The Lee family, Susan Price and Lorena Herbert were unable to make it to the staff picture, but the newest Skillen made it!
2024-2025 Staff
God has been with us for 100 years!
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
God with the Kindergarten
Recently the mission invited a videographer to visit. As she questioned me about my experience as a teacher, my mind and heart were flooded with 11 years of memories—some which made me grin and others that brought me tears. Since the interview I have given more thought to the privilege of reaching children with the Gospel. The Lord has brought so many children into my life, I’ve lost count, although we were childless. Each child has reached my heart, and I loved them as if they were my own. Watching them grow up gave me such joy as a grandparent would enjoy.
Now into my 12th year in Kindergarten, the Lord continues to give me great joy in joining Him in His work among these young children. I also have been sensing the Lord’s nudging to prepare the way for a younger godly teacher who will carry on teaching with the same passion to reach children for Jesus Christ – to receive Him as their Savior and learn to walk in His ways. Truly the Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
Pray with us for the Lord to send such a servant to Immanuel Mission. And soon! This will be my last year teaching Kindergarten. I am thrilled with the opportunities the Lord has already given to spend time in ladies Bible study here at IM and continuing outreach with the precious message of the Gospel to the Navajo.
In His service, Susan Price
Hello this is Lula Tom
It’s been a good year so far. I enjoy cooking and working in the school kitchen, and also doing school janitorial duties. It keeps me on my toes and I’m also getting my exercise. After a long summer, I think we skipped fall, we are suddenly in winter. The Lord has provided us with a load of firewood, an answer to prayer for pumpkins for school kids, a new roof for the school—it is awesome! I am thankful to be here and thankful for your continued support to Immanuel Mission.
Scott Valentine—Bus Driver & Servant:
One hundred years is a long time if you’re a steel pipe. November 6th, 2024, while digging a hole underneath the old water tank, we had time to think about things. The broken pipe is not 100 years old, but it is crying. Snowing, and chilly outside. The school is getting a new roof! Wray Roofing all the way from Kansas. Damage from our hailstorm last summer is slowly being erased. Gas leak! Turns out a stove was just barely on. God protects us. Bus and vans are still bringing the students to school! We need another bus, a driver, a bus mechanic, maintenance and teaching staff. Still, we keep going. Everyone works hard. We make plans for Thanksgiving. So much to be thankful for. Please continue praying for us all and this ministry.
Bible in 5th Grade
From Rachel Faust
Teaching Bible class this school year has been an absolute delight! After struggling with the dilemma of students simply memorizing facts to pass multiple choice tests and not really engaging with God’s Word or enjoying Bible class over my last couple years of teaching, this year has been so much better! My 5th graders have been doing a timeline project each quarter instead of traditional tests. We read and discuss a short passage each day in Bible class, and then they review it and engage with what’s happening in the passage, as they look for Bible verses and come up with ideas for illustrations to use on their timelines as we go along. This system has worked so well, and we’ve had many good impromptu discussions about things in Scripture as they’ve been working on their timelines. It’s been so neat to watch many of my students truly enjoy learning about God in Bible class this year!
A New Roof
We thank the Lord for all your prayers this summer when we had the devastating hail storm. Raefer Begaye, Nate Lee and others have done a lot of work cleaning up, repairing and replacing. Praise the Lord for Brotherhood Mutual and Jim Hollinger with Wray Roofing from Kansas who came and replaced the roof of the school and gym. We still have more to do—some inside fixes were put on hold until we had the roof repaired, slides still need to be replaced, windows aren’t all finished, but God is faithful and has sent several workers this fall to help.
God with the Jr High
“Miss Kelli, I have a question. Do you think everyone is born a sinner, even babies?” One of my favorite things about teaching at Immanuel Mission is that I get to preach the Gospel every day. Last week we were learning about the births of Jacob and Esau. No matter how many times we’ve studied the Gospel and memorized the verses, it still takes the convincing work of the Holy Spirit to cause the growth. What followed that question was a very lovely discussion in which my Jr High students were free to share what they know and to ask questions about things they weren’t sure about. We drew connections to what we had learned the week previous regarding the rapture and kids with believing parents and what it means to be “left behind”. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will continue His work in these young minds and hearts and that they will continue to seek Him. —Kelli Wilson
Introducing Lela Scott Skillen
We would like to say thank you for the many who have prayed over our newest blessing for the past year. The Lord continued to remind us that His timing is perfect and His plans are far above ours! Anne Denny had heard from many visitors that planned to come in October and said “Let’s see how the Lord will work out the timing.” Sure enough our baby girl came early and we had several people to cover the classroom for Ryan so he was able to adjust with having a newborn at home. It is fun to see how the Lord works through many people who pray for and support the mission from near and far. Thank you all for your faithfulness in prayer and love for all of us here.
—Ryan and Elizabeth Skillen
Immanuel Mission Staff Family
Immanuel Mission 