...phewf! What a day...

Yesterday was…interesting. We left the Mission in Farmington this morning to head into Toko’i to meet up with Herman to talk through the work projects. Once we were about 10 minutes from the church, near Shiprock, Chris pulled the Van into a parking lot and Molly and I pulled in behind him in my car. The engine was smoking.

Let me pause for a moment to tell you about THE VAN. (which is exactly how we say it) It is a 1990 Dodge 15-passenger piece of metal. Now, when I found out it was a ’90 I was floored because by the looks of it, it’s been through 30 years of HELL. And it pretty much has. You should see it on these dirt roads. Anyway, it has zero interior anything, all the back seats are gone so we can haul materials and stuff and it’s just the most incredible hunk of junk you could ever hope to ride in. I actually really love it. : )

Back to my story: It had overheated two days ago and we figured out it was bone dry on engine coolant so we got some of that but by this morning it was half-full and gurgling out. We called Herman and he sent one of his friends to check out the van and he said he thought it was the radiator. He put some kind of Stop Leak in it or something to hold it until we got back to Farmington and we hunted down Johnny’s Radiator Service. After many phone calls to headquarters in Washington (how cool does that sound?!?!) and a talk with “Johnny” we are getting the radiator replaced for $500. So Johnny’s fixing it Monday and until then it’s parked at the Mission and we’re back in Toko’i with just my little car.

So we met up with Herman and worked out one work site of the three or four we will need for the week, and the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. We made ourselves some dinner and unloaded our things into the church and sat down to watch a movie. Chris had gone outside to talk on the phone and at the door two feet from Molly and me, comes a loud knock on the church door. She got up to answer it and in steps a large Navajo man about my father’s age who is very, inescapably drunk. Now, Molly and I are alone in this building and although internally freaking out, we offer him water and Molly made him a sandwich. He sat down on the alter and started to pour out his story to us. He had been fighting with his son, also inebriated, and came to the church to talk to Herman because he knows he’s not supposed to be doing this. We listened to him for a long time and prayed for him before Chris drove him home.
What a day!

Today we met up with Geneva- the woman who is offering us her home for the next three weeks for the groups to stay at! She is so wonderful. Her life has not been easy; her husband began to build this nice house (that would be a smaller or midsize home in our culture) and then before he could finish it, he ran off with another woman. Geneva was brokenhearted but she has continued to serve the Lord and is constantly giving to those in her community. She showed us around to some of the potential work sites and there is some work we can certainly get done this week! It was an answer to prayer.

Molly and I are currently in Farmington about to get groceries for the week and Chris is at Home Depot getting supplies for the construction projects. All is well. Keep praying for the week. We have new and interesting obstacles to overcome here in New Mexico and I'm sure it will work out, but we need the Lord's anointing and divine appointments for sure.

Love and Blessings,
Laura Marie