Photos & Stories

Follow this link for photos of the 2007 trip  http://parkstcc.smugmug.com/gallery/3219555_3TZU5#177884351_Q6h4v

2002 Adult Work Camp participants work at inoculation and branding of cattle for local family of Harry Jakes. (Photo courtesy of Ray & Kim Gryder)

Navajo ranchers and farmers have cattle that needed branding, inoculating and tagging. Campers work to accomplish these tasks. Male calves are sometimes castrated during the branding process. This is usually a totally new experience for most campers. Needless to say everyone is a bit tired and worn out by the time the job is complete. It was a real treat to observe and participate in.

Photos & Stories

Indiana Couple Finds Special Meaning in Helping Hurricane Victims
A touching November 2005 article from DisciplesWorld magazine on former 2002 Indiana region camper George Smith.
http://www.disciplesworld.com/newsArticle.html?wsnID=8259

2002 Adult Work Camp participants work at inoculation and branding of cattle for local family of Harry Jakes. (Photo courtesy of Ray & Kim Gryder)

Navajo ranchers and farmers have cattle that needed branding, inoculating and tagging. Campers work to accomplish these tasks. Male calves are sometimes castrated during the branding process. This is usually a totally new experience for most campers. Needless to say everyone is a bit tired and worn out by the time the job is complete. It was a real treat to observe and participate in.

Kim Gryder closely watches as John Henderson instructs Laura Johnson (seated) in the art of Navajo silversmithing (Photo courtesy of Ray & Kim Gryder) 2002 Adult Trip Campers Brent Johnson (left) and Russ Worley size up one of the posts being set at the fencing job for James Yazzie. (Photo courtesy of Brent & Laura Johnson)

Working with your hands to create a beautiful piece of piece of jewelry all your own is a wonderful experience. Learning about the Navajo culture and the importance of beauty and harmony - the Navajo Way - is truly rewarding. Judy Michal our Indiana Region Adult Trip Co-coordinator expresses this way: Reflections on New Mexico… I believe that going on the work trip to New Mexico has given me a chance to experience what God wants us all to be about—working together, getting to know and understand each other, enjoying God’s handiwork, and praising God. We have worked with the Navajo people and the others in our group to build fences, brand cattle, paint classrooms and dormitories, pour concrete, pull weeds, put up drywall, roof a house and what ever else needed to be done. We have learned about each other and about the Navajo customs and traditions--a way of life in which family and relationships are more important than wealth, power, and prestige. We have enjoyed awesome sunsets, unusual flowers and plants, amazing cloudscapes, wondrous earth formations. We have ended each day thanking God for all that we have experienced and for changing our world view forever.

When we came to a place where it was no longer safe to drive, all of us embarked on a hike with John (Henderson) as our guide. The beauty of the rock formations is awesome and inspiring. John would occasionally stop, show us some plants and describe some of the plant's medicinal uses...John led us to a variety of sites where there were pictographs...We saw several ruins of stone houses built on top of rocks for defensive purposes.    I was impressed to see the many dry riverbeds, which can become a torrent in rain. I marvel at the harmony the Navajo have with the land. They respect the plants and living creatures and find purposes in all of them.    This is a trip I will not forget for its beauty, the interaction with others on the trip, the chance to learn and to help the Navajo and to unselfishly give of myself.    -Pastor, Nik Donges

2003 campers from the Anderson Hills Christian Church and Kemper Road Christian Church (Cincinnati, OH) group take time for a group photo with John Henderson somewhere in the vastness of Dinetah. (Photo courtesy of: Pastor, Nik Donges)

Photos & Stories

2004 Mission Trip

2004 Work Camp Group Repairing the gate after the cattle had escaped from the corral. Concrete Work Weaving

Trip Report Our numbers for this year's Native American Work Camp Mission Trip to Dzilth-na-o-dith-hle were small but included eager, willing workers (youth and adults) from Indiana, Alabama, Virginia, and Arizona. The group accomplished a lot including finishing the backstop the 2003 participants had started (all that was left was the hardest part--those tricky triangular pieces) and clearing the area for the baseball diamond-this meant digging out sage brush, whacking off and raking away various native "weeds," and picking up trash. The group also stained a wooden fence, mowed grass around the school with the "riding" mowers, branded cattle, repaired a corral gate after the cattle got out at another branding site, practiced roping fence posts while waiting for the cattle to be rounded up, observed the summer reading program and assisted in the computer lab, played with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club, painted a hall in the school, helped a man in the community pour a cement patio, strung a woven wire fence for another family. In addition, the group set up several stations for a fitness trail beside the school; this process included digging several holes in hard dry ground as well as mixing cement, breaking up rocks to put in the bottom of the holes, and setting the equipment. Other highlights of the trip included learning something of the rigors of silversmithing in order to make pendants, creating bracelets by loom beading, trying our hand at Native American drumming, enjoying Ernest's cooking especially the buffalo, prairie dog, and muskrat that he had caught for us (funny how it looked like chicken and beef in the freezer), learning about the process of carding, spinning, and weaving to make Navajo rugs and trying our hands at it, sponsoring a cook-out for the community, and playing games with the kids afterwards. We were awed by the costumes and dancing when the students from the school's Pow Wow club performed for us. In addition, we learned something of the craftsmanship and resourcefulness of ancient peoples who had lived in this part of the world and saw remnants of their existence at Chaco Canyon and at Three Corn, Francis and Old Fort Ruins. During the week we worked, played, laughed, sang and prayed together. We were awed by the beauty of God's creation in the desert and inspired by the people. We hope that our week at Dzilth-na-o-dith-hle made a difference to the people there; we know that it made a difference in our lives. Judy Michal, Director 2004 New Mexico Work Trip Sponsored by Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indiana The 2005 trip is now tentatively set for July 9-16 and will be led by past VA Region Campers, Ray & Kim Gryder. Please contact them via email at rgryder2@aol.com if you are interested in participating in or contributing to the mission program.

A Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mission Program