A Time to Morn...

“There is a time and a season to everything under heaven… and a time to mourn.”
When anyone faces death, it can create a void in one’s life.  This is especially true if that person was close family, a mentor, or both.  Some people act like not speaking of the sorrow will make it go away.  But in actuality, it makes it worse.  Not being able to share ones memories, ones grief, and the joy in knowing the person is not forgotten, only can make it worse.

Where I live, among the Navajo, traditionally a person’s name is not spoken after their death, but still they are told of in stories.  How sad it is, that in many churches a crossed America people are asked to forget about their loved one soon after their death.  Studies show it can take up to 7 years to grieve the loss of a loved one, and if other deaths occur within that time; the time of mourning is extended sometimes up to 10-15 years, and the sorrow never truly completely leaves until this life passes.

Let those who mourn share their sorrows, hold memorial fund raisers for something the lost loved one took part in, and encourage the ones grieving by sharing your own memories of the lost one… or if you did not know them… then listen to their stories with an open heart.

I know for me, and those I have lost, doing this has aided me greatly....

Thank you!

~ Traveller Gal, out!

Basketball Camp 1

Wow, what a week.  Last Sunday through Wednesday we were swamped with children and teens for our church's (First Baptist Church of Thoreau) first summer basketball camp.  We had 13 salvation/re-dedications (plus a few more that we didn't get names), and 30-40 young people every day.

We had at first planned to just give them snacks, juice, and water, but the Lord provided for us in away that only He can get the credit for.  Every day we were able to feed these youth full meals, plus snacks with donations and food that was provided for us.  If any stomics left hungry, it was because they did not eat what they were given, not that the Lord did not provide!  PTL!

We were sad to see the team from Crossfire leave, but with more outreaches, including another basketball camp later in July, we have much to prepare for as the summer moves forward.

Keep Robby and me in prayer as we seek God as to how He wants us to serve even more.

~ Traveller Gal, out!

Culture Shock...

What is culture shock? One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Just as easily though, could be one going to another culture or subculture in their home town or any one of the Native American tribes around the USA.  Culture shock can be described as consisting of at least one of five distinct phases: Honeymoon, Negotiation, Adjustment, Mastery and the interdependence. There is no true way to entirely prevent culture shock, as individuals in any society are personally affected by cultural contrasts differently. 

What is the Honeymoon phase?  In this stage a person is in love with their new culture, the food the clothing, the language, everything about it is new and exciting.  This for me lasted for the first 6 months out here in Dine Bikeyah.

What is the Negotiation phase?  This is were one begins to negotiate through the new culture one is living in.  It is a period of great exploration and also frustration, for me this took about 3 months after the honeymoon was over.

What is the Adjustment phase?  This is where one begins to really adjust to a culture and find ones place within it.  It cant take 6-12 months.  For me, I am just now wrapping up my own adjustment phase.

What is the Mastery phase?  In the mastery stage assignees are able to participate fully and comfortably in the host culture. Mastery does not mean total conversion; people often keep many traits from their earlier culture, such as accents and languages. It is often referred to as the biculturalism stage

This is what any honest traveller goes through, and many times makes re-entry to own one home cultures hard on return visits.  Pray for all of us serving among other culture.  ^_^  You have no clue how much your prayers help us!

~ Traveller Gal, out!

Dine Bikeyah calling...

I was 16 years old the first time I heard the words, "I hear Dine Bikeyah calling..."  I was sitting on a chair in Wichita, KS watching Rich Mullin's musical, Canticle of the Plains.  Then I learned, "Dine Bikeyah is a real place, its the land of the people, the land of the Navajo."  Right there at the edge of my seat, I felt God whisper in my heart, "You've been asking were I am calling you, now you know."  Tears were running down my face.  I had gone just because I loved studying the life of St. Francis and enjoyed Rich's music, but never expected God to use it like He did.

Now I am 29, and I have been living in Dine Bikeyah for nearly 2 years.  I am still just a beginner in the beautiful Navajo language, and I live just off the rez in the town of Thoreau.  Yet my heart is pulled there deeply, especially when I have been gone for a while.  I get homesick when I leave Dine Bikeyah.  I have found my home among a people not my own.  I have found a place to stop wandering, in a land not my own, and I am home, at last.

~ Traveller Gal, out!

29 years and counting...

 Thinking Back....

Twenty-nine years, that is a long time to walk the earth.  There have been alot of ups and alot of downs on this journey, both of the heart and of the soul.  In my first six months, I had 3 mothers: birth, foster, adopted.  In my first 3 years of life I had at least 4 homes.  At four I surrendered my life to God.  At seven I was called to missions... and the rest is history!

At 15 I went on my first mission trip, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.  At 16 I was called to the Navajo.  Just after that, still in my 16th year, I became very ill and was bedridden most of the time till late in my 17th year.  At 18 I went on my second missions trip, New Orleans, LA, USA.  At 19 I began doing online ministry to the subcultures and at-risk teens.  At 23, I went on my third mission trip, to Charlotte, NC, USA.  At 24, I sought to start a safe house for at risk youth, but never totally got it up off the ground.  Later that year, at almost 25, I married my beloved Rob Nickles.

At  25, I went for the first time on a mission trip to Navajo Nation, as Rob had done off and on since 1995.  Then that same year we moved to Chicago, and remained for 14 months.  Then it was off to Kentucky, Kansas, and Arizona, before moving to Thoreau NM.  What joys, what trials, and what blessings lie between!  Such a life I have lead, out here on the open road... God has been good even in the hard times.  I am blessed.


~ Traveller Gal, out!

In Kansas...

Five weeks on the plains. 

I love my family, both birth and adopted.  I love our friends.  I love getting to see everyone and catching up on what has been happening for them and for us.  LOL, what I dont love is the "big city"  and the Kansas prairie.... I hate alergies.

It has been good to be off the field for so long, it let me know just how much Dine Bikeyah is really home.  I knew my health does not like Kansas in the summer, but I did not know that my body is just not built for the prairies.  Thank the Lord for creating green tea, it helps me SOO much!

But in all honesty, I have been learning alot about my faith and my calling while out here.  I have come to see myself not just as a teenager (even though I haven't been one for 9 years), but as a woman of 29 years.  I have realized my heart is in serving on the rez, and that in that my heart is for mentoring youth and children.  I have also realized my passion is for raising the awareness for the needs out on the missions field, especially on the reservations and reserves.  Even though I have been called for a long time, even though I have been ministering on the reservation for nearly 2 years, alot of things are becoming much clearer now than ever before.  Praise the Lord for that!

~ Traveller Gal, out!

Casa Rosa

Rob and I live in a little checkerboard community called Thoreau in northeastern New Mexico.  Surrounding us on most sides is the Navajo Reservation.  Thoreau is a typical rez community: small, not much to do, and alot of people to meet.

For us, we did not expect to move to Thoreau.  We were just looking for a place close to the rez where we could live near the missions field and maybe rent to own some land.  Little did we expect to find an older mobel home with an acre of land on a street called Rose.  The place is a fixer upper, but what missionary home isn't?

We have a nice living room/dining room, a kitchen, a den, Rob's office/man cave, my office, the guest bedroom, guest bathroom, and our master bed and bath.  We will have a pantry, after the leaky roof is fixed. ^_^

For me, Casa Rosa, while really to large for just us, is perfect for the work we do.  With mentoring, discipleship, and relational missions as our focuses, a large place like ours means plenty of room to have people over. 

Now we just have to get that leaky roof fixed!!! LOL!

~ Traveller Gal, out!