weather has remained unseasonably cool for May and I'm loving it!
I received many precious cards and gifts for my birthday but one was most special to me. Kathy Staley made a scrapbook for me of the class field trip - and stuck a picture of me on each page. She even made notes of funny things that happened. It almost feels now that I got to go on the trip, too. All the women here are such dear sisters to me.
I do thank you for the sympathy cards and the birthday cards, for the financial support, for the BoxTops4education, and most of all, for your prayers. I have needed extra prayer these last few weeks. God is good. HE is faithful. HE is right. I am His and HE is mine!!! How blessed are we to belong to each other, because we belong to God?
Thanking God for you, Becky
8th Grade Graduation
posted on Sunday, May 18, 2008
We only had one Senior this year and they had a private graduation. But, May 16th was the 8th Grade Graduation. Here is a short video of the graduation:
Grand Canyon Trip
posted on Saturday, May 17, 2008
One week ago several of the High School took a trip to the Grand Canyon. Here is a video summary of the trip.
Eager to move in
posted on Monday, May 12, 2008
[From: Kathy Staley]
Christian Friends, after a year of working everyday on the house, Greg is looking at the finished product and the family eager to move in. Thank you so much for your help in making this new home a reality for Ilene and her four children. Kathy Staley
flashback - april 2008
posted on Monday, May 12, 2008
[From: Andrew Nelson]
Dear praying friends,
This month was the annual Restaurant 56 hosted by Becky's 5th and 6th grade class. Since they had a smaller class than most years they did it a little different. Instead of having waiters and waitresses they had people buy tokens at the door for food and go around to different tables to get their food. It worked well and will probably become a new tradition. The money they raised allowed them to go on a class field trip and do all sorts of fun things together. I put together a video about the event and posted it on the Mission news page for anyone to watch if they want.
Weather has warmed up enough to get the computer lab water cooler into action for a day here and there. In the process of hooking up the water to the unit I broke a copper water pipe in the school. It's amazing how quickly water can come out of such a small pipe in such a short time.
Over the past few months as I was preparing our color printers for printing our yearbook I bought 2 more very similar printers on eBay. The first one cost about $150. It was shipped freight and arrived damaged. In the end the shipping company paid for it and I got it free. It has been useful for parts already. I also bought another printer for the large sum of 99 cents. It was pickup only and a friend was able to pick it up for me in Kansas until I was able to get it over Spring Break. It came with an extra printhead that I used to replace the current bad one it had. The printer works great and I have stored it away until our current one wears out completely. Total cost: 99 cents and a couple hours work.
The yearbook is near completion. I had all new people working on it this year and made an effort to do very little of the work if possible so they could say it was their project all the way. Instead I have spent my time putting together a video yearbook. It is hard to say how close it to being done as I could keep adding little things to it all the way until the last day of school. At some point I will probably say enough is enough. Some of the video segments that are all done can be seen on the Mission news page.
For no apparent reason I decided to move the propane tank in my yard to a more distant location outside the fenced area and just out of the way. Then over the last week I have almost completely removed the sagging fence. I am slowly landscaping my yard--a project I started last fall and put on hold when the weather turned cold. The only reason really for doing it all is to stay active. Sitting in front of a computer needs a break every so often and I have found that even daily is nice.
Please keep in prayer the 3 staff that are moving on this year. Darrel & Barbara Valdois will be moving back to Kansas to spend time with their children and grandchildren. Megan Thurston will be going back to school to get her teaching certificate. With these 3 leaving and all upper grade teachers we will need new staff for next year. Please be praying about committing to serving the Lord here at Immanuel Mission. Also please pass this news on to any friends or family so they might also consider if the Lord is leading them to Immanuel Mission.
One step at a time,
Andrew Nelson
Green Eggs & Ham
posted on Monday, April 28, 2008
It is storytime with the younger elementary of Immanuel Mission School. Sit back and enjoy as they read together.
Jesus Loves Me
posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008
A younger member of the church got a play guitar for her birthday and has been using it to help lead the singing at church.
New Responsibility
posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
[From: Sarah Sun]
Dear Friends of the Mission,
Hello, my name is Sarah Sun. Ruth Bloom has recently asked me if I would start taking on the position of going through boxes and distributing the items in which they contain. This is a new responsibility and I am excited to be part of it. It has been so worthwhile seeing how much people care. It is also very nice to be doing this as something I can do at the same time as I watch my three year old daughter. While Solomon teaches fourth grade, I stay at home with our daughter, Eden and since it is our first year at Immanuel Mission we have plenty of extra time on our hands during the day. It has been a blessing to be able to help Ruth this way. I truly never realized how many boxes Ruth went through each week until I started helping her. It is so encouraging to see how so many people across the country think about and support the Mission. We see God working in many lives and we thank you for your contributions this past year. May God bless you and your families.
With thanks and love,
Sarah Sun
Update from Megan
posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
[From: Megan Thurston]
Hello, everyone!
My math students are working, so I have a few minutes to write a little note.
It has been a typical spring, although it started late! A typical spring is warm and windy, windy, windy! I come home from school or driving the bus or walking the dogs and I have dirt in my ears, nose and eyes, not to mention pink dandruff! The dogs could be out in the backyard for an hour and they too get quite dusty. They're not dusty from just rolling in the dirt but from the dirt blowing all over them. Certain times of the day are worse than others, and sometimes the wind just blows all day long!
So, this is hard to write because of my reputation; however, oh, well! I have applied to St. Martin's University to get my teaching certificate. I applied for Fall 2008. I haven't heard if I've been accepted or not. That is irrelevant becaue I plan on leaving here May 20. I haven't applied to any other colleges. When I was younger, I only applied to the colleges I wanted to attend and was always accepted. Now that I'm a little older I think that was crazy! Please pray that I'll be accepted. For the time being, I'll be living with my mom; please pray that will go well too!
This means we need a junir high teacher for next year. Darrel and Barbara Valdois are leaving too. He is our 7-12 science teacher and she taught high school English and an art elective. Our leaving is causing a big hole in the upper grades. Please pray or CONSIDER coming here to teach next year! I have been here eleven years and loved almost every minute of it. It'll be hard to leave, but it might finally be time.
Well, it's been thirty minutes since I wrote this stuff and nothing has changed except that the bell has rung. Need to teach Bible!
Be praying for us all. love, megan
News from Becky
posted on Monday, April 14, 2008
[From: Becky Knopf]
Hey all!
Here I am on the 'past tense' side of our class restaurant, praising God for how it turned out. I always fight worrying about it, and at the last moment, I fling myself on God and let Him do it His own way. [Wisdom in action, huh?]
This year, we tried something that worked well: People paid for what they wanted when they first came in and were given tokens. The tokens were then redeemed at various places around the edge of the gym. We had tablecloths and flowers (and salt) on all the tables, which were in the central area of the gym, so it still had the feel of a restaurant, but the kitchen itself was not a ZOO!
The sweetly superb Sarah Sun sang 'saintly' songs, serenading 'supping' spectators throughout the evening. Anne Denny was our cashier, Miss Kelly was at the dessert table, Mr. V was at the Mutton Stew & Frybread table, Melissa baked Pizza, Mrs V. grilled burgers, Miss MEgan started the Navajo Tacos/Burgers on their way, Kathy served 120 drinks, the staff baked cherry pies, helped with set-up and tear-down, and Flash made a short DVD of it all. Everyone here helped. God brought in $700! You can look at a video about it on the Mission website: www.immanuelmission.org
None of it was ready to go at 6 P.M. when we opened our doors [!!!!!], but one great thing about Navajos is that the same character trait in them that brings frozen hamburger patties and frybread dough into the kitchen at 5:50 P.M. [!!!!!] is also willing to patiently wait around for the food to be cooked – with out so much as a single complaint. When will I ever remember that?
At 7 o'clock, the frybread crew in the kitchen, having served their time, merrily waved good-bye. At first, I panicked. Then I began scrambling through the busy restaurant, approaching every Navajo woman I knew, begging her to come to the kitchen and pat out frybread. Three of them gazed up at me, mouths full, and nodded "OK", and the restaurant continued. Thank you for your support in prayer!
We have 1 month left of school. It amazes me how God brings us through year after year. It's a delight to Him, but it 'floors' me. The Valdois' and MEgan are leaving I.M., that's 3/5 of the Jr. High/High school faculty AND 2/4 of the bus drivers! Help! Come! Drive! Teach! Pray on, if nothing else! [I'm talking to you]
THANK YOU for being a part of the work out here where "God is with us"
Because HE is, Miss Becky
Restaurant 56 Video Montage
posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008
Every year the 5th and 6th grade do a restaurant fundraiser for field trips. This video is a quick glimpse at the one from just last week.
March Newsletter
posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008
[From: Kelli Wilson]
Hello Friends and Family,
With the approach of spring, students and teachers alike are getting spring fever. I know this is definitely true in my classroom. Last week in an effort to combat the spring fever, I rearranged my classroom. I am hoping that this will give us a fresh look and will renew our vigor until the end of the year.
The first week of March, a group of Emmaus Bible College students came down. They were a great group to have. They did various things around the mission. Two students helped out in the school and one, Alyssa, was in my classroom. I remember being in college and rearing to start teaching, so the week Alyssa was here, I let her teach and do all my work!!! It was great! It actually turned out to be a blessing because I had to leave Wednesday afternoon to go as a chaperone on the state basketball trip. Alyssa was able to take over my classroom as the sub while I was gone. It is so neat to see the Lord supply a solution even before the problem arises.
By the way, our basketball teams did great. The girls got 5th place and the boys got 4th. There were a couple of really, really close games that were heart-wrenching. But overall it was a great trip.
On Saint Patrick's day, Ruth Bloom, our bookkeeper and close friend was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. They thought it was appendicitis, but when they went in they found something totally different. Even though I've had it explained to me, I don't think I can tell you exactly what they found, but they patched her up. Later that night around 3am, they had to go back in for another emergency surgery. There was internal bleeding and they took out a quart and a half of blood from her abdomen. Praise the Lord that she is back home and doing wonderfully. She is still mending and getting her strength back. Ruth is such a testament to the Lord's power.
Over spring break, I accompanied Megan Thurston and her four dogs to their home in Ocean Shores, Washington. It was my first time to see the Pacific Ocean (although I didn't really see it until Thursday because of the clouds and rain.) It was a great trip, even though it was wet, and cold, and rainy the entire time (expect an hour or two!)
A major prayer request: We are losing three teachers and two bus drivers this year. We need a Jr. High teacher, and two high school teachers. It will be neat to see how the Lord provides for this need. Please partner with us in prayer as we ask that he will send the right people at just the right time. Let us know if you are interested of filling some need out here or know of anybody who would be interested. Thanks again for your prayers.
In first grade we have been learning about Jesus. He came to earth as a baby, grew up to be a man, died on the cross. But he isn't still dead: he arose and now is in heaven. Today we learned about how one day Jesus will be coming back to take all of his friends and followers back to heaven with him. Lord—how I am looking forward to that day! But I am also reminded to pray that my students and their families will understand their need for a savior before He returns.
Till his return,
Kelli Wilson
Bloom Newsletter - April 2008
posted on Thursday, April 03, 2008
[From: John & Ruth Bloom]
Dear praying friends,
I trust you are more faithful in praying than I am in writing. I think this is the longest time in 35 years of ministry that I have gone without communicating with our friends. Please forgive me. I could use busy as an excuse but really it was just procrastination. There is lots to update you on so here goes.
Of course the BIG news is that on Mar 23 on our way back from San Francisco Ruth began having severe pain in the abdomen. We arrived home at 2AM and at noon on Monday the pain was worse so we went to Farmington to the emergency room. They took a CT scan and thought it was appendicitis so scheduled surgery for 8PM Mon night. During the surgery they found a healthy appendix but also found some twisted tissue around the colon that had cut off the blood supply and was causing the pain. It is called a torsion of the omentum and is fairly rare but can be serious. The operation seemed successful and we were sent to a regular room in the hospital. At 3AM on Tuesday the nurse noticed that Ruth's blood pressure had dropped to 45/35 which is very serious. The room was immediately full of doctors, nurses and who knows who else. They rushed her into surgery again to stop internal bleeding. This time there were no problems and we came home Thurs. She has been steadily improving each day but it will take about 6 weeks before she is back to normal. Thanks to all who are praying for us and forgive us if you are just now hearing of this. God is so good and we are thankful that God is healing her. Through it we strongly felt God's protection and care.
We are already planning and looking toward next years staff. Megan has decided to go back to school so we will need a 7/8 grade teacher. We have a young lady, Hannah Barr from Colorado, interested in teaching 2nd grade. We still need a maintenance man. Two families are praying about that position but still no firm leading of the Lord for them to come. Dave and Margie Meinzinger have been here for a month helping out with maintenance and a host of other things.
Several other needs to be aware of. One of our Christian young ladies is planning to go to college in Kansas and needs a small car. If you have one you could donate or sell cheap let me know. We also need mechanics tools for the new shop program or funds to purchase them I try to buy many things at auctions to stretch the dollars. We are hoping to begin operation in fall of 2008.
Please remember to pray for and support our Navajo workers. There are eight on staff now which really eases our burden.
The most exciting news is that a young high school student, Uriah Haskie, professed salvation a month ago. Pray he will want to grow and continue in the faith. He is not from a Christian home and has a lot of issues to deal with. It is very rare for a high school student to come to Christ.
Thanks again for your love and friendship. We are rejoicing in God's goodness and care.
John & Ruth Bloom
flashback - march 2008
posted on Wednesday, April 02, 2008
[From: Andrew Nelson]
Greetings from Arizona!
A group from Emmaus came and spent the first week of March at the Mission. Two of the guys stayed at my house. Some of group helped in classrooms and others did various work projects. I went hiking with them a couple of times.
At the end of the first week of March was the state basketball tournament. I went with the team and we spent 3 days in Santa Fe. The boys played well but did not receive a trophy. The girls lost their first game by one point with a buzzer beating long shot by the other team from about 6 feet outside the 3-point line. They went on to win the rest of their games and brought home the consolation trophy.
Immediately after the basketball season we begin softball. Along with softball come the Spring winds kicking up enough dust to build a new beach each day the wind blows hard. There was quite a bit of moisture this winter though and we are hoping that as things are greening up it will cut down on some of the dust.
We bought our second diesel bus. A friend drove it from Iowa. Many of the churches in the area where it came from loaded the bus with donations. This was a great opportunity to give things that were impractical to ship such as a treadmill, easy chairs, and lumber. Even for the smaller items it was a great savings in postage since the bus was coming anyway.
The last week of March was our Spring break. I spent the week in Kansas at Kansas Bible Camp. I did various things such as digging a trench for a septic line, a few miscellaneous tasks in the chapel remodeling project, and also plenty of computer work to get the online registration system ready for summer with several new features. Of course I also enjoyed sleeping in every day.
