Working in the Navajo Reservation: Joys and Challenges

I grew up on what I like to call the deep Rez, where there is no running water or electricity. I like to think I have a little culture to me, and I also like to think I understand the Navajo people because I myself am Navajo (or Diné as we like to be called).

I was born in Tuba City, the most western town on the Navajo Reservation. I lived and worked at my family’s ranch in the high desert area of Sand Springs, which is in the middle of literally nowhere. I would get lost in the red rock canyons of my family’s land, who have lived there in the area for countless generations.

I loved listening to my grandparents telling stories in Navajo. But although I was raised on the Rez, my knowledge of the Navajo language is still very minimal. My grandparent’s generation were the ones who were kidnapped as children and sent to boarding school and were disciplined severely for speaking the indigenous language of the Diné people.

You see, most of the people in my grandparent’s generation only spoke Navajo. My mother and father are bilingual and speak both Diné and English, but they were only educated to an 8th grade level. My generation was told to go and get educated and know the world, so when we were spoken to in Navajo, we were to respond in English.

The digression of the Diné language is happening so fast. When you kill the language of a people, you kill the culture with it. The culture of the Navajo people is both spiritual and used in everyday life from waking up in the morning, cooking, caring for children, to war, and revenge. But the main belief in the Navajo culture is Hózhó: blessings and beauty before you, behind you, above you, and below you.

The thought process of a typical Navajo is to live in the moment—don’t worry about the future, and definitely do not talk about death, or anything that has to do with death. So I’m telling you a little about the culture, because the belief system of “the white man’s religion” sometimes doesn’t line up easily with what a Navajo believes. There are of course some similarities, but there are also o many points that are nowhere near Navajo belief. We are trying to teach Jesus Christ to a culture that believes we are living in the fourth world and emerged from the earth. We are talking to them about a man who was half God and half man, who loved us so much he died for us, can be tricky to these people of mine. However, I see a strong spiritual side to the Navajo, so being spiritual is not a problem.

In the Navajo world, when you are sick (whether the sickness is physical, mental, or spiritual), you go see a medicine man or a shaman. There is also a “middle man,” so many converts are in the habit of asking me to pray for them. I am ready to pray on the spot, but I also try to explain to them that “you have the same kind of connection to the Creator of the universe as I do.” But every time I explain that, it seems to just go over their head.

Trying to explain the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that happens easily, for which I am thankful. But living out the day-in and day-out life of being a disciple of Jesus Christ has its difficulties. A lot of Diné eventually fall away from being a believer. This happens for many reasons, such as: it’s too hard, traditional family backlash, etc.

But when someone truly believes and accepts Jesus—and more importantly—they live as a disciple of Jesus and are committed—they go far beyond what is expected of them and become valuable members of our church. More importantly, they become members of Christ’s family. Knowing deep in my heart that I will see them in heaven brings me so much joy.

We have had 17 baptisms since we moved back to Tuba City to carry on the work of the late Paul Ghee who ministered to the Navajo for 26 years. We have seen some of the converts fall away, which is sad, but we have seen some who have become valuable members in the church and are taking ownership of the name Christ-follower. I feel the work in Tuba has its ups and downs, but the joy I get from someone accepting the belief of our Lord Jesus Christ has no limits.

I am thankful for the blessing our Heavenly Father has sent us, and I am thankful for the prayers and support your church has given us these last 10 years. God bless you.

Our partners Eric Kee and his wife Tracy minister to the Navajo Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona.