By Greg Peterson
http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=8596
Condensed by Native Village
Arizona: At the
request of Navajo elders, the Navajo Evangelical
Lutheran Mission was founded in 1953. It sits in the
heart of Rock Point, a Navajo community that has struggled with poverty and unemployment long
before the nationwide recession.
NELM's current executive director is Lynn D. Hubbard, who left the
shores of Lake Superior to come to the high desert. His wife, Deborah,
is
a Presbyterian pastor. She serves with him and in the mission’s
House of Prayer Lutheran Church. They are dedicated to
serving the Navajo who depend on NELM for spiritual needs, basic health care,
livestock assistance and education.
Hubbard, who deeply respects the Navajo heritage, is
operating a “mission in reverse.” The mission in
reverse combines NELM’s goals with a humble
approach that preserves Navajo culture. “We
need to practice healing and reconciliation, not judge
people whose path to the divine life might be different
from ours,” Hubbard said.
Sharing “the good news of Jesus Christ” with indigenous
people “means recognizing that God is already present in
the lives of the people you come to serve,” he said.
“You arrive on sacred ground to do ministry with others,
not do ministry for them ...
building cultural bridges is what the Navajo Lutheran
Mission is all about.”
Hubbard says the mission is thriving due to a "dedicated
and loving donor base."
At one time,
volunteer nurses in the mission clinic saw nearly 1,800 patients
each year. They treated them for tuberculosis, diabetes and the common cold.
After closing for 10 years, the clinic has now reopened thanks
to many generous companies and partners, including the
Northern Arizona University nursing program.
In addition, volunteers from across the country arrive
every summer for a week of fellowship and hard work under
the hot desert sun. They vaccinate livestock, insulate
buildings and teach Navajo children to sew.
A
mission gift shop and online market would
help the area economy by ensuring Navajo artists get
fair prices. “A lot of Navajo settle for low
prices and their art is resold at higher prices,” said Tara Chee,
a coordinator and Navajo language and
culture instructor
NELM's
K - 6 school has 63 students. They learn cultural
arts like rug-weaving, basketmaking and pottery.
Students also expand their cultural identity by learning
astronomy and agriculture
(the reservation has 46,000 acres of farmland and 12,000
acres of grazing.)
“Navajo believe the
laws of the land are written in the sky and the stars.
[They are] written in the sky for everyone to see,” Chee
said.
Students also take Navajo language classes so they can
better communicate with parents and grandparents.
Kristy, age 8, said she’s “learning to talk in
Navajo at school so my grandma will understand what I
say to her.”
At home, some Navajo children are taught to be respectful and not talk too much. But mission teachers tell students it’s acceptable to speak out loud in school. And students don’t hesitate to talk about why they like their school.
“I like to sing songs in Navajo like
‘Jesus Loves Me’ and I like to draw in class,” said Malaika, 8.
Arcada, 10, likes learning
“rug-weaving,basket-weaving and the Navajo language.”
And, she added, “I like ... that you learn about God.”
Back to School: Children of the Navajo Lutheran Mission School: http://www.archive.org/details/NavajoLutheranMission-
Photos: http://www.nelm.org/
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