Kinlichee is going to be a satellite
campus in conjunction with
Brown Trail School of Preaching out
of Hurst, TX! The students, Navajo preachers that have not had the
ability to attend a formal preacher training program, will be able to
study the same curriculum as the students that are attending Brown
Trail. Some of the course work they can do at home on computers in
conjunction with email and with DVD recordings of the classes at the
Brown Trail site. Other times they will come here, stay for a short time
periodically, and be able interact live with the instructors at Brown
Trail via satellite while they're here.
The Brown Trail school is going to be
supplying us with the last bit of equipment we need for that part of the
project. Their will also be times when instructors from Brown Trail will
come out to Kinlichee and instruct our classes. The students will receive full
credit for all the courses they complete...and with the satellite
capabilities...the sky's literally the limit. We can't even begin to
thank the elders of the Brown Trail Church of Christ that oversee the
preaching school. Their open-mindedness and foresight have allowed them
to see the great need, and potential, of this kind of training program
on the Navajo Nation.
We have been trying to put together some kind of program for the
preachers here that will expand their access to sound, formal Biblical
training. Initially we were planning for periodic week-long class
sessions during the off-summer months since everyone has so much going
in the summer.
However, big changes took place
this past summer of 2007 when a group from the Church of Christ at Cedar Lane in
Tullahoma, TN and the Southside Church of Christ in Shelbyville, TN came in
for VBS, and also came to help us build a 6 station computer lab.
To go even one better, they donated the
cost of satellite internet for a year plus the cost of the equipment,
donated four used notebook computers which now gives us 10 stations in
the computer lab. They also brought out some men that know computers and
networked the whole system. It was a tremendous gift and will allow us
to go even further with the plans for a preacher training school here on
the Nation. With this satellite capability we will be able to provide
direct feed to our preacher school students form Brown Trail School of
Preaching as well as offer computer literacy courses to our local
residents.
We also have the Gospel Broadcast Network
system in place for their educational and personal use as well.
Our next project is to get a library going. We've received donations of a
couple of small boxes of books but we hope to get more for the students
to have for reference materials. A group from the Northwest congregation
in Glendale, AZ came in September and installed bookshelves for the library in the computer
lab. If anyone has books they would like to donate they can send them
to:
Kinlichee
Church of Christ
P.O. Box 1153
Ganado, AZ 86505
OR you can call (928) 755-3993
for ground shipping directions. It's complicated but can be done. We
must make sure that the driver knows to call us first or most of the
time they can't find us!
Above is the Fellowship
Hall where we will have lectures and some classes. It is a hogan
(pronounced ho-gone), a traditional Navajo dwelling.
This is the Computer Lab
and Library building with all the satellite dishes. The
double-wide trailer houses classrooms and an activity room.
Running the cables and
wires
Running new electric
service after we lost all power!
Our tireless builders!
This is our almost
completely finished computer lab!
These are the notebook computers
that were graciously donated to us for the Lab that was built by members
of the The Church of Christ at Cedar Lane in Tullahoma, TN and the
Southside Church of Christ in Shelbyville, TN.
These are some of the
members of the VBS trip that made all this possible. I was able to visit
Tullahoma this past July and fill them in on all the successes and
follow-up with their efforts on our behalf at Kinlichee.
If you would like our
newsletter sent to you drop us a line at this link.
