Morehouse Education Resources - Discovery Canyon Vacation Bible School

Navajoland VBS Resources

Overview

The mission project selected for Discovery Canyon: Explore the Wonders of the Word explores the many ways we can be evangelists not only through telling the great story of Jesus, but also through real love and care for our neighbors in the Navajoland Area Mission of The Episcopal Church.

Background

The Navajoland Area Mission was created in part to help give Native Americans a chance to develop their own direction and fulfillment. Created by General Convention in 1977 from parts of the Dioceses of Arizona, Utah and Rio Grande, its boundaries coincide with that of the Navajo Nation. The only area mission in the Episcopal Church, it functions much the same as a diocese but with more oversight from the office of the Presiding Bishop and House of Bishops.

The Navajo Nation is one of the poorest areas in the United States. The Episcopal Church in Navajoland is comprised of many congregations in three regions, each with its own history and mission. Each seeks to serve the people on the reservation through a wide range of pastoral services, Church Schools, Vacation Bible Schools, adult education and worship.

New Mexico Region:

San Juan Mission in Farmington, New Mexico began its work among the Navajo people in 1910 when a Methodist woman, a Mrs. Wilcox, petitioned the then Episcopal Missionary District of New Mexico and Arizona to do medical work in the area. A clinic began in a small building along side the San Juan River, but soon a devastating flood inundated the little mission forcing it to move up the hill to its present location. Building was begun on the hospital after recovery from the flood and construction of the hospital and chapel, where a small Navajo congregation worshiped, was completed in 1923. This was the first hospital to serve Navajo people in the county. Through the years, new ministries also developed, including a children's shelter, an alcohol treatment facility and hospital. All Saints' Chapel/St. Michael's is located on the grounds of San Juan Mission just outside of Farmington, New Mexico. It was built in the 1950's to serve the community around San Juan Mission. The congregation is actively engaged in children's ministry, working through the philosophy of the Hooghan Learning Circle to teach children the Gospel in the context of Navajo culture. Other important activities in the community is an annual fall and spring fund-raisers where we sell traditional Navajo cuisine and have fun and games for the whole family. The congregation is bi-racial and worships on Sundays at 11:30 a.m.

St. Luke's in the Desert is a small congregation located at Carson Post, in the checkerboard area of the Navajo Reservation. It serves the communities of Huerfano Chapter House and Dzilth-na-oh-dithle. Built in the 1930's of logs hauled from the La Plata Mountains of Colorado and stone quarried near Carson Post. Worship is held on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. The Lay Pastor in charge of the congregation ministers to a far-flung congregation of people who live on the margins in remote areas.

Utah Region:

St. Christopher's Mission in Bluff was founded in 1943 by Father H. Baxter Liebler, an Episcopal priest from Connecticut. The first building was constructed in 1943. Over its first 20 years, the mission grew to include a clinic where at least 3,000 babies were born, as well as the first school taught in the Navajo language in the Utah region of the Navajo Nation. The clinic and the school are now closed, but St. Christopher's remains a vital resource for the Navajos around Bluff. The heart of the church - like that of any church - is worship and pastoral care. But St. Christopher's functions reach beyond that. A community garden is under construction, which will be available to all. Concerts and shows by local artists take place in the church. The old clinic building is being renovated to provide housing for the many volunteers who come to serve and worship.

Two other churches were also established by Father Liebler: St. John the Baptizer in Montezuma Creek where a Eucharist is held there every Sunday at 11:00am and St. Mary of the Moonlight in Oljato which is very close to Monument Valley.

Southeast (Arizona) Region:

Church of the Good Shepherd in Fort Defiance The first Episcopal service was conducted in Fort Defiance in 1889 by Bishop John Miles Kendrick. Intermittent Episcopal mission efforts continued until 1894, when Miss Eliza Thakara accepted the appointment as superintendent of a hospital mission at Fort Defiance. The hospital, the first serving the Dine' (Navajo), was completed in 1897 and eventually became an orphanage and boarding school for rural students attending the public schools. The building still stands and now serves the community as The Rev. Margaret Hardy Parish Hall.

The first separate church building was completed in 1908. The current church was built in 1955. Services are conducted in both Navajo and English and seek to honor the richness of the Dine' religious traditions. The Mission compound covers 48 acres and includes more than a dozen historic buildings, including a retreat/pilgrimage center, local artists' studios, private residences, community outreach, social service programs and a greenhouse/gardening program. St. Mark's in Coal Mine, New Mexico and St. Joseph's in Many Farms, Arizona are also missions within the Southeast Region of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland.

Why this Mission Project for Discovery Canyon VBS?

The Grand Canyon in Arizona lies within The Episcopal Church in Navajoland as well as many other canyons and rock formations. This is a fun connection to remind VBS kids of as they learn more about creatures, and plants of canyons and desert. It will give them something to relate to the children on the Navajo Reservation.
Canyon de Chelly (shay) is a very holy space for the Navajo. It was home to the ancient people, the Anasazi and was the last stronghold for the Navajo when the United States calvary under Kit Carson decimated the Navajo and forced them into exile at Fort Sumner in what is know today as their Long Walk.
Discovery Canyon VBS focuses on the theme of evangelism. These missions were started by evangelical missionaries of many denominations, including the Episcopal Church, and is therefore rooted in telling the Gospel of Jesus; the missions also highlights how evangelism is about a deep love and concern for our neighbors' needs.

How to incorporate the Episcopal Church in Navajoland into Discovery Canyon VBS:

Each day in Discovery Canyon VBS provides a theme that can be related to the Episcopal Church in Navajoland.
- Rejoice reminds us to rejoice at the work already being done in the various education programs for children and families.
- Pray reminds us to keep the Navajoland Area Mission in our prayers.
- Ask reminds us to continue to ask questions in our education and to remember how important education is for people around the world, including the Navajoland Area Mission.
- Listen and learn prayers in the Navajo language:
  http://episcopal-navajo.org/NavajoPrayers.htm
- Practice "welcome" - Ya'at'ééh!
- Learn how our brothers and sisters in the Navajoland Area Mission gather in prayer and study (see below)*
On the first day of VBS, draw or construct a canyon to represent the deep need of the Navajoland Area Mission. As the week progresses, fill in the canyon as a representation of the amount of donations that have come in. Kids will be excited to see how they are helping to fulfill the needs of their neighbors in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
The Navajo are a very rural, pastoral people. Sheep and corn continue to symbolize their existence, and living on the margins of life brings great strength in clan and blood relationships. The Navajo have worked hard to integrate their history and culture with the model of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. As people of God, we all need to do the work of integrating Christ with our own identity and roots. The Rt. Rev. Steven Tsosie Plummer (1944-2005), the first Navajo bishop in the Episcopal Church, once drew a picture that showed how his life started at a Hogan, tending sheep. The drawing showed him going back on a path guided by a cross to a Hogan and to his sheep. He was a shepherd in both a literal and figurative sense to the Navajo.
The Hooghan Learning Circle continues to be the vital link for the Navajo Church in formation, ministry and mission. "Hogan" is the word for the traditional Navajo house and this center encourages indigenous leadership among the Navajo for a more self-reliant Navajo Episcopal Church.
At the end of VBS, count the money collected. Write out a check to "The Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society" with "Navajoland" in the memo line. The address for donations to be mailed to is:

Navajoland VBS Mission Project Offering
c/o Native American Ministries
Episcopal Church Center
815 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017

* Gathering Prayer

Creator, we give you thanks for all you are and all you bring to us for our visit within your creation. In Jesus, you place the Gospel at the Center of this Sacred Circle through which all of creation is related. You show us the way to live a generous and compassionate life. Give us your strength to live together with respect and commitment as we grow in your spirit, for you are God, now and forever. Amen.

The Commissioning of the Disciples

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20

Native Ministries assists Indigenous communities in living the Rule of Life:

Creator God we acknowledge and give thanks that:
In Jesus we know we belong to a Sacred Circle with the Gospel and Baptismal Covenant in the Center.
In this Sacred Circle:
We are all related;
We live a compassionate and generous life;
We respect all life, traditions, and resources;
We commit ourselves to spiritual growth, discipleship, and consensus.

Through practicing the Guiding Principles:

As Gospel Based Disciples we commit:

To regularly engage the Gospel
To take seriously our own spiritual formation
To nurture and foster the spiritual formation of others
To live the Baptismal Covenant
To live as a community of disciples
To foster reconciliation, healing, and vision
To pray and worship regularly
To respect the spiritual traditions, values and customs of our many peoples
To take full responsibility for our local ministries