Ya-Tah-Hey!

Ya-Tah-Hey. (that’s “hi” in Navajo)

The past three days have been amazingly super.

Starting with Saturday: We woke up super early, at about 4 a.m., then we were on our way to the reservation.

One of our first stops was the White Sands. Just picture giant beautiful piles of sand as far as the eye can see. And on top of that, the sky was fantastically gorgeous. It almost looked like a painting, or something you would see in a magazine. One word: unreal. I’m pretty sure that I can speak for all of us and say that we were all in complete awe with God’s wonderful creation. He’s so awesome, it’s pretty ridiculous.

We kept on our way to the reservation, and eventually, we finally of there at around 6 in the evening (which is 9 in the evening Georgia time, by the way). Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. But after meeting some of the people here, I love it. Pastor Bill has an interesting sense of humor, and he seems pretty comfortable and cool with the locals on the reservation. He told us about the Navajo culture and

sort of what to expect. I can tell that he cares for the people here so much. I also met a girl named Karrisa. Shes super cool. She seems to be really comfortable with our youth group, which is good. J

Then there’s Sunday: Church was really different then what I’m used to, but it was still interesting to see how their church worships. After church we didn’t get to work because it was the Sabbath, so we just chilled all day.

Kevin did a devo that night about the creation of sin. After that, we worshipped for a while after.

The stars here are AMAZING. Zach’s analogy was “it looks like someone spilled sugar all over the sky!”…I agreed. (I saw four shooting stars in one night!)

And then there was today. J

We woke up at about 7 and worked until about 12. Then J.D was planning to go to a creek called McHood. So we all took naps so we would be awake for the adventure.

We got there and Pastor Bill was telling us about a 30 foot cliff that we were allowed to jump of. So my first thought was “oh gosh, that’d be fun. Too bad I’d never ever do it…” But we walked over to the cliff and the first one to go was J.D. AND HE CAN’T EVEN SWIM WELL!!

Everyone took their turn jumping off the cliff courageously except for the three people who had trouble which were: Me, Rebacca, and Faith. Rebecca ended up going with enough encouragement. However, that was NOT the case for neither me, or Faith.

Everyone kept trying to get me to go. But for some reason my body would just not let me! I was completely terrified. And no matter how much I really wanted to, my legs seemed glued to those rocks.

So I thought “maybe if someone goes before me again, then I’ll get some courage..” I was wrong.

So jazzy goes and she completely slips sideways and screams so loud on the way down to the water. Yeah, that definitely did NOT help me.

After a while EVERYONE had tried EVERYTHING to get me to go. Yet..i still hadn’t gone. J.D. was telling us how we needed to get going or else we would miss the sunset. So he kept rounding everyone up and they all got on the bus. I really didn’t want to dissapoint everyone because everyone was counting on me going, but I also didn’t want to keep everyone waiting either. So I started walking back to the bus, and as I saw J.D.’s face and how sad he looked that I really wasn’t going to do it. So I turn back to the cliff and my “sha-na” (big brother in Navajo) standing there smirking at me. He said “Ezenwanyi, you know you’re gonna jump, just jump…” but I really couldn’t. I wanted to with all my heart, but my body just would not let me. I was super scared.

I couldn’t think of reasons why I shouldn’t jump. I wouldn’t drown, because I can swim. I wouldn’t die because Kenneth would save me. And I would never be able to say that I did it. I was stuck. Everytime I started to jump, my heart felt so sad at me!

So I look across the lake and all of a sudden Faith runs over and goes “J.D. I’m gonna do it!” she was crying her eyes out she was so terrified. So she went up to the edge, backed up a little, then just kinda hopped straight off. It would have been a lot funnier if I wasn’t just as terrified as she was. However, I definitely was.

Kelechi, Kenneth, and J.D., encouraged so much. So I walked up the edge. Screamed a little bit. Put one foot off. Then the other. Then all I knew was that I was flying in mid air. IT WAS GREAT. I got in the water and doggy pattled my way back to the latter. I was shaking and laughing and crying and breathing extra hard from the adrenaline. I was so proud of myself!

I got on the bus. Everyone was silent. So I sat down..then everyone cheered for me happily. J it was awesome. I smiled out the window the whole way back to the reservation. I was so glad that I was able to overcome such an obstacle. J

I had held up the bus long enough. So we all grabbed a quick meal at McDonald’s, then we were on our way to the Little Painted Dessert to see the sunset and a devo lead by Challyn.

The three days have definitely been memorable. I saw two famous natural creations, I overcame one of THE hardest obstacles of my life, and was apart of a great devo.

I am in love with God and BHYM.

The End.

Ha-Go-En-Ay. (Good-bye!)

-Ezzie.

movie review and other stuff:
hey guys! it's morgan and karen, so public service announcement to everyone who wants to see the last airbender...DON'T! it's bad. The only good thing to come of it is terrible quotes. the story quality is comparable to hannah smiths stories ( i love you hannah!!). but, we enjoy quoting the movie and imitating the acting. anywho, me and karen had a very enjoyable time laughing while all the guys got very angry at us and continued to yell repeatedly. if you want a second opinion on the movie here it is...i loved it! (that was a direct quote from a Mr. Tripp Durden.) but we all know that tripp does not tell the truth. it does have biblical relations as kelechi pointed out, so we learned that. but besides that, it has nothing of true value.

after the movie we went to dinner at...McDonalds, for the third time we might add! we ate with some of the youth from Church on the Move. It was great. Now we're just chillin' in their youth center, with Tim Aguilar (shown here!) playing games. the mcdonalds was ALIEN themed (but everything in the town of roswell, NM is.) which is really cool. oh back to their church though, it's so cool. like really, no joke, it's awesome. theres like a bijillion games and a basketball court thing and it's really pretty and they have three different buildings one for the teens, one for the younger kids and then one for the adults. all the people at the church are really cool and not alien crazed like the people in the town. the town is awesome though. tomorrow we are waking up at 4 AM to head to arizona, we should be on the bus untill 6 PM...but i hope everyone's wonderful back home, we'll talk to you all soon! love y'all!
karen and morgan :)

Tripp's Thoughts

well, the trip has just gotten under way, and with three days under our belts we are finally getting a feel for the road. after a sluggish two days today went rather smoothly, minus the fact that we blew a tire on the trailor... hahaha. right now we are in roswell new mexico at a church call "church on the move". they have the sickest youth wing ive ever seen. i mean everything from giant video game stations, to indoor basketball, to computers. we went and saw a movie tonight, and most of the guys loved it, but the girls hated it. imagine that... gender disagreements on a road trip. hmm who wouldve guessed? we're supposed to leave at four in the morning and be on the bus till six pm, and im sure that will be an adventure in itself. keep us in your prayers and know that you are in ours.

sincerley, the navajo crew

Day 1 - Little Rock!

Little Rock, Arkansas

So we get to little rock at the church and they start feeding us immediately with chicken tenders, green beans, macaroni, and rolls. It was really good, their church was huge its teen center was twice as big as burnt hickory’s. They had foosball tables, and pool tables, and a full basketball gym. They were so nice just the fact of them not even knowing us and that they trusted us to stay in their church all by ourselves. It would be really hard for me just to trust someone that fast. They set an example for everyone on this trip and ill never forget what they did.

- Zach Durden

The Journey Begins

Everything seems ready to go...

The checklist is covered with ink, notes to self and don't-forget's. The bus is clean, fueled, the air-conditioning checked. Maps are current, all directions printed out... I guess we're ready!

The real question, however, is "ready for what?"

After months of planning, we are heading West! Twenty-three sojourners, stuffed into a bus, ready to roll up their sleeves for the sake of loving another culture! And though we travel to a destination - the Navajo Reservation - we have decided to not live to the destination, but rather in the destination. Opportunities abound all around us, chances to share our love for a broken world. Will we seize those opportunities? Or let them slide right past us?

Pray for us! Pray that we travel safe, travel well... but pray that we open our eyes to this world - whether it be the Navajo nation or the people we meet along the way. Pray that we learn to love each other, that we not just tolerate each other but eventually rejoice in our differences!

We will try to maintain this blog on a daily basis, as our journey takes us along the southern stretch of united States, from Marietta, Georgia to Dilkon, Arizona!

Keep watching, reading, praying!

God bless...

J.D.