God With Us
“I had a wonderful time”
In September we had a delightful women’s conference put on by Village Ministries International. The women all met together for singing and eating then separated for teaching. Village Ministries shared the materials with Helen Tom, a local believer who taught the same thing to our Navajo speakers while VMI taught the English speakers. Tears were shed, hearts were touched. “Thank you. I needed to hear my own language spoken from the Bible.”
Then: Immanuel Mission is located on the Navajo Nation in the northeast corner of Arizona. It began in 1924 when Clara Holcomb and her parents came to bring the Gospel to the Navajo people. After unhappy experiences with government boarding schools, parents asked the missionaries to teach their children. So in the late 40’s they began a small boarding school for primary students. In the 70’s the dorms burned down and the mission staff decided to purchase buses instead of boarding. In the 80’s a high school was added and there were times with up to 125 students. Due to a reduction in students and teachers, in 2018 we dropped the high school to once again focus on K-8th grade and a year later added a pre-K.
Now: I love to say that the school is a tool for evangelism. Our primary goal is to reach our neighbors with the message of salvation and new life in Christ. In addition to the school, we have other ministries such as a vibrant church, open shop, sewing class, Mom’s group, and home Bible studies. In the summer, church groups from all over the US come to do work projects and VBS in the community.
Needs: We have a pressing need for a bus mechanic/maintenance person. We will need a 5th/6th grade teacher and a Kindergarten teacher. Pray with us that the Lord who has provided for 100 years will continue to provide.
To paraphrase the Macedonian, “Come over to Arizona and help us!”
Anne Denny, Principal
dennyanne@gmail.com
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for praying for us and being a part of our celebration through gifts that you sent. God gave us a wonderful day with beautiful weather (though we did appreciate the outdoor fires that we put in the shade). We gave out 300 gift bags to adults and 75 gift bags to children and I think there might have been 50 who didn’t take a gift bag but did eat beans and hot dogs and visit with us.
Some highlights of the program were the school kids singing Go Tell it on the Mountain and Away in a Manger in Navajo, our two preachers both giving the Good News of salvation, and Danae Olson Schonberg (a direct descendant of the original Holcombs who began the work here in 1922) sharing a testimony of God’s faithfulness through the generations that was translated for the crowd.
A highlight of the day for me was visiting with so many former students and staff (Ruth Bloom even came back for the day!) who travelled to be here. I also met several who went to school here in the 1940s. One grandma said she was raised as a Christian but drifted away after she married a non-believer. She now wants to put her grandchild in our school so he will learn to sing about Jesus.
Another bonus story; Raefer said one man was so excited about the rollup he got that he wasn’t going to open it for a while, just enjoy it.
And a bonus picture; today our youngest teacher, Tamara, organized a crazy Christmas sweater day for all the teachers. Here are many of us at breakfast.
We get so much joy out of giving, especially when it is well received. I pray that all of us will receive well the gift of eternal life that God offers us through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Praise Him!
Anne Denny
for Immanuel Mission
In September and October of 2012, Jim and Lynn Adams of CreativeImpactMinistries.org came to create a video for Immanuel Mission. Here is a link to the videos.
Tour of Immanuel Mission (6 minute tour)
Trailer for Immanuel Mission: God With Us (2 minute trailer to the short documentary)
Immanuel Mission: God With Us (30 minute short documentary)
Immanuel Mission: Esther Yazzie (5 minute interview of Esther Yazzie Navajo Language and Culture teacher)
Immanuel Mission 