WLS+AZ Missions (2016) - Day(s) After

WLS+AZ Missions (2016) - Day(s) After

  Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 4:44 PM    Darren Lo

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Question I ask myself for the past 4 years as an HSMT counselor: "Why, oh why, do I subject myself as a 47-year-old man to conditions such as: sleeping in a tent, outhouses, showering only twice a week, etc.?"

Answer:  “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9:19-23‬ ‭NASB

Blessings:
Meals and snacks catered by the Koomprapuns and Elaine Cheng, which included probably the best Otter Pop I've ever eaten
Surprising but divine conversations with Navajo family members throughout the week of VBS and with complete strangers who asked for prayer while watching fireworks on July 4th
Hearing courageous testimonies from Navajo Christians and an FCBC collegian at WLS and VBS
Providing co-laborers and familiar faces from home to help me in my transition from WLS to Arizona
A few uninterrupted 15-minute dumps in 1 of only 2 outhouses shared by 30+ guys
The eagerness of the high school freshmen
Answered prayers of unity for WLS team and smooth transition to Arizona
A well-received prayer tour, where we drove to different parts of the reservation to pray (and for some, nap)


Stretching moments:
Coming with not only 1, but 2, messages for the Navajo teens
Hearing constructive criticism from not meeting expectations, resulting in thoughts of failing the WLS team in my preparing them

“For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:16-17‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Lessons learned: 
Assess needs first; don't come in assuming we know what the Navajos' needs are
The Navajo have just as much to teach us about faith as we them, if not more so; we as missionaries ought not come onto the missions field thinking we're superior, we have something to offer, and we know better.
Hard rock is in the middle of the Navajo reservation, which makes the residents even more rural and isolated, thereby more traditional

-Spencer