We were in Nazlini and out of internet coverage for the last couple of days. Church at Nazlini was good. We went up there on Sunday morning from Sun Valley Indian School, and actually arrived in time for part of Sunday School. They have recently had a TON of new kids show up for church, and are rejoicing at this new growth. This last Sunday they had 22 kids!
As usual, after service, everyone met in the fellowship hall for lunch. On Sunday it was frybread with beans. Quite tasty. After lunch we were shown the guest room, which is right off the kitchen. It is quite spacious, a good sized bedroom and attached bathroom. There were only two problems: there was no heat, and no hot water (their hot water tank recently broke). We fired up our little space heater, which worked valiantly, but wasn’t able to keep the temperature in the room much above 50. On Monday, Sharla and I went to Ganado (about 30 minutes away) to do some laundry, and while we were gone, they brought us in two big heaters from the sanctuary. Those worked much better. We put our little heater in the bathroom, one big heater in the bedroom, and the other in the kitchen. It kept the bedroom at about 65 degrees, cool but doable.
This morning we left Nazlini for a sightseeing tour. When we got up, it was 12 below zero; by the time we were packing the car it had warmed up to only 4 below! We started off driving the 25 miles or so to Chinli. The most direct route is via Indian Route 27, which runs right by the Church. It is paved for the first 8 1/2 miles from the church; the rest is washboard dirt road. But it was clear of ice and snow for the most part, and wasn’t any rougher than some of the streets back home (like Ogle). We did come up on an older couple walking along the road in our direction. We stopped and asked them where they were going (it was still below zero!), and they said to the grocery store in Chinle (still 8 or 10 miles away!). We cleared out some space and gave them a lift.
The late morning and early afternoon were spent touring the south rim of Canyon de Chelly (pronounced canyon day shay). It is very picturesque, and a lot of Navajos still live and farm in the canyon itself, like their ancestors have for hundreds of years. Most of the roads were clear, but there were several that were covered with ice and snow, and most of the walkways to the overlooks were icy. But we got some beautiful pictures (some of which are attached).
Tonight we are holed up in the Best Western in Chinle. Tomorrow morning we hope to hit the northern rim of the canyon to see the 3 overlooks there, and then head northwest. Our goal is Page, in the extreme northwest part of the Reservation, to see if we can get in to see Vermillion Cliffs. I don’t know if we will be able to make it in one shot – I want to be off the road by dark.
Keep praying for safety, and for wisdom. We have met a lot of interesting people on this trip, and we want to make sure that we are a blessing to them.
We are praying for all of you back home as well!
