Navajome on the Range

Pastor Eugene at Good News Church

Alright. Here we go. I've been putting off writing this post (as many of you who have been waiting to read it know). I put it off because this stretch of the trip, ending about two weeks ago now (whoops), was the hardest two weeks I've experienced in a long, long time. Coming off of the Moab trip, mountain biking and hiking, we were all a little physically tired and not quite ready for what was ahead of us, though we didn't know it yet. We each were assigned different roles for the trip, each of us had a leadership role and was in charge of a different portion of the trip. For example, I was in charge of the worksites, we had someone in charge of cooking, someone for cleaning, for worship, for ministry and an overall leader. This was a new concept for me. I've been on a number of mission trips, but never in charge of one. As the worksite leader, I had to not only find places in the community to work (along with Corbin, our overall leader), I had to come up with all the supplies we would need, and have a plan for how to complete our tasks. As a man who has done very little construction, this meant a lot of time searching online for how to do things and talking to community members, Home Depot employees and my team members for advice.

Dadgum Six and our kids.

Couldn't figure out how to flip this, but it's
my David vs Goliath comic strip!

Upon arrival in the Navajo Nation, on the second of our 17 days on the border of Arizona and New Mexico, we were thrust into leading youth night for Good News church, LeaderTrek's partner in the Navajo. Our ministry leader, Josh, put me in charge of crafts for the night. I had about 90 minutes and limited supplies to come up with a craft relating to the story of David and Goliath for a group of "youth".  At the time, we had no idea how old those we'd be working with were. After a few frantic text messages (thanks Michael) and quick creativity, I decided to go with leading the kids through making a six panel comic strip chronicling David battling Goliath. Of course, I'm not the best artist the world has seen but he kids (who ended up being ages 6-11) were appreciative of my efforts, though they had better drawings than I did. Although we only had a few hours to plan for the night and had never met the kids before, I felt in my sweet spot when I was with them. I felt the same feeling the following Saturday and Wednesday when we got to be with the Navajo kids. Before coming to the Navajo Nation, I knew that I enjoyed being with kids but it pretty much ended at that. My time with the kids in the Navajo may have been the highlight of the entire year so far for me. By having these times with kids where I feel I'm in my sweet spot, using my strengths and gifts God's given me, He's been piecing together the puzzle of where He wants me and how I fit into His plan. Be looking for more on this in my next post later this week chronicling my time in Memphis and how God worked there. 

As much as God teaches me things while I'm using my strengths, He can use my own weaknesses to teach me too. He used both of these tactics over my 17 days in the Navajo, with my time with the kids exemplifying my strengths (relating to the kids, getting to know them and acting as one of them), and my time in charge of the worksite demonstrating my weaknesses (making quick decisions, setting and striving to achieve time goals, and adhering to a strict schedule). Another problem, as I said before, was that I was called on to not only find the worksite but lead them while I was there. Except that I don't know the first thing about construction.  That meant a lot of late nights searching the Internet for construction tips and supplies needed and conversations with those who knew more than myself. Even with these sources, I struggled to have the correct answers (or any answers for that matter) when asked by my teammates. My unknowing how to build things coupled with my being very much a relator (which means I'm not task oriented; I don't stick to schedules well and am chronically late when I'm with people) resulted in slow going on the worksite. This led to a few late nights and long long days.  

Concrete slab we poured for Tom, an elderly man living on
the Reservation. ft Silver Bullet (our trusty van)

Through this struggle of getting little sleep and working well out of my strengths for two weeks, God continued to demonstrate his power. If I was on my own for those two weeks, I would not have stood a chance. Halfway through I would have curled up in a ball and withered away. I spent many hours asking for his energy and wisdom as I struggled through. And, as He tends to do, He showed up in big ways! He provided for me energy to get through when I was certain I couldn't. 

After leaving the Navajo on the 30th of October, we headed for the city of Memphis.  Rather than having a ridiculously long post today, I'll leave you all in suspense a little bit.  Be on the lookout for a Memphis post soon!

Thank you all for following me on my journey, and as always, thank you for your prayers.  I couldn't be where I am without them, and remember, comments are appreciated! Love hearing from you all.

Ben Hershberger

Moab and Extreme 'Mocking

Alright so this post is more than a little late. Sorry about that. Since my last post, I've been to Moab, Utah, Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, and Houck, Arizona, on the Navajo nation. It's been a lot to pack into just over three weeks! Moab was an adventure trip, which means (believe it or not) we did adventure things! Before a few weeks ago, I'd heard of Moab but didn't know much about it. I knew it was in the desert and the mountain biking was supposed to be some of the best around. Well, after spending a week on a bike flying up and down trails around Moab, I can confirm both of those statements. Moab is definitely in the desert and Moab has the best trials I've ever mountain bikes on! Granted that's not saying much as this was the first time I've ever done biking like that, but STILL. 

The biking itself was really hard and I started out on the struggle bus (don't worry though mom, I only fell a few times and I'm still in one piece). My excuse is that it has been a while since I've ridden a bike. Anyways, as the week went on, I became much more confident in my abilities (which were there at the start, just lacking confidence), and was able to conquer some trails that I never would have thought possible before! As far as sleeping in Moab, we rented a spot at a campsite in the city, which was great for drive time in the morning, but it was right near the local high school which meant when the band started practice at 7am, we all knew it. 

After a week or so of mountain biking it was time for a break. So what does my kind of break look like? How about more hiking! Rather than packing all we have in backpacks and carrying them everywhere we go as I did in Montana, this time we set up camp in Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, about an hour or two out of Moab. As much as I loved backpacking, I didn't mind car camp in and taking relaxing day hikes around the area. 

We spent something like four days at Goblin Valley taking hikes through near by slot canyons and through the Valley of Goblins itself. The slot canyon hikes were some of the coolest and most unique hikes I've ever done. About a ten minute drive from our campsite, there was a set of trials that traversed these super skinny canyons. How to explain them... Okay so close you eyes. Imagine the Grand Canyon. Now imagine the Grand Canyon without a river at the bottom and about the width of two of me, and that's a slot canyon. Crazy right? These things were unlike anything I'd ever seen! When I stretched both my hands out I was pushing against both walls at the same time and they were super long too. It's hard to explain but hopefully a picture will help. 

Now, the Valley of Goblins is something that I'm really not able to explain. The best I can do is to say that it looks like how you'd imagine the surface of Mars to look like. Red sand, bright sun, little to no plants. There were small towers of sand and rock that stuck up out of the ground. At most state parks, the rule is you can look at cool things but never touch them. At Goblin Valley, it was the opposite! I was down in the valley climbing on those little goblin things for hours! It was amazing. I even went 'mocking (that one's for you, Paula) between a couple! 

More important than what I've been doing physically is what God has been doing and teaching me through these things. On one of the "relaxing" hikes we took, we got lost and ended up accidentally hiking something like 16 miles (one of the leaders used an app to tell how far we'd gone). If you'd asked me that morning if I could have done 16 miles, I would have said no way. Yet I did it! The week before when we were mountain biking, we started on some pretty basic trails (though they had an unbelievable view!). From those trails we could see some harder ones. On my bike that first day I was looking at those harder trails and thinking "no way could I ever do those". But by the end of the week, I was flying down those "harder" trails! My body is capable of much more than I think. In fact my only limiter is my own mind! It's the same with faith and my relationship with Christ. Through Him, I am capable of literally anything and I am my only limiter. I look at people who have great faith and who are willing to take risks for Christ and who pray and read the Bible everyday. People like my mom, like my leaders from high school ministry at Blackhawk, like my grandparents, and I think "wow, that's great for them, but I could never be where they are". That's just not the truth. The only thing holding me back is my own mind and the restrictions and limitations I put on myself. I've proven to myself on this trip that I'm physically and spiritually capable of WAY more than I thought I'd ever be able to do. God's showing Himself in big ways through adventures in His creation. 

I'm finishing up this post as I'm in the car speeding away from the Navajo Nation on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. That means I already have another post being cooked up! The next stop on this adventure God's got me on is a week working with and learning from an urban ministry in Memphis. I've been considering urban ministry as a long term option, so I'm really excited to jump into my time in Memphis and learn more about what it looks like to serve in an urban setting. 

Thank you all for following along and reading! I apologize again for the gap between posts that was way too long. I'll do my best to keep this next break much shorter :) Also, all of your comments make me smile so keep them coming. 

A huge thank you to those of you praying for me and my adventure! Your prayers are being felt in big ways. No question about that. Please continue to pray that I would be full of energy (sleep is a bit hard to come by), about my plans for next year - that God would clearly show me where he wants me and I would be willing to jump in with both feet, and that God would continue to teach me about Himself and shape me into the man he wants me to be. 

Love you guys and God bless!

Ben Hershberger