Reservation for Two

On Navajo Nation

June 2012

The Main Dish

We are right in the sweet spot in the middle of summer, the days and
the weeks that weve been literally planning for months. Youd need an instruction manual to figure out how to read my calendar its so crowded with events and notes. (Ask Dan, Ive forced him to start using Google Calendar to keep up with me. As a Mac guy he isnt too happy about it either.) At first glance, this ridiculous schedule makes you wish you were a bear about to hibernate until the late Fall. After more thought, the potential of a hectic schedule is tremendous. The potential growth, the potential of relationships, the development, the strength and unity; its humbling to even think about. Now in July looking back, we wouldnt have it any other way. June was a GREAT month. (Somewhere my 9th grade English teacher is cringing, but it really was GREAT with all caps.) The greatest blessing was, and always is, to see someone put on Christ in baptism. Alice has been attending for 9 months now and rarely misses a service. In our last study with her, she said she has only missed two Bible studies since she started attending. I really dont know if anyone else can say that. (myself included) She definitely has that desire to learn Gods word and do His will. Alice is part of the larger family we have been talking about who attend regularly and we have had a few studies with as many as 15 of them at once. It was great to see her make the decision to put on Christ, even when the rest of her family wasnt ready. Church camp was a huge success. Being the director this year was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and I think the extra efforts paid off in the end. We did a lot of things that havent been done in the past. Let me remind you that we tent camp with around 85 people of almost literally all ages and without any utilities or buildings of any kind. We got camp t-shirts made for everyone, planned for everyone to be involved with each other, gave out memory work, tie-dyed t shirts and broke a lot of water balloons. (This seems to be the recipe for keeping kids endlessly entertained, splash adults with water.)

Nick & Heidi Rice PO BOX 4536 Kayenta, AZ 86033 Phone: 928-697-3096 nickolasjrice@gmail.com hidlynnr@gmail.com reservationforrice.blogspot.com

Any donations or financial support to the work can and should be sent to our sponsoring congregation:

Northeast Church of Christ

11000 Paseo Del Norte NE Albuquerque, NM 87122

Coming Right Up
Bible Study on the Reservation: August 17th-18th Shiprock church of Christ Speaker: TBD Topic: The Book of Acts Vacation Bible School: July 25th - 28th Put on by: Northwest church of Christ in Ft. Worth, TX Polishing the Pulpit: Sevierville, TN August 17th-23rd

Reservation for Two

On Navajo Nation

June 2012

Right after camp (meaning the same day we got home), we had a group from Loveland, CO come down to do some projects in the trailer and around the building. They were only here for a long weekend, but got a ton of stuff accomplished. For a small group to accomplish in just a few days, the list of completed tasks is just amazing.

On the Back Burner

This past month a dear friend of ours made a generous contribution to the continued efforts to remodel the trailer. They wouldnt want to be named and Ill honor that, but theyve probably set the renovation months ahead of schedule. I love and appreciate you very much. There are a lot of rewarding parts of being involved in missions, seeing the outpouring of love and the sacrifice of others to help this struggling work is among the most powerful and humbling. In two years here it is as powerful to see now as the day we arrived. To all of you whove had any part in that we cant thank you enough. In many ways the busiest part of our summer still lies ahead of us. Tonight a group from the Camelback church of Christ arrived to do a weeks worth of canvassing and trailer remodeling. Right on their heels, the Northwest church of Christ in Ft. Worth, TX is coming to put on our VBS. A few days after that is wrapped up, Heidi and I will be making a whirl wind tour of the East coast. Were looking forward to getting to visit family and supporters before attending Polishing the Pulpit. The logistics of this trip are nothing short of a headache, but the end result will be just the mental recharge we need to come back to Kayenta ready to attack the Fall. As much as things are going well, and they truly are, there is a real problem out here that needs to be addressed. The Reservation, keeping in mind that its the size of West Virginia, has ten congregations and now only six with preachers. I am trying to be mindful of a history here that predates my birth, but in my estimation the Reservation needs workers worse than it ever has. These congregations have no elders, no deacons, no secretaries,

no groundskeepers, no Bible class teachers, very few baptized men AND no preachers. Weve lost two missionary preachers in as many months and without replacements. In a place where I have no shortage of pet projects, this has become an obstacle that receives a good bit of my attention. Ive pleaded for help in this part of our newsletter before and Im not too proud to do it again. We truly need some help with this specific issue. If you dont reach out to me first, you might just get a phone call from me. I have as many of your phone numbers as email addresses. I truly want to be involved in conversations about fixing this problem, I want to be the advocate that this work needs to start building a more solid foundation and I want you to be a partner with me in this.

Supporters
Fishinger & Kenny Roads church of Christ www.fandk.org 6th & Washington church of Christ sixthandwashingtonchurchofchrist.org University church of Christ www.universitycofc.net Watterson Trail church of Christ www.wtcoc.org Hendersonville church of Christ www.hendcoc.net Highland Heights church of Christ www.highlandheights.net as well as many generous individuals