Mission with Meaning, June 15-22, 2012

Ft. Defiance, Arizona

 St. Andrew’s and our surrounding community features many gifts, including education and agriculture. By sharing our gifts abroad, we will become more skilled in ministry within our home community. Churches engaged in mission often experience numerical and intangible growth.

 Working on the Navajo Reservation represents both a domestic and a foreign mission opportunity. Although physically located in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the reservation is a sovereign nation. The Episcopal Church has a long history on the Navajo Reservation: the first hospital on the reservation is part of the Good Shepherd Mission church campus. Built in the mid-1960s, the Good Shepherd church building is scheduled for major restoration work, due to foundation settling. As the work is being completed, the congregation will hold services in a former power-generating building that lacks indoor plumbing. 

 Conditions on the reservation are challenging: unemployment is nearly 60 percent. Most members of the Navajo Nation live below the national poverty level. Funds historically transmitted to the Navajo Nation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs have been substantially reduced in the past three years. Teenage suicide and pregnancy rates far surpass national averages.  

The vision for our Mission incorporates our gifts for ministry:

 A multi-age Vacation Bible School to be held on the campus of Good Shepherd Mission

• A construction project focused on enhancing the Navajo Nation Veterinary Clinic
• A veterinary outreach project focused on spaying/neutering small and large animals
• A clothing and school supply offering school-age children

All mission participants will pay their own food, lodging, and transportation costs. All fund-raising efforts will be directed toward purchasing supplies for these projects. A member of another congregation who shares this vision has given $2,000 in seed money; no general funds from the parish will be spent on this project.

Our mission will begin on Friday, June 15, 2012. We will travel by cars and RVs to the Window Rock–Fort Defiance area, a 956-mile trip. We will join the Good Shepherd Mission congregation for church on Sunday and conduct our mission from Monday through Thursday, concluding on Friday, June 22.

  Questions? Contact Fr. Sean, rector@standrewsbcs.org, 979-822-5176