This Issue

Quiet Times at the Mission

In front of the office

The landscape softens when January snows cover the campus with a blanket tufted with tumbleweed, rabbit bush and snake weed. Often at dawn a coyote soloist is accompanied by a howling chorus, to wake sleepy staff.

Church in the distance

This Sabbath we wondered if we could reach our Native members living on side roads covered with several inches of powder.

Road into campus

January is not usually a time that mission groups visit, so now we teach and minister to our students and plan and patiently wait for the months that bring old and new friends that liven and improve our campus and community.

Eastern landscape

When they come, Bob Blair will hike with them and show them beautiful historical and paleontological sites surrounding the Mission.

We look forward to a visit from any of you that desire to share in the beauties and blessings of service at La Vida.

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La Vida Update

David and Ann Katrine James arrived from England in time to greet 2007 and prepare to meet their new “children” – all the young men boarding at La Vida Mission. Warren Bredenkamp, administrator and former boys’ houseparent, can now devote full time to his administrative and church duties.

Doug Barlow, nurse practitioner, is now fully moved into his duplex and has begun working in theclinic.

Our new girls’ house parent, Gayle Smith, took over her duties January 28. Mission personnel needs now are narrowed down to: cook, administrative assistant, Bible worker and maintenance director.

Charity Garcia, principal and grade 5–7 teacher, and her students embark on an innovative “ten-day transformational experience” around New Mexico March 5–14. They will explore what it means to be a Navajo Christian through a series of educational activities designed to create awareness of their historical, cultural, social and religious heritage. Every minute of students’ time will be filled with educational and inspirational activities, including a presentation at the Carlsbad, New Mexico, SDA Church on March 8.

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Reclaiming the soil

Those of you who are gardeners are probably getting that familiar itchy feeling in your spading foot that is relieved only by stepping down hard on the garden spade as you prepare the garden plot for spring planting. Here at La Vida Mission we are getting that same feeling. Unfortunately we don’t have a fertile garden plot that only needs to be turned over once and then planted.

David Boatwright and Danny Williams prepare beds to reclaim a portion of the greenhouse soil and teach work/study students how to double dig a bed.

As many perhaps remember, the soil in this southwestern desert has an excess of sodium, about 34 times what it should have. The excess destroys the soil structure to the point that it is nearly impossible for rain to soak into the soil. Any rain that does fall either runs off to the many dry washes that then conduct it to the rivers, or it puddles on the surface until it evaporates. This leaves the sodium in the bottom of the pool. Often it gives the impression, even in the heat of summer, of a layer of frost covering the dry pool beds.

In spite of these grim natural conditions it is possible to reclaim sodic soil. There are at least three steps to changing desert soil to fertile garden soil. First the soil must be physically broken up by double digging. Next it needs to have soil amendments and compost added to it. The last step includes rinsing excess sodium out of the soil by flooding it with pure water.

Rainfall on our desert soil puddles on the surface until it evaporates leaving sodium in the bottom of the dry pool like mineral buildup on a tea kettle which gives the impression of a layer of frost, even in summer.

Therein lies one of the problems. Well water at the mission has excess sodium so all the water used to irrigate plants must be filtered through an expensive reverse osmosis filter.

Fortunately a previous director foresaw this need and when the green houses were built you, the supporters of La Vida Mission, supplied funds for such a filtration system. That filter now supplies not only water for the greenhouses, but all the drinking water used on campus.

The children studying agriculture prepared the soil in one greenhouse for a bed of potatoes that has already been planted in a reclaimed bed.

Even when starting out in this small manner, we are thinking much bigger. We envision not only greenhouses, but also a planting field outside of the greenhouses where crops such as sweet corn and melons could be raised. That scale of agriculture would require more than we could ever do with a garden spade.

Fortunately there is a spading machine available for our use. The only thing needed to use this unusual machine imported from Holland is a 50 hp or greater tractor with a three-point hitch and power take off (PTO).

The Mission tractor has no PTO since it was designed as a construction tractor for using a back hoe, even though it has no back hoe. With the appropriate farm tractor the spading machine could be turning out those double dug beds for all our planting needs.

The Mission has access to composting materials but a method of turning and aerating compost piles is still needed. A PTO-driven manure spreader accomplishes this chore very efficiently. Since compost is an integral part of reclaiming the desert soil, this implement is also needed.

If any of our readers knows where a 50 to 80 hp tractor or manure spreader could be purchased at a good price, please let us know. If you have no leads on machinery but still want to help out, send a donation marked Agriculture Equipment to help La Vida Mission School get back to the “A, B, and C of education”.

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‘07 brings more staff to LVMn

They barely had their suitcases unpacked when eight boys joined their newly-formed family.

Married for only six months, David & Ann Katrine (Annka) James arrived from England shortly before students returned from Christmas break.

David and Annka met three years ago while she was studying theology at Newbold College and David was in her church choir. David’s people are from Guyana but he grew up in New Jersey and England. Annka was born and raised in Norway. David has a degree in business management from Newbold and a social work degree from University of London, Brunel. Annka received her Bachelor of Divinity from Newbold.

Before coming to La Vida David worked with a mental health team, mostly with children. Both Annka and he love children and want to work with them.

They found out about La Vida Mission’s need for houseparents on our web site.They had contacted other mission projects but received no response so they felt God led them here. La Vida responded to the James in October and January 1 the James became our boys’ houseparents.

Doug Barlow, nurse practitioner, made his first personal contact with La Vida Mission at Adventist-Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) convention in Texas last summer.

Returning from ASI Doug stopped here and became aware of the Mission’s needs. When he decided to relocate, he had opportunity to work at different places but, Doug says, “The more I prayed, the more it seemed God wanted me here. This is a refuge for me, surrounded by Adventists committed to a certain process.”

Being an outdoor person, Doug loves the isolation of the area . Being a nurse practitioner allows Doug to do many things that a physician can do, from pediatrics to geriatrics. He had been the chief of medical staff at a small hospital.

Assisted by Betty Smith at the clinic, Doug will cover student, staff and community health doing medical evaluations, treatments and prescriptions.

Doug used to raise paints and quarter horses. He said horses are his “escape” and he may have two here later.

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Ho yawn and thank you to donors

Hoy-yawn to Everybody, Hoy-yawn means Happy New Year in the Oneida tribe. It is one of the traditions I can keep even though Mom is gone. It will already be six months this January 27. It was a hundred degrees when she left us, and now the land is blanketed in snow.

It was good to have a winter break to catch up on some lessons and chores. Before the busyness begins I am writing this to all of you who have sent your support for La Vida Mission.

A big thank you to Dave Kramer for his contribution which allowed me to make sure every child went home with Christmas gifts, and no child had too much more than any other child. Also, thank you to Sharon Inman whose gift bought a book from Scholastic for every child in grades 5–8.

Roedino, Norla’s kindergarten student, opens a gift from his sponsor at LVM School party.

Thank you also to the Waynesville Seventh-day Adventist Church for their handmade gifts and to all of the student sponsors who sent children’s gifts. A very special thank you to Jim and Becky Steve for including me. It was a wonderful surprise to get to the bottom of a box and find my name on one of the packages! I hadn’t expected anything to open this year without Mom.

I did talk the teachers into recruiting the kids for a project Mom and I usually tried to do through Dorcas, and that was to adopt one family. The kids took them gifts and decorated their home, although I heard the boys ate some of the decorations.

With Mom gone and truck loads of donations to sort through I must put a limit on donations to Dorcas until school is out in May. During the summer I’ll have more time, but for now, please hold off on your donations, except for plus-size women’s clothing and children’s size 2–8. One family in the community takes in foster children and I’ve discovered we need winter coats size 2–6. What we have is mostly windbreakers. If you mark on the box, Toddler Coats, it will get opened and used right away.

Norla waits on Susie Jima in Thrift Store. Norla has run Dorcas by herself since her mother passed away last summer.

Now that Christmas is over don’t think you sponsors are off the hook! We still need your donations to keep the kids fed, clean, educated and entertained. Upper grades need donations for a week-long field trip around New Mexico. Kindergarten class (Roedino) needs a balance scale. And keep those letters coming! You’ve been so good about it, Roedino, who helps with sponsorship mail, is in the postal business.

Again, thank you to all who contribute to keep the mission going through whatever means you can, whether through prayer, letters, money, volunteering or other donations. I would have been lost when Mom died if I didn’t have the Mission.

As student sponsor coordinator I’ve pondered one question. Where are the young adults? Most of our sponsors are grandparents, which is great, but I’m just asking…?

Norla Chee, Student Sponsor coordinator Kindergarten teacher Librarian (when I have time)

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Circle of light update

An update on the manuscript for Barbara Starrett’s Circle of Light just arrived from Pacific Press Publishing Association. The manuscript is still in the process of evaluation but the update states, “In this instance, no news is good news.”

Barbara thanks those of you who ordered for your patience. To contact her directly her address is Barbara Starrett, 2300 W. Apache, #8, Farmington, NM 87401

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In Memory of

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Bulletin Board

Positions to Fill:

• Boys’ dean(s) starting Aug. of 2007
• Cook
• Teacher
• Administrative Assistant
• Bible Worker
• Maintenance Director

La Vida Needs:

• Boiler system
• 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
• Student sponsors and their contributions, prayers and letters.
• Joyce Ann Yates for crafts and hiking and camping supplies
• Polly Vicars for ladies clothing and kitchen ware
• Waynesville SDA Church for hand crocheted scarves
• Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Gerardo for childrens’ books, adult clothing
• Natalie Dodd for clothing & stationery

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