On The Rez
The Back Story
How did Up & Out end up on the Rez?
We often ask ourselves this question, and as we drive through the vast miles of undeveloped land, pinching ourselves in disbelief.
Up & Out practices the principle of servanthood, and we pray that we instill this upon any young adult that joins our program. In this case, back in February or 2023, Lancaster Bible College asked for our help in manning their Missions Conference. We helped to set up and break down various events, and then we were asked to proctor each missionary panel in the afternoons.
One of our last panels was a counseling panel with the theme of forgiveness. As one of the missionaries began to speak, he told us of how his father was killed in a head-on collision on a one lane bridge coming out of a Bible Study. The driver was drunk after leaving a pow wow. His father had gone into a coma, only to die on Father’s Day. They lived in a place called Kayenta on the Navajo Reservation.
His extended family urged them to get off. They said it was killing their family and not worth the struggle. As God began to work forgiveness in this gentleman’s heart, the overwhelming love of God gripped him, and since then, he has given his life to the Navajos.
This got our attention.
Our First Visit
Up until this point, we really knew nothing about the Reservations. We just knew we sensed the spirit of God. We told Daniel, the gentleman who runs Flagstaff Mission to the Navajos, that we would come out to visit him. We had planned to see him in March. Due to record breaking snow storms, we did not make it out to Arizona until August of that year. We threw a back-to-school carnival in one of the communities on the Reservation in an area called Dilkon. The response was overwhelming, but so was decimation of a people group. We immediately felt socially, ethically, and spiritually responsible. This was happening on our own soil.
Since August 2023
Since August, we have been traveling back and forth to the Navajo Nation every other week. God clearly spoke to us about the importance of consistency, although the financial requirement was quite lofty. Our students go to school at Lancaster Bible College during the week, only to fly out on a Thursday night to arrive on the Rez, and then fly a red-eye back in time for classes on the following week. By God’s supplying grace, they all managed mostly A’s and a few B’s. Praise the Lord. God’s love is extravagant.
We have developed very dear relationships with godly institutions such as Flagstaff Mission to the Navajos, Indigenous Bible College, Great Commission Alliance, and many more.
We have been very involved with the youth, community outreaches, and church services on the Reservation. On our first trip, we added a student to the Indigenous Bible College. We are happy to report that her husband now attends, as well! We also have several students from the Indigenous Bible College interning with us out on the Reservation. We reignited one of the first children’s Sunday school programs within hours of us on the Reservation. The new generation coming up desparately needs to know of a God who sees, a God who cares, and a God who saves, especially as they are left to fend for themselves in a very violent and unstable environment.
Please continue to pray for us as God leads in this very tender and spiritually complicated work. The warfare is very real. Idolatry has entrenched this region for many decades, and the bondage of the people is very strong. However, as God grips the heart, the resilience, creativity, and depth of an inidigenous walk with God is unmatched to any other people group we have seen.