Lori and I were recently able to take Helpers of People leave to participate in a mission trip to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Navajo in Chinle, Arizona. Our friend, Jimmy Pogue has led his Student Council members from Cooper High School to Chinle for 13 years each winter to bring food, clothes, and livestock feed. He has wanted to return to Chinle to share Christ’s love without carrying the shackles that come along with the public school system.
Jimmy carefully and prayerfully selected his team based on specific strengths and skills of each missionary and we carried 37 on the trip. We carried a revival pastoral team, a music team, a baseball camp team, a Disciple Now team (ministry aimed at teens), a women’s bible study team, a food team including Lori, and an evangelism team to hit the streets that included me.
Over the last year we made our plans, and then we made more plans, every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed down to the bus charter and where we would eat every meal along the way.
Then it began. A few weeks before we were leaving, the bus company sent our deposit back and informed us they were taking a charter that paid more. So we had to scramble to find vans to rent which saved us money that we were able to spend feeding people. Our plans were not His plans, so the plan was less than perfect. God speaks… You will need vans to transport my children.
One of my other responsibilities included supplying a truck to pull a trailer with equipment, food, and luggage. The morning we were leaving I was up early to go fill up the truck. As I was walking to the truck my phone rang and the ID said “Jimmy Pogue”. My response, “What does he need now?” When I answered, he informed me that one of our Sunday School members died in her sleep over night. Michele Scott was a vibrant 46 year old wife and mother of 3. Now I felt conflicted to whether we should stay to support this dear family or go at 8:30 as planned. Later, (I will come back to this) I would recognize the following verse as God speaking again in this situation: Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
We drove to Albuquerque the 1st night and we met again as a group to pray, share, and to go over our plans. We arrived in Chinle around 2:30 and unloaded to find that no advance work had been done by the new pastor. The college kids were expecting 6-8 teens for Disciple Now, the coaches expected 10-12 for baseball camp, the ladies expected 8-10 for the women’s bible study that were all running between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. The food crew expected to feed the same number. At 4:20 pm, I and 3 others pulled out of the church parking lot to go find people to attend because no one had been informed of the activities. I didn’t understand how this could be; our plans were so complete and well thought out. God speaks… Go find my children, they’re waiting.
As we arrived in the neighborhoods (tribal housing projects), the first door I went to politely said no thanks. At the next house were 3 small boys playing and I told them about baseball camp, Disciple Now and they jumped in the van. I had to drag them out and explain that we needed their parent’s permission before they could go and I was invited into their home. Now, the 3 boys were on board hanging out the windows inviting all the kids to Vacation Bible School. Keep in mind, our plan did not include Vacation Bible School! We saw more kids and got parental permission; over and over we filled the vans and turned around for another van load. We must have brought 100 kids to the church and 50 or 60 to the baseball camp and it was chaotic! At 6:50 as I was about to go back to find more kids, they asked me to stop because we were not prepared for young kids and we certainly were not prepared for the number of kids.
My perspective from the van was much different from the perspective at the church and baseball field. They were saying “Oh my gosh, look at all these kids” because they were being overwhelmed with something that we did not plan for. My perspective from the van was “Woohoo! Look at all these kids!!!!!!” God spoke again… My plan is better. You will reach My people through these kids. I AM greater than your plan.
That night, most of our team had a pity party because things didn’t go as planned. I woke up several times during the night worried the kids would not come back because we were disorganized and unprepared for what we encountered. God spoke again… I wiped out your plan because I AM sufficient.
Overnight we had Vacation Bible School plans emailed and printed and again God revealed to us His better plan. I found that my fears were also not part of God’s better plan as we went to the neighborhoods and the vans filled up once again at a more manageable level. Others in the group thought that the evangelism (van) duty was the worst job that anyone had. They were wrong! We had a vantage point no one else had. We were invited into their homes; we met moms, dads, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were able to better see how life is lived on “the rez”.
We also were able to witness the impact that each of the ministry teams were having on these children and their families as we had windshield time and home time to fill with conversation. I witnessed 2 boys jump on the van with their new Bibles that coach Steve Coleman gave them frantically looking up John 3:16. The coach showed them his Hardin-Simmons University cap that represented a team that was very important to him. He then turned it over and showed the most important thing that has ever been known to man… under the cap’s bill the coach had written John3:16. I witnessed the kids singing songs on the van that the music team had taught them. I witnessed the kids saying that they did not have to fear as they trusted God for protection that the VBS team had taught. I saw teens rebel against peer pressure and declared to stand up for Christ in the Jr High and High Schools. I saw women bring friends, teens and children bringing their moms to the women’s bible study, which ended up near 20 in attendance. I saw more people come to the revival each evening than the night before. God speaks… Enjoy the blessing of My plan and be grateful that I AM graciously allowing you to come along for the ride.
Then there is Leroy. Leroy is an Indian man in his early to mid forties that Jimmy Pogue befriended 8 years ago during one of his student council trips. Leroy is a generous, big hearted man that was there with us the entire time helping with anything we asked of him and more. I had heard Jimmy talk about his friend Leroy for years and we had been praying for years for his salvation. Jimmy, our Associate Pastor Jeff Reid, and Gary Milliorn, all found opportunities to have deep spiritual discussions with Leroy without seeing any result. Sunday morning in the worship service Jimmy and Leroy sat in the front row. During the invitation, Jimmy told Leroy that he was never closer to salvation than he was at this moment. Leroy did not step out.
Our time in Chinle was through and we headed back to Abilene to attend the funeral of our dear friend Michele Scott. As Jimmy walked in to the service he received a text from Leroy that stated “my life is coming apart, my nephew was murdered last night”. Jimmy called him to let him know he would call him back after the funeral service. We all celebrated the life of Michele, we said our goodbyes until we reunite in the presence of God.
After the service, Jimmy and Jeff Reid called Leroy. Understandably, Leroy was distraught over the loss of his nephew. Jeff described the celebration we experienced at Michele’s funeral and explained the sorrow and grief shared by all. Then Jeff shared that while we were grieving the loss of our friend, we were celebrating Michele being home with the Father. Jeff asked “Leroy, if you die today would your funeral be a celebration?” Leroy began to weep uncontrollably and asked “What do I need to do to have that?” He was led through the process of salvation and Leroy asked Christ in to his heart as his Lord and Saviour!! He stated that he felt as if a boulder had been lifted off of him. Later Leroy confided that he had experienced joy for the first time in his life.
Now back to the verse mentioned above – Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. God took two tragic circumstances and used them for good. While we would have celebrated seeing Leroy accept Christ while we were in Chinle, God chose for us to be 700 miles apart. God spoke again… This is between Me and Leroy.
Our mission trip to Chinle did not go as we planned. God wiped our plan off the table to demonstrate His power and His glory to a band of people with good intentions. We truly witnessed the hand of God at work and we were blown away by the results. The Discilple Now had the number expected, the women’s ministry and baseball camp exploded beyond our expectation. The revival, music, and food ministry was off the charts and God gave us a Vacation Bible School that we had not planned for that was unbelievable! God’s plan is better, He gave us vans that we would need, He gave us peace through our grief to be used in His plan, He provided children to us as He loves the little children, He confused our plan to show that He is God, He blessed us in multiples when we were willing to follow His plan, and God loves Leroy… and Leroy loves Him back.!