This Issue

Christmas in November

Donations were taken in pickup trucks to where they belong. Some articles were stored in the gym until they can be distributed.

For weeks both staff and students anticipated the arrival of Rocky Mountain Conference trucks with donations from the annual drive carried out by Adventist churches throughout the conference. Everyone was ready to drop all other work and participate in unloading the trucks so that Mike and Cathy Kissner could be on their way back to Colorado.

The Kissners had spent four days working beyond dawn to dusk going from church to church collecting and packing the astonishing assortment of food, clothing, furniture and just about every imaginable item that could be of use to La Vida Mission.

In past years the U-Haul vans had been 16 and 20 feet long. This year donations were so numerous that two 26-foot vans were required to fit everything in.

At about 3:00 pm November 8, the first van pulled on campus. Lines were formed and boxes passed from hand to hand as the mountain of goods slowly diminished in the van and the corresponding piles began to accumulate in the food cellar, Dorcas building and school gym where staff sorted items for their final destinations.

Long before Mike’s van was unloaded, Cathy arrived and the work force split in two. Extra clothing and blankets were routed to the thrift shop while household items, food items and school supplies were sorted into different piles. The sun had just gone down when the last of the boxes were finally unpacked and Mike and Cathy headed back toward Colorado.

The school received a mountain of supplies, including a new (to us) computer repacked in its original boxes.

The food cellar was filled with boxes of food of every imaginable type, from pinto beans and potatoes to cake decorating supplies.

Dorcas thrift shop was bulging at the seams and the school supply room could hardly hold another item.

The boys’ and girls’ homes got everything from floor lamps to toasters. It truly felt like Christmas six weeks early.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to each of you who participated in this venture; from the donors who contributed, to the coordinators, to the hardworking Kissners who brought it all together.

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Many Thanks

November is a month for giving thanks and we want to do just that—give thanks to all of you who are interested in La Vida Mission and its goal to reach the Navajo community with the message of Christ’s love.

When donation boxes arrive at the office, each one is gratefully unpacked, cataloged and distributed to where it will be best used. Financial donations defray Mission expenses.

When you pray we know our Heavenly Father hears and answers in our behalf.

When a mission group arrives to work, or a donor contributes, they join us in teaching, feeding, housing and clothing our students. Hearts are lifted and burdens made lighter and we on the staff can’t adequately express our gratitude for the help and encouragement we receive in fulfilling our mission to Navajo youth and our neighbors in the surrounding community. God must enjoy being able to bless all of us, both givers and receivers, in these endeavors.

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LVM students learn about local government

Brannon, Jerdino, Southern and Jacob at War Veterans Memorial Park filling out their treasure hunt papers.

On October 20 the entire La Vida Mission School student body attended the dedication of nearby Lake Valley School, a boarding school for Navajo children.

The dedication just happened to be attended by the two rival contenders for the presidency of the Navajo Nation so the students of both schools, as well as the community at large, got a close up look at local politics.

While the rest of the nation was getting interested in a general election of national legislators, the four-state area in which the Navajo reservation is located was involved in its own local campaign for officers and legislators of the Navajo Nation.

The Navajo national flag was raised along with the Stars and Stripes by a group of Navajo war veterans, most of whom served in WWII as Navajo code talkers. The 2006 Miss Navajo Nation sang the United States National Anthem in Navajo, and several students in traditional ceremonial dress performed Navajo songs. The entire group recited the Lord’s Prayer in English.

A number of political representatives spoke before the major candidates had their turn. Incumbent Joe Shirley, who has a Bachelor’s degree in business and a Master of Social Work (MSW), degree urged the students to continue their education as a means of bettering the whole Navajo Nation. Contender, Lynda Lovejoy, first woman to win a Navajo presidential primary, exhorted them further.

Bob Blair and students around “tree of life” in President Joe Shirley’s office.

After speeches and a question and answer period, the candidates had their photos taken with the various school groups, including the La Vida Mission School children.

A typical Navajo meal was served at lunch and students came home with a new awareness of their local Navajo government.

The next Monday students were scheduled to visit the Navajo Nation capital at Window Rock, Arizona. Instead of being just four miles away like Lake Valley, Window Rock was a two hour drive from the Mission.

Students’ first tour was of the legislative council chambers. A colorful and detailed mural surrounded them on three walls, depicting the history of the Navajos since the coming of European settlers.

A tour guide explained that the Navajo Nation was divided into 88 chapters, which are smaller than counties and more like townships, except most of them have no towns. Each chapter has a headquarters called a chapter house presided over by a chapter president. Each chapter sends an elected representative to Window Rock to represent their chapter in the legislative council.

Next stop was at the office of President Joe Shirley Jr., whom they had seen at Lake Valley just three days earlier.

This was followed by a visit to the War Veterans Memorial Park where teacher, Danny Williams, had prepared a little treasure hunt through the monuments to Navajo war veterans.

Again, many of them had been code talkers during World War II. After their sheets of paper had all the blanks filled in, they took time out for lunch which was followed by a brief tour of the history museum and then on to the small zoo featuring four-corners native species.

Their two hour ride home gave the tired students time to digest the complicated world of politics. They certainly had a much better frame of reference for understanding the civics lessons from their social studies books now than they had before.

LVM teachers and students gather around presidential candidate, Lynda Lovejoy, at Lake Valley School dedication during Civics class field trip.

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A Navajo Recipe:

Blue Corn Bread (Naadaa ‘lees ‘aan)

• 1 cup juniper ash and 1 cup boiling water
• 3-1/2 C boiling water
• 6 C blue corn meal

1. Mix 1 C juniper ash w/1C boiling water
2. Put 3-1/2 C water in pot and boil
3. Strain juniper water into a pot
4. Add 6 C blue cornmeal. Knead until dough is soft but firm.
5. Shape into 2 or 3 loaves.
6. Bake in hot ashes for 1 hour
7. Brush off ashes and serve warm.

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Four young men need a sponsor

Nick	Waheem
Nathan	Roedino

Currently we have all but four of our 16 students sponsored for the 2006- 07 school year and we welcome interested individuals and churches to choose to make a difference in a child’s life.

Norla Chee, Kindergarten teacher and school librarian, is handling our student sponsorship program and you may direct correspondence to her.

As a sponsor you will receive this newsletter, to let you know what the school and students are doing, a current photo of the child you are sponsoring, letters from the child, and a developing friendship. Students are composing Christmas letters to send to their sponsors.

If you choose to sponsor a child, please fill out the form below and mail it to: La Vida Mission, P. O. Box 3308, Farmington, NM 87499. Gifts may be sent via UPS to La Vida Mission/Lake Valley Area, 700 County Road 7730, Crownpoint, NM, 87313.

Some have sent donations marked “Worthy Student Fund”. Since LVM is a mission school, it does not charge any tuition to the students or their families. Our Worthy Student Fund is a fund administered by the LVM church to help Mission school graduates who choose to go to a Seventh- day Adventist academy where they are charged tuition.

To have your donation to go to the expenses of one of our school students, it should be marked general school fund or student sponsorship program. Receipts are mailed at the end of the calendar year.

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In Memory of

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Bulletin Board

Positions to Fill:

• Boys’ Houseparent 08/07
• Cook/Cook’s Assistant
• Secretary/Receptionist
• Bible Worker
• Maintenance Director

La Vida Needs:

• Pathfinder/Adventurer uniforms
• Water coolers w/removable, refillable bottle for student homes
• Digital projector for school

Special Thanks to:

• Our Heavenly Father for provding our needs.
• ASI for large donation to improve our water system
• Boys’ and girls’ houseparents
• Student sponsors and their contributions, prayers and letters.
• Don Hill and Porter Hospital for countertops in school and office.
• Pittsburgh, PA , SDA Church for many boxes of childrens’clothing.
• Alta J. Paul for hand made quilts and baby clothes.
• Nadine Murtaugh for textbooks
• Gloria Thompson for boys’ and girls’ Christmas gifts.
• Ted, Denise and Mindy Thompson for toys, children’s clothes and water bottles

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