Navajo Mission Trip Deadline Approaches

Thirty-four volunteers participated in the annual mission trip on the Navajo Indian Reservation in March 2011.

The deadline to apply for the Navajo Mission Trip, which takes place over spring break, is this Wednesday, Dec. 7.  Students that attend the trip are taken to a Navajo Reservation in Arizona.  According to Pastor Bill Kilgore, trip coordinator, they will help with several projects involving the Navajo youth, agriculture, and spiritual life.

The local youth center at the reservation is a main project that students who attend the mission trip help with.  A deck was built during the trip last year.  This year there are plans to paint the inside and outside of the building, as well as pour concrete.  The group will also hold tutoring, and story hour, for the Navajo students at the youth center when possible.

Another project that will be a continuation from last year is helping to build a greenhouse.  Many cattle range freely over the Navajo reservation, eating plants from gardens.  To help solve the problem, a greenhouse was built in the traditional Navajo style.  Rather than build walls, trenches are dug around the garden, both to keep ranging animals away and to keep plants warm. This year, students will have the chance to help plant traditional Navajo plants in the greenhouse.

The group will also spend time at the Gallup Seventh-day Adventist Church of New Mexico, thirty minutes away from the reservation.

“There’s room for about seven or eight more students to join us on the Navajo trip,” says Kilgore.  “By Wednesday, I will be able to give an exact number of who will be able to attend.”

Applications and information sheets can be found in the Spiritual Development office.   Please contact Pastor Bill Kilgore if you have any questions at kilgoreb@swau.edu.

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