NAVAJO WORK CAMP TRIPS TO NEW MEXICO

BEGINNINGS
This vital program of fellowship, faith, hope and love through hard work, provides individuals a spiritual experience with God, our creator from the Navajo perspective. This program was initiated through the hard work, dedication and vision of Angie Murdock and her father, John Hart, the then Pastor at Central Christian Church in Elkhart, Indiana.  Angie, while attending college at the University of Indiana at Bloomington, participated in a workshop on multicultural education taught by John Henderson, a Navajo who was teaching at several universities around the country.  After spending some time in New Mexico, Angie had the idea to start a cultural exchange mission program involving youth from the church. Angie approached her father with the idea of having her new found teacher and friend act as a cultural liaison and host for the first trip back in 1992. What great things have happened since then!

For over a decade, the Christian Church in Indiana shouldered the responsibility and liabilities associated with this mission venture to New Mexico, but then others from outside the Indiana region became involved with the trip. 2002 marked the first ever involvement of campers from outside the Indiana region with campers coming from the Virginia and Arizona regions.  Over this time too the trips have been happy to experience participation from people of various faith backgrounds. 

In 2007 the Christian Church in Virginia became the lead region sponsor of the initial trip that started with the Indiana folks.  Since then, participation from other individual church youth and adult groups has sprung up around the country.  Here is a partial list of participating individual Disciples of Christ churches that have organized their own trips to DZ since 1992:

1992            Central Christian Church, Elkhart , IN www.cccelkhart.org
1999            Central Christian Church, Washington , IN
2003            Anderson Hills Christian Church, Cincinnati , OH www.andersondisciples.org
2003            Kemper Road Christian Church, Cincinnati, OH
2004- 08     Saguaro Christian Church, Tucson , AZ www.saguarochristian.org
2005            Richland Hills Christian Church, Richland Hills , TX www.richlandhillschristianchurch.com
2006            First Christian Church, Wadsworth , OH
2007            Park Hill Christian Church, Kansas City, MO  www.parkhillcc.com
2007- 08     Living Water Christian Church, Parkville, MO www.livingwaterchristian.org
2007            Hillyer Memorial Christian Church, Raliegh, NC www.hillyerchurch.org

2008            Park Street Christian Church, Charlottesville, VA http://monticello.avenue.org/pscc/
2008            Southside Christian Church, South Bend, IN www.southsidedoc.org
2008            First Christian Church, Mishawaka, IN
2008            First Christian Church, Tullahoma, TN www.firstchristiantullahoma.org

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