Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230032A
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00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:36 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:56 ♪ ♪ 01:08 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today program. My name is 01:12 Ricky Carter and I'll be your host today. Thank you for 01:14 joining us. You know I'm so glad that you guys could be with us 01:19 and thank you for all those who have been participating in 01:22 praying for the ministry of 3ABN and for your financial support. 01:27 We greatly appreciate it. I think you'll be blessed by 01:31 today's program. I'm looking forward to it. Before we begin 01:35 though I want to read a scripture from 2 Corinthians 01:39 chapter 3, verse 18. And the word of God says: But we all 01:48 with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the 01:53 Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to 01:59 glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Amen! Amen. Well today 02:07 I want to introduce our guest. He's been participating in 02:12 transforming the lives of students into our Lord Jesus 02:18 Christ, into the Savior, he's been participating in helping 02:22 them be transformed. And I want to introduce our guest today as 02:25 Brother Pedro Ojeda. He's the principal of Holbrook Seventh- 02:29 day Adventist Indian School. Welcome brother. 02:32 Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here. Appreciate 02:36 the opportunity to share what we do at Holbrook Indian School. 02:39 It's one of my favorite things to do. 02:42 Amen, amen. Before we get into our program I want to let the 02:47 viewers know that we're going to go into a special music right 02:48 now. And Brother Jason Robinson will be sharing the special 02:52 music, Jesus, Only Jesus. 02:55 ♪ ♪ 03:07 ♪ Who has the power to raise the dead ♪ 03:11 ♪ and who can save us from our sin? ♪ 03:16 ♪ He is our hope, our righteousness ♪ 03:22 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 03:33 ♪ Who can make the blind to see 03:37 ♪ who holds the keys that set us free ♪ 03:43 ♪ He paid it all to bring us peace ♪ 03:47 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 03:58 ♪ Holy King, Almighty Lord Saints and angels all adore ♪ 04:10 ♪ I join with them and bow before ♪ 04:15 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 04:23 ♪ Who can command the highest praise ♪ 04:29 ♪ Who has the name above all names ♪ 04:34 ♪ You stand alone and I stand amazed ♪ 04:42 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 04:51 ♪ Holy king, almighty Lord Saints and angels all adore ♪ 05:03 ♪ I join with them and bow before ♪ 05:08 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 05:14 ♪ You will command the highest praise ♪ 05:23 ♪ Yours is the name above all names ♪ 05:29 ♪ You stand alone, I stand amazed ♪ 05:33 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Only Jesus ♪ 05:43 ♪ Holy King Almighty, Lord saints and angels all adore ♪ 05:53 ♪ And join with them and bow before Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 06:05 ♪ Jesus, only Jesus Jesus, only Jesus ♪ 06:22 ♪ ♪ 06:31 Amen and amen. I was very blessed by that. Thank you 06:36 Brother Jason for using your talents for the Lord like that 06:40 and blessing all of us. Well now we get into our program but 06:45 Brother Pedro, before we learn more about the school I want our 06:48 viewers at home to get to know a little bit more about you, so 06:53 tell us where you're from and tell us a little bit more about 06:55 yourself. 06:56 Sure thing. So I was born in Cuba and my parents, really 07:04 didn't call them missionaries When we left Cuba I was about 07:08 three and a half. I don't remember very much about it. 07:10 We went via Spain to Jamaica and that's where I learned English. 07:15 And we spent eight years there with a short five months stint 07:22 in Costa Rica. And then we ended up in Puerto Rico. We went from 07:28 Adventist college to Adventist college. In fact, my parents 07:31 were both at the Adventist College in Cuba before that got 07:37 shut down. So we ended up in the United States in 81. I went to 07:43 school at Walla Walla Valley Academy, then Walla Walla 07:47 College which is a university now. And by the way, I used to be 07:52 known to say I'll never teach or preach and look at me now. 07:58 I feel privileged to be serving our students, our native 08:08 American students at Holbrook Indian School. I had no idea 08:12 that I would ever end up at a place like this. In fact, when I 08:17 first saw the posting for that position on the NAD employment 08:21 web page I skipped over it. I thought they were going to be 08:26 looking for a native American principal and that the job would 08:30 be really tough. I didn't know very much about native Americans 08:34 except for the stereotypes at that time. And I was wrong about 08:38 who they were looking for. They were looking for the best 08:42 qualified candidate which is what we continue to do do this 08:45 day. And also I was right about the first one or the second one 08:53 that the job would be hard. But I like hard work and I love 09:00 where I am. Before that though we came from Montana, my wife 09:07 and I. She worked at Mt. Ellis Academy. I went there to work 09:11 there at Mt. Ellis Elementary as a teaching principal for fifth 09:14 through eighth grade and we spent 11 years there. 09:18 Mmm, Amen, amen. Well I can connect with you on two things 09:20 that you said there. My mom is Cuban, so you're from Cuba, and 09:25 then, father, he's Jamaican. So I can connect with you there for 09:29 a little bit. 09:30 Well, that's pretty cool. 09:31 Amen. All right. Well tell me about the school. Tell us a 09:36 short history behind the school, HIS, or Holbrook Indian School. 09:42 All right. Be happy to do that. Holbrook Indian School began in 09:47 1946 and it ran for a year with Marvin Walter. He had health 09:58 issues if I remember correctly and he had to shut down after 10:01 the first year. It was shut down for about a year then Frank 10:06 Doherty came along and he restarted it. He spent about 16 10:12 years there and the school has been there ever since. We 10:18 recently celebrated our 75th anniversary and super thankful 10:22 for God's blessings for that. The school was operated by the 10:30 Arizona Conference for many years. That's who started it. 10:33 And now it's operated directly by the Pacific Union Conference. 10:37 And I can explain more about that later. 10:40 Mm-mmm. Well we have a video that talks about the story of 10:42 the school so why don't we check into that video right now. 10:47 In 1945, the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day 10:55 Adventists provided most of the funds to build a boarding school 10:58 near Holbrook which opened in September 1946. Each September 11:04 over this road come children who will attend the Holbrook School. 11:08 The pie wagon now becomes a school bus bringing some of the 11:13 boys and girls as far as 55 miles. One of the most difficult 11:20 of all languages is the Navajo language but on the blackboard 11:26 the instructor writes in Navajo and the student translates it. 11:28 The Navajo language becomes increasingly limited as a means 11:32 of expression. Young Navajos realize this and want to learn 11:35 English. A Navajo child without any knowledge of the English 11:39 language can master it to such an extent that he can begin 11:43 regular first-grade work at the close of the first semester. 11:45 Seventh-day Adventists are hopeful. They hope too that the 11:52 Navajos will gain all the privileges they are entitled to 11:54 as citizens. Obstacles cloud the horizon yet rays of hope are 12:00 shining through. A new day may yet dawn in Navajo land. 12:05 Well, that wasn't quite the end. Oh no. This story is just 12:18 getting started. ♪ ♪ 12:24 Holbrook Indian School has one mission. 12:26 It has produced countless 12:30 achievers and numerous cycle breakers. Join us as we 12:39 celebrate the rich heritage weaved throughout our history. 12:43 This is Holbrook Indian School. Then and Now. Today Holbrook 12:58 Indian School serves Native American youth with a deep 13:02 appreciation of both native heritage and native history. And 13:07 with good reason. The school emerged during a very dire time 13:15 in U.S. history. For the Navajo in particular, the 1940s was a 13:25 time of promise as well as a time of little hope. The 13:33 traumatic history of forced boarding schools that had gone 13:36 unchallenged in the decades prior was now on the decline. 13:41 Yet the effects had left generations shattered and 13:45 without any way to pick up the pieces. Unfulfilled promises led 13:51 to the lingering problem of neglected opportunity for equal 13:57 education. It was around this time that Arizona Conference of 14:01 the Seventh-day Adventist Church wanted to do something to help 14:04 the Navajo people. Marvin Walter was a missionary working for the 14:12 Arizona Conference and he set out to learn about the needs of 14:17 the Navajo. As Marvin talked with the people he discovered 14:22 their desire for their children to receive an education. With 14:27 his wife Gwendolyn and funding from the Pacific Union 14:31 Conference they set out to start a school. In 1945 the missionary 14:37 couple moved to Holbrook, Arizona where a new school was 14:41 built. With 320 acres of land at Holbrook the first mission 14:47 school started in 1946. That fall 30 children sat on sheep 14:53 skin rugs reciting their first lessons in a foreign language, 14:56 English. This became the first class of students of the Seventh 15:03 day Adventist mission school now known as Holbrook Indian 15:06 School or HIS. Through the years many people have come to work at 15:12 HIS. The school has grown to serve more than 100 children in 15:18 the school year. 15:20 Although graduation is the goal it's always hard to see our 15:25 seniors leave. Much of what our school does today continues our 15:31 history of celebrating and uplifting native American 15:34 heritage as well as practical hope pressing money. 15:39 ♪ ♪ 16:00 More recently we have included supplementary programs like 16:04 outdoor school, college transition, summer experience 16:07 and licensed clinical counseling Holistic learning has always 16:15 been an integral aspect of HIS. But recently this became a more 16:21 formal and systematic program with the need, MAAPS. Navigating 16:28 spiritual beliefs at HIS is both a fragile and a fertile area. 16:32 With a history of forced exposure to less that Christian 16:39 Christianity we are very aware of the historical wounds that 16:42 preceded our school's existence. Today our students spiritual 16:49 heritage is respected and in areas of common beliefs it's 16:53 also been a bridge. To get a good representation of this we 16:59 actually looked back to our 1982 original poetry and prose 17:04 publication Hieroglyphs. In one piece from this original 17:10 compilation past student Sandra Flye created a poem based on 17:15 Psalm 23, in the expression of their own native imagery. 17:24 Like the apostle Paul in his appeal to the Greeks' unknown 17:31 god appealing to common beliefs is a way to connect with our 17:35 students' spiritual journey. Most native traditions teach of the 17:41 creator. By pointing students to object lessons in nature they 17:47 can more easily understand who their creator is. It has proven 17:54 beneficial to meet our students where they are. Students from 18:00 many native tribes have attended Holbrook. They have gone on to 18:06 become teachers, HR specialists, private business owners and some 18:11 have even served in the U.S. military. One student went on 18:16 to become the first woman a Navajo judge magistrate in 18:19 Flagstaff, Arizona. Charlotte would tell you that my father 18:26 had a dream that his for his children to receive an education 18:30 That is why he brought us to the SDA mission school. Today we are 18:39 happy and humbled as we see a number of our students 18:43 fulfilling their positions. Not only are they choosing 18:48 to break the cycle 18:50 but have also gone on to help others do the same. 18:55 ♪ ♪ 19:33 Amen, amen. Brother Pedro so Holbrook Indian School is 19:38 located in Arizona correct? (That is correct) Right. Can you 19:42 tell us a little bit about what the school is like? 19:47 Absolutely. So to give you a reference of where the school is 19:50 it's on Highway 40, 90 miles to the east of Flagstaff, Arizona 19:58 about three and a half hours to the west of Albuquerque, New 20:05 Mexico and about three hours 10 minutes to the north-northeast 20:09 of Phoenix. We're on famous Route 66. If you've ever seen 20:14 the movie Cars, the inspiration for it came from Holbrook with 20:23 the tee pee hotel. So Holbrook is about, the school is about 20:28 two miles outside of town next to a housing development and it 20:40 is a campus that has about 214 acres right now. At the very 20:45 beginning it was 300 acres. About 100 of those acres were 20:48 sold off. We have on our commons something that you don't see in 20:55 the desert, that is unless you go to Palm Springs. You'll see a 21:00 beautiful lawn, at least in the height of the summer after it 21:04 has recovered from the winter. A lawn isn't supposed to be 21:09 there in the desert. But there was a principal some time back 21:13 that decided...I believe her husband was a landscaper...and 21:20 so they decided hey our student's back yards are like 21:24 this. It's dirt, right? A red dirt. Let's make an oasis for 21:29 them. So they raised the funding put in the infrastructure and 21:33 put in a beautiful lawn. And we've been trying to keep it 21:37 that way and to improve on it if we can since then. It's 21:44 beautiful to see the students roll in that grass when they get 21:47 there or when they're on commons anytime. 21:50 Amen, amen. That's great, great. So how long have you been 21:54 serving at HIS and tell us why is it that you serve there? 22:01 I've been there for 11 years now and the reason for that is I 22:08 remember the day I entered my office as the new principal at 22:14 Holbrook Indian School, I sat behind my desk and I talked to 22:19 God and I said, Hey God you brought me here, this is your 22:23 plan. Now you have a big job to do and that is to help me do 22:29 this job because I have no doubt that the devil is going to 22:32 attack. And then I said, I will be here until you say otherwise. 22:40 And so how would that come about Well I imagine I would hear 22:45 about it from the board or there would be a call you know to 22:51 another place or it would be clear that things aren't working 22:58 out with the staff. The reason I said that is because my parents 23:07 taught me a strong work ethic. But most importantly I don't 23:12 want my will to be done and that's what we look for in 23:16 everybody that we hire at Holbrook Indian School is people 23:19 that are there doing God's will. Holbrook Indian School is not a 23:25 stepping stone. Think of the connotation that that has. That 23:31 means that Holbrook Indian School would be a place that you 23:35 step on on the way to something better. And what are you 23:39 stepping on? The school is the students. Somebody told me when 23:46 you work there you're going to fall in love with the students 23:49 there. You're going to fall in love with the kids. And that's 23:52 exactly what happens when you work at Holbrook Indian School. 23:55 You see the need. You look into a student's eyes and you fall in 24:03 love with them just as Jesus does with each one of us. 24:06 Amen, amen, amen. You know I'm sure you've got some things that 24:13 you've worked out at the school operating wise. Can you share 24:17 with us a little bit about the model, the operating model 24:20 at HIS. 24:22 Yeah. So I mentioned earlier that the school began as an 24:27 Arizona Conference school and that's the way schools operate. 24:30 They're run by conferences not by unions. But because of heavy 24:36 debt the Arizona Conference was looking at having to shut it 24:39 down many years ago. The Pacific Union decided not to and took it 24:44 on. And the Pacific Union was able to provide a subsidy that 24:51 based on a percentage of tithe to the Union that the Arizona 24:55 Conference just couldn't cover. And so this is the only school 25:02 that's operated directly by a Union in the North American 25:06 Division. And we are so thankful for the Pacific Union Conference 25:13 support. My boss, as I call her, is Dr. Von Pohle, Berit 25:20 Von Pohle. She is the Vice President for Education for the 25:22 Pacific Union and she's been a tremendous help for us. Everyone 25:29 at the Pacific Union is super supportive. Now that subsidy 25:35 from the Pacific Union when I first got to the school was 25:40 about 20 percent of the budget. Now it's about 12 percent. (Ooo) 25:47 So where does the rest of the funding come from? 25:49 Where does the rest of the funding come from, Rickey, that 25:52 is the question. It comes from amazing people all over the 25:57 world that have seen the story of what our students go through 26:05 the cycle that they go through, where they're coming from, the 26:11 was they're marginalized, the country within a country and 26:15 their isolation, right? And they say, Oh I want to help. And we 26:21 have donors that are giving a dollar a month up to people that 26:27 send $500,000. The need is evident to them and I believe 26:36 it's because they're listening to the Holy Spirit and then 26:42 they're convicted and their generosity just comes out. But 26:49 yeah, the rest of the funding for Holbrook Indian School comes 26:52 from that because our students, they pay $85 a month in tuition 26:56 and fees. 26:59 Wow! wow. That's all? 27:01 Yeah we currently have 58 students on our campus. This is 27:05 the end of the school year so we suffer attrition which it's very 27:10 sad for us to lose students but if you take say about 65 27:14 students, our capacity is 78 on our campus. We have a satellite 27:18 school in Chinle, Arizona with a maximum of 15 students there. 27:22 The most I've seen on our campus is 92 between the two schools. 27:27 What happens is that if you take say 65 students by our budget 27:37 it's more than $35,000 that it costs for each one of our 27:42 students that attend there. (Wow) And no one can explain 27:46 how the finances at Holbrook work unless you say God provides 27:54 God provides. God provides. He always provides. (Always) Amen. 27:59 You know I'm thinking about the students and how blessed they 28:03 must feel to be able to attend that school there and I remember 28:07 you saying that you have 58 students on site right now. 28:11 First through 12th grade. 28:13 First through 12 okay. (All boarding.) 28:15 Wow! Even the first graders? 28:17 Even the first graders. (Wow) Think about why a first-grader 28:22 would be at a boarding school. Or even first through eighth 28:29 grade. Why would they be sent to a boarding school? That's a 28:32 story in itself. 28:34 Mmmm, wow, wow. So speaking of the students, then tell us where 28:38 the students like. 28:39 Remember, I told you that if you work at Holbrook Indian School 28:42 you're going to fall in love them. If you walk on our campus 28:46 you're going to hear the normal sounds of a school until you dig 28:54 deeper, until you spend some time talking to them. You might 28:59 notice a little bit of a difference in dialect or 29:05 pronunciation in their language. That's not to say that they know 29:09 how to speak their native language. It's unfortunate that 29:13 most of our students do not know how to speak the native language 29:16 Unfortunately, they have lost a lot of their traditions. The 29:23 positive traditions of native Americans are very, very 29:28 supportive for families and for success. But what is happening 29:33 right now, when you dig deeper and you meet our students you 29:36 will find that they are heavily entrenched in pop culture. They 29:42 may not have running water or electricity in their homes but 29:46 they have a connection to social media, to YouTube, to movies. 29:53 That they have. And they have learned some lies about what 30:00 life is like and what success means. Then you start to hear 30:06 their angst. Then you start to hear about their life at home 30:13 and what it's like. Then you might understand why a first 30:17 grader is being sent to a boarding school. We strive to 30:25 never take away any of their traditions from our students. 30:33 It used to be that those boarding schools that you saw 30:36 in the video that the government sponsored. There's a quote and I 30:43 forget who made the quote but you can see it on our web page 30:46 they tried to kill the Indian to save the man. Well guess what we 30:53 let our students grow out their hair if that's what they would 30:56 like to do. We just ask that they not cover their eyes 31:01 because one of the things that I noticed the first year I was 31:06 there is that the students were trying to hide in plain sight 31:10 with their hair or their hoodies or their caps or their beanies. 31:19 and they were very isolated even within the school. So about 31:25 three years after I started working there we actually told 31:28 the students no more head coverings inside of buildings 31:33 except for the dorm and the gym and it just transformed them. 31:38 They have come out of their shell and they're communicating 31:43 with each other. 31:46 Amen, amen. Well I'm sure that their programs that are helpful 31:54 for the students that you need to put in place to help them. 31:56 And what are those types of programs that Holbrook Indian 32:00 School has to offer and how does that help? What's the purposes 32:04 of those programs? 32:07 I feel blessed that we can offer the programs that we do and you 32:12 several of them in the video that we just showed about_ 32:19 I'll tell you my favorite. I'm going to start with my favorite. 32:22 My favorite is the mountain biking program. When I first 32:27 came to the school I quickly found out that that dorm was 32:31 going to take...the boys dorm was going to take the boys on a 32:35 campout to a town close by, Show Low, Arizona about an hour 32:41 away. So I went with them. When we got there I saw that they 32:47 were taking the equipment out of a box truck that we had at that 32:50 time to put all the camping equipment in. They took out the 32:54 bikes, that was the first thing they took out and they started 32:58 riding them around the camp ground. I took a look at the 33:02 bikes. I also brought mine because I love mountain biking. 33:06 It's one of my passions. And I noticed that they were a little 33:14 bit in need of repair. Brakes didn't work really well, the 33:19 shifters didn't work really well They had to fix tires every time 33:23 they would take them out. We went on a trail that weekend and 33:29 I went with them and the students had a blast on that 33:32 trail. They were riding these bikes as if they were $5000 33:36 bikes. And I saw how much they were enjoying those. So there's 33:39 a mountain biking program and I lead out on that. I tell the 33:46 students, Hey try to beat the old man and it's fun to see them 33:48 try that. We go on single track trails in the mountains and my 33:55 favorite place is Sedona Arizona It's a minimum of eight miles 33:59 that they have to ride. Sometimes it's 14 and it is 34:03 tough. And they have never done that until they do it at 34:07 Holbrook Indian School. Then we have the equestrian facilitated 34:11 learning which is basically a horsemanship program. Ninth 34:15 through 12th graders get to take that class. But all of our 34:19 students can avail themselves to the therapy that those big 34:25 animals can provide. I heard Fred Bruce who started that 34:31 program for us, but he's now retired, he has been known to 34:36 say to students as they learn how to ride horses and how to 34:42 commune with them, it is amazing that an animal this big obeys 34:48 you. Why is that? How does that work? So all students can adopt 34:54 a horse or help feed them or take care of cleaning out the 34:59 stalls. Then we have our arts program so we teach ceramics 35:08 that I believe is the correct term but we call it pottery. So 35:12 they learn how to make pots in the mostly Navajo tradition. You 35:19 saw that in that movie. They make those and they can sell 35:26 them and they get a percentage of the sale of each pot. And 35:30 it's a way that we put out the story of the school to people. 35:36 We also make sure we cover welding, auto mechanics and 35:44 construction or carpentry in the programs that we offer. And all 35:49 of it is holistic, all of it is meant to tie in together. 35:54 Amen, amen. You know I believe we have a video that we can 35:57 watch about the programs. Let's take a look at that now. 35:59 ♪ ♪ 36:57 I have ridden fast, I've gone down hills 37:02 ♪ ♪ 37:15 If students are required to just sit in one spot all-day 37:19 long their brains are going to shut down. We need to have 37:23 activity and motion in order to prime their brains to learn. 37:26 ♪ ♪ 37:34 Change of environment can do a lot. It can do wonders for 37:37 a person. That's all I can say. It's 37:41 changed me. It's like you're on the edge you know and if you 37:47 lean too much to one side then you're going to fall. You're 37:50 going to hurt yourself. I don't know. It's just like looking out 37:53 for yourself because where you look is where you go on a bike 37:58 you want to look for a good path. That's where you 38:02 go. But if you take the wrong path you end up getting hurt 38:06 I don't know. 38:13 My individual work with the students focuses on drama 38:17 therapy and helping them be able to find healing from the traumas 38:23 that they've experienced. 38:24 ♪ ♪ 38:29 You name it, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, 38:35 financial abuse, spiritual abuse You know most of these students 38:41 have dealt with it. 38:48 ♪ ♪ 39:03 So I feel that most of our students have a Swiss 39:04 cheese education 39:06 that has giant holes in it and something called effective 39:09 filter. And the more stressed you are the less easy it is for 39:13 you to learn anything. So they may have strange gaps in their 39:18 education. Something was going on in their family and they 39:21 didn't learn it so they just fall further and further behind. 39:24 So most of our students arrive here anywhere from two to eight 39:32 years behind academically from other students. 39:37 One of the great things that we have going for us here at 39:41 the school in being able to help students is that they have so 39:45 many options for physical activity. So when kids have 39:49 opportunities to exercise and be outside it makes it easier for 39:53 them to be in a good mental state so that they can learn. 39:59 ♪ ♪ 40:03 A couch potatoes don't show the same growth that the kids who 40:06 were out biking have. They don't make the giant strides. 40:11 ♪ ♪ 40:24 Some people may think that mountain biking is just for fun. 40:27 Oh the kids are just going to go out and have fun. How does that 40:33 fit into a school. There is a correlation and the correlation 40:38 is that their academics increase every time. Their reading levels 40:43 go up, their math abilities go up. That affects all the other 40:48 subjects. 40:50 There's a mountain of literature that shows that physical 40:56 activity is not only beneficial for mental health, it's key, you 41:01 can't get around it. You have the activity of the body which 41:06 creates endorphins and you have the sun which allows for the 41:11 production of melatonin and vitamin D and you have the fresh 41:16 air which brings oxygen to the brain and the rest of the cells 41:19 of the body. 41:21 Our students have to go on a minimum of six miles each time. 41:27 On average it's nine miles for every ride. So it is hard work 41:34 I discovered pretty quickly that even though the students would 41:45 say this is hard when you're climbing a hill. Just keep going 41:50 At the end of the ride, they were able to say hey that was tough 41:55 but when are we going bike riding again? 42:03 ♪ ♪ 42:15 Wow. I'd love to do some of that bike riding as well. So anything 42:21 else you want to share about the project. 42:23 Well first of all you're welcome to come out and join us. (Amen) 42:26 Yeah, come on out and join us. We can ride any time of the 42:30 school year. We just have to pick a spot. Sometimes we have 42:32 to go close to Phoenix in the middle of winter. So I hope all 42:36 all of you viewers out there are wondering are those the bikes 42:39 that you were talking about that were dilapidated? No. Those 42:45 bikes are the ones that amazing donors contributed towards. I 42:51 appealed for quality bikes but not super expensive ones. So the 42:58 students that have consistency ...see everything we do at 43:01 Holbrook Indian School has to reflect the value that we have 43:04 for our students. If they see that we're providing them 43:09 people's throw a ways then what are they going to think about 43:14 themselves. Right? And the next thing I want to share about that 43:18 video is it was a lot of fun to make. Again I will mention we 43:24 went to Sedona, Arizona. If you've never been there it's one 43:28 of those heaven-on-earth places as close as you can get here on 43:31 this earth. And the movie was directed and produced by Kerry 43:37 Benedict who's a good friend of mine. He runs a foundation 43:41 called the Shay Foundation. We began a collaboration with them 43:45 in 2014 and we have kept going and it's because of his help and 43:52 the Shay Foundation's help that we have been able to tell 43:56 stories in a quality way like that so that you can see the 43:59 students' stories, all of you out there can see what our 44:03 students are going through and also, the joys that they're 44:07 experiencing. We're blessed by people like him and, again, the 44:15 donors that made it possible for us to go out there and then 44:18 enjoy that. 44:20 Amen. It was excellent to see those different programs that 44:21 you guys provide. Are there any other projects that you're 44:24 currently working on that you want to share with us of yours. 44:27 One of the first things I heard when I was looking at this job 44:35 as principal at this school is that Holbrook Indian School is 44:38 put together with Band-Aids and toothpicks. When I got there I 44:48 saw what that meant. Many of the buildings needed to be 44:56 refurbished and there's a bit of a Hodge podge of buildings here 45:03 and there. And so we have been working on making sure our 45:10 housing is maintained and remodeled when people move out 45:17 and it's a house that's pretty dilapidated so that when people 45:23 come to our school the employees that we have at our school they 45:29 can see that we mean well by them, that we care about what 45:37 God has entrusted us with. So a major project is working on 45:43 the infrastructure of the school In doing that we are working on 45:50 a capital campaign, it's in its early, early stages to replace 46:00 our gymnasium and our cafeteria with a new building that we're 46:07 calling, it's not official yet, but we're the Holbrook Indian 46:12 School New Life Center. The student center. And we want to 46:16 emphasize that this is not about a building. It's about 46:22 relationships, it's about community, it's about providing 46:26 a place where our families can be together. Because right now 46:30 unless it's outside, if there's boys and girls in the family 46:36 they either have to be with the girls in the girls dorm if 46:40 they're going to be inside or the boys in the boys dorm. But 46:45 this center, the New Life Center that many of you have seen 46:49 through the 13th Sabbath offering that has been taken for 46:57 Holbrook Indian School and this project. So the infrastructure 47:02 and we are working, the most important thing that we're 47:10 working on is sharing Jesus with our students and that comes in 47:16 many, many ways. Everything they see that we're doing at Holbrook 47:22 Indian School has to reflect has to point them to their best 47:29 friend and I hope they accept Him as a personal Savior. 47:34 Amen, amen. You know we have a few minutes left before we go to 47:37 our break. I want to ask you two things. Are there any miracle 47:40 stories that you can share, short, and then also what is the 47:43 greatest need of HIS? 47:46 Let me try to remember both of those questions. So miracle 47:52 stories. I'd like to share with you one, one miracle but it has 48:00 happened many times with different students. So one of 48:04 the students that you all saw in that video, her name is Quintina 48:10 and she's actually the one that kind of stumbled and fell off of 48:15 her bike. She came to our school in fifth grade and I remember 48:21 one of the first things that she told me when I was supervising 48:25 out for registration day. She came up to me and she had short 48:28 spiky hair and she said Hey has my dad called you. Because he's 48:32 supposed to bring me money. I said no he hasn't. And I could 48:36 see the disappointment in her face. I've never heard from her 48:41 dad. He didn't show up then, he hasn't shown up since. She was 48:47 in my office for discipline issues multiple, multiple times. 48:50 We actually had to send her home think it was her first year for 48:58 two weeks, out of school suspension and when our 49:02 business manager and I went to pick her up she didn't want to 49:06 come back. We were driving away when we saw the door open, the 49:13 house on the rise in Chinle, Arizona and out she came, very 49:18 solemn look on her face. We found out that she really wasn't 49:25 wanted in her home. She happens to have lighter skin. Her 49:31 features are very, very much native American, Navajo, Dene' 49:37 which is the name of the Navajos in their language but for some 49:44 reason her skin color is a lot whiter. I don't know if that's 49:48 what the issue is but we became her family and she's going to 49:58 graduate this year. (Amen praise the Lord) That is a miracle and 50:04 we have seen that miracle happen over and over again. We call it 50:07 breaking the cycle of yuk. (Of yuk?) Yuk. I don't know of 50:15 another way to put it. The cycle that just destroys our students. 50:20 We see it over and over again. And thank you to all the donors 50:26 out there who make it possible for us to provide a safe haven 50:31 for our students where we can see those miracles happen. What 50:34 was the other part of the question? 50:37 The greatest need for your school. 50:39 The greatest need for our school is prayer. Please, please get on 50:44 your knees, get on your knees out there and pray for each one 50:49 of our students. Give me a call. I can tell you stories, I can 50:54 give you specific names. You can look at our web page. You can 50:57 look at our newsletter and along with that is the continued 51:09 funding for our school. We cannot do it without people like 51:15 you. It's not possible. Thank you so much once again for the 51:22 funding that amazing people are providing and again the most 51:29 important thing is pray that our students realize how crucial it 51:35 is that they accept Jesus as their friend. 51:39 Amen, amen. Well time is about to run out. Be right back. See 51:43 how you can participate in helping, donating. Here's how 51:48 you can do so. 51:49 If you would like more information about this ministry 51:53 you can write to them at Holbrook Indian School, 51:57 2001 McLaws Rd. Holbrook, AZ 86025. You can call 52:10 (928) 524-6845. Email them at Principal@hissda.org or visit 52:25 them online at HolbrookIndianSchool.org |
Revised 2023-09-13