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