Lifeline Christian Mission – Blessings at the Navajo Ministry – Mar 5 2015

by Brian Snyder, Lifeline’s Administrator & Missionary to the Navajo

February proved to be a month of blessing in so many ways. While we still have challenges before us, God is proving Himself faithful over and over again in this ministry. It is a much needed confirmation from God that we are moving in the right direction. 

Rosa and her group from Cincinnati brought us out a newer van for the mission this month as well. (see photo above) This large van will be great for transporting work teams over the summer and we are blessed that it is a newer vehicle as well. Thank you so much for Rosa, Mark, and Gordon for driving that out here and visiting with us. We truly appreciate your support in this ministry!

The van was also full of gifts, such a copier for the church and boxes of goodies for the church and school. Thanks go out to the BCSS women’s retreat for the boxes of needed supplies and to Beechwold Christian Church for the copier. We really appreciate all these donations that make our ministry easier.
 

Red Sands Christian School

Red Sands Christian School did run out of funds from scholarship money in February, but God has continued to provide Lifeline with support through you to keep the school moving forward. We are hopeful that more funds will be coming in March/April from scholarships, but we have not received this word yet.

While this sounds negative, it really isn’t because we have made it to February with scholarship funds covering a majority of the expenses for Red Sands Christian School. This doesn’t mean we do not need you – we really do! It simply means that God has provided us with a way to keep blessing the school with much needed funds to improve the overall direction for the school. This is more than we have ever had and we are truly blessed to have made it this far. God opened the door for us a year ago and it is amazing to see where we have come in such a short time.

The first ever fundraiser also began in February. We are extending it through March and we will update you on the amounts brought in by this fundraiser in the next newsletter. So far the discount cards for area businesses are selling well and parents are really enjoying being a part of this to help the school!

Another blessing is that we have had 100% attendance in parent/teacher conferences four times in a row! That is a record for parents coming and being a part of what is happening with their children. We are so thankful for the parents and students at Red Sands Christian School, and this brings a huge smile to our face when we think of their participation.

In addition to all of this, I was able to attend the Association of Christian Schools International annual Administrator’s Conference again this year. It was this same conference a year ago that God opened the door for us. This year, I learned some additional items to help our school and one in particular is regarding the Internet “issue” we have out here. Not much is available to us, but eRate is a grant program to help us apply for grant money in providing Internet solutions to schools. Our application is being filed and we are praying for additional funding to bring a reliable solution to Red Sands Christian School. God has also deepened the relationship with other area schools and the encouragement we receive from them is invaluable. 

Red Sands Christian Church

Youth group has been reaching out to our 4th grade and up students at the school and in the church. We continue to bring relevant topics and a fun environment for them so that they really look forward to coming on Wednesday evenings. In February, we had a young group of talented musicians from Christ Church of Flagstaff come and bless us with a time of worship. Corey Earnst, Eathan Earnst, Tyler Davis, Ryleigh Davis were the ones who made up this group. Can you believe the faith of 14-16 year olds coming and leading our 9-14 year olds in worship!? God is so good and what a life lesson for our youth! A big thank you to you four and to those that drove them here!

Planning has also begun for the mission trip to Haiti in October 2015. Seven from Red Sands Christian Church will be heading to Haiti, joining another church. The team is working on fundraising efforts and they have great ideas on how to begin raising some of this money for the trip. I am so proud of those in our church that have the faith to do this. Parents and teens are both signed up and I can’t wait to share their faith journey in this.  I am also thrilled that one Lifeline ministry location will be taking a group to another Lifeline ministry area to experience a cross-cultural ministry experience. Only God knows what kind of doors this will open, but we are so excited to see their faith grow during this time. Please pray for this group as we have a lot to accomplish in a fairly short amount of time!

The third week of February brought a very special delivery from John and Angie Dailey (and Jamestown Church of Christ): an industrial ice maker was delivered and really made our day! Of course, I was so excited I ran the water line and drain immediately to get it up and running. By that evening we had it running and making ice. Work teams are going to love this and it will certainly make Keith and Christi Dimbath’s (Lifeline’s Work Team Directors) life a lot easier not having to make ice runs every day! Thank you so much for this John, Angie and JCC! We already are enjoying this blessing and it is working great. 

Ministering to the street people

We ended the month with a great day of ministry partnering with Christ Church of Flagstaff (CCoF). CCoF helped us with a Least of These breakfast for the people living on the streets of Winslow. They also provided foot washing, nail polish (hands and feet) for the ladies, backpacks filled with goodies and an incredible breakfast for those we could find that morning. (see photos above)  They led them in a time of worship and devotion and just spent the morning loving them as Jesus would. It was a beautiful end to an already great month. Thank you CCoF for helping us in this ministry during the cold months of the year!

Thank you!

I can’t say it enough – thank you everyone for your prayers and support of the work out here. There is so much I am looking forward to in March and April, but will share in more detail next month what God is up to in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to work teams coming in May and getting the summer started well, and Spring break is right around the corner with a service project week here at Red Sands. None of this would be possible without your support, encouragement and prayers along the way. Thank you for partnering with us in the ministry here in Arizona.  Please continue to pray and if God leads you to providing a gift, we will certainly appreciate that blessing as well.  Thank you again!

Overwhelmed with His love,

Brian

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Prayer Requests      

The Navajo people & community: our greatest passion is to lavish Jesus’ love on the Navajo. Pray for open doors and strengthening relationships.

School Scholarships: scholarships are an integral part of our school funding. Pray for the funding to continue or for God to reveal other avenues of support.

Minister search: continue to pray for a minister for Red Sands Christian Church. We know God has a Navajo minister in the works, and we must be patient until He reveals that to us.  

Funding: keep the funding for the Navajo ministry in your prayers. We were hit hard by the vehicle issues and the continued building issues. Please consider a gift, if God moves you in that way.