Sunday 6th April

Hi everyone. Today was a great day. First off it was Margaret’s birthday, so we all had a small celebration for her at breakfast. Pretty soon it was time for the morning service – they only have one on Sundays. First of all they led a worship time and then after the notices they handed over to us.
Our programme included ‘He loves me, he loves me not’ drama from Alice and Sue, followed by Mark bringing a powerful and emotional testimony that resonated with many in the church. That was followed by two songs, ‘The greatest day in history’ and our blessing song ‘Go peaceful’ which we’d used yesterday at the wedding and will use throughout the week. It has already been a real blessing and received well.
The songs were followed by ‘The Heart’ drama with Richard, Beth, Pam, Dave T, Colin and Kathryn in the lead role. Beth and Kathryn then sang ‘The Father’s Song’ which was really powerful. The service then prayed for the children as they filed out to children’s church led by Chris and Sue with Beth, Colin and Kathryn. Dave preached and many came forward for ministry at the end. It was a real privilege to pray with folks who had different things going on in their lives.
Afterwards we travelled to nearby Kit Carson’s cave which is a spectacular site of historical importance. We joined with the Church Rock fellowship who hosted us and fed us Navajo Tacos which is hard to describe, we were warned too taste the chilli before we committed ourselves to it as it can be really, really hot. Actually it was very nice and different from Uncle Ben’s!
We then walked across very dry, dusty desert landscapes with cactus and large anthills to the spectacular cave. We had to ascend into the cave by rope up a very steep soft sand incline to a ledge where we all gathered at the back of the cave. The view through the cave opening was magnificent. We had three versions of the history of Kit Carson and his involvement with the Navajo. The first was from a local Navajo man who had studied Kit Carson for a history exam. Then Dave was invited to share what he had studied prior to coming out here and then finally a Navajo lady gave her version. All three agreed but all added something to the story. Then Pastor Dennis went through a reconciliation prayer and anointed Dave and Alice plus three local Navajo people with oil from a special ram’s horn anointing oil vessel from Israel. It was very profound and the Navajo shed tears as prayers were offered and hugs exchanged. Later Beth was anointed separately with the same oil by Dennis. Eventually we made our way back to the vehicles, some of the team walked around to a nearby cliff to look at the view before we headed off to set up the church ready for this week’s holiday club. On the way back we stopped on the side of the main road to take pictures of prairie dog colonies which was really exciting especially for Chris who took many photos in tribute to Trevor!
This evening we went to the local Walmart to buy things for club and chatted with some local people. Dave’s Royal Marine history has opened many doors to many Navajo former US Marines. We invited the families to bring their children along this week to the church.