My Summer In Mescalero

Wow. Time flies.

It flies fast.

Just 7 weeks ago I hopped in the car and made the 18 hour drive down to Mescalero, New Mexico for the summer. And now, 7 weeks later, I'm home. And it is so good to be home.

Don't get me wrong, I left Mescalero with many great memories, friends, and experiences─and there's much I will miss─but there's something special about coming home. You know, I think the biggest thing I learned about myself this summer is that homesickness hits hard. [At least it hits me hard.] I've lived in the same community my whole life─that's 19 years now. I have grandparents right down the road, dear friends in the area, and a church body in which I was born and raised. Spending time away made me realize just how much that means to me.

Being away from it all─that made this summer different. It was different and hard and sometimes lonely, but it was also good. It was good and reflective and full of beautiful people who welcomed me into their church community from the start. For that I'm very thankful.



It's hard to decide where to begin in explaining my summer interning at Mescalero Reformed Church, so I'll start by sharing a few highlights, a few observations I made, and a few different things I learned.

Highlights

Highlight #1: Apache Hymns

The native language of the Mescalero Apaches is...you guessed it...Apache! [If anyone is questioning─yes, everyone speaks English in Mescalero.] Every Sunday morning, a portion of the service is dedicated to singing Apache hymns, and afterwards someone in the congregation prays [usually in Apache]. In singing these songs every week the church is celebrating the culture of the tribe, and to me that's pretty cool. My favorite Apache hymns are the ones I actually recognize the tune of. My all time favorite is 'I Have Decided to Follow Jesus'.

When it's time for the Apache hymns to start, a few members of the congregation make their way up front to lead the singing. On my first Sunday in Mescalero, after the Apache hymns, one of the women up front walked past me on the way back to her seat, smiled, and said, "By the end of the summer you'll be up there singing with us." Guess what─she was right. After encouragement from a very influential 7 year old girl, I agreed to go up front and sing Apache hymns my last two Sundays in Mescalero. It was a very humbling experience to have participated in something so sacred and special.

An Apache hymn book.

Highlight #2: Vacation Bible School

I've already written a blog post on VBS [10 Things I Learned at VBS], so I won't elaborate too much, but A) little children, B) singing songs to the Lord, and C) snack time. Doesn't get much better than that.

Highlight #3: The youth of the church

This summer I led Wednesday night youth group and Sunday morning Sunday school for middle school and high school aged students. There are several awesome students in Mescalero with pretty awesome thoughts to share. The secret was getting them to share those thoughts. My biggest challenge this summer was getting more than one-word responses out of the students when it came to questions during youth group and Sunday school. In the moments when students were honest and did give thoughtful answers I couldn't help but smile inside at the work the Holy Spirit was doing in their hearts.

Me and the kids my last night of youth group.

Highlight #4: Sunday mornings

Sunday was my favorite day all week. On Sunday mornings the church was filled to the brim with energy, love, and praise to our Father in heaven. This was the one time all week when everyone came together in one place─and it was very refreshing. It was refreshing to fellowship with the people of the church, to worship together, and to come to the Lord in praise. Along with teaching Sunday school, I also gave the children's message. I'll admit that I had a few rocky messages, but by the end of the summer I was feeling pretty confident about what and how I was sharing. [Life for the children in Mescalero isn't the same as my childhood was back home. It took me a message or two to realize that they don't relate to everything that I do. For example: photos. I shared about all the photos my parents took of me growing up. The same can't be said by them.]

Giving my last children's message.

Highlight #5: Fry bread.

I couldn't possibly leave this one off the list. If you don't know what fry bread is then I would like to say that I am so sorry for your loss. Fry bread is similar to Naan or pita bread. It's served at every feast in Mescalero and is probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. It's very unhealthy, all carbs, and fried in oil─but that's what makes it delicious! [I can't believe I didn't get a photo of it!]

Highlight #6: Visitors!

This summer two work groups came to the church: one in June to help with VBS, and one in July to do a few work projects at the church and in the community. I loved getting to know the group from Michigan that came in June, but I must say, I really connected with the group from Iowa that came in July. [Okay, so I knew the group from Iowa. They're from my home church. And one of the students happens to be my brother.]

It was so refreshing to get to spend time with both groups. And it was very rejuvenating to just laugh and talk with friends from home.

When the groups came we went to White Sands, went out to eat at Old Road [the best Mexican restaurant in the world], and hiked Round Mountain. With the Michigan group we watched the sunset, and with the Iowa group we watched the sunrise. Both were beautiful to witness and well worth the hike.

[My boyfriend also came to visit right before the 4th of July, but if I get started on that then I'll be writing for pages. Long story short, it was great having him there and it was hard to see him go.]

Last day with the group from home.

Highlight #7: I turned 19!

My birthday happened to be the same day as the church's prayer walk. I was in charge of driving the minivan with the very old and deaf non-walkers. The walk took around 2 hours. During that time I received several birthday text messages from friends and family, but as my mother has always told me─don't text and drive─even if you're only going 5 miles an hour. It was a very long 2 hours, but eventually I was able to see them and respond. [Thanks guys!]

Later that night I went to my first feast of the summer, as did the work group from Michigan. And you won't believe it, but I was lucky enough to receive a plastic fork from one of them for my birthday. [Don't tell John but I might have thrown it away.]

I'm the one who doesn't match the rest of the group. By the time I got to the t-shirts all they had left was XL. But hey! Now I have a new shirt to sleep in. And it has June 18 [my birthday!] written on the back. It's a win-win.

Observations

Observation #1: I'm turning into my mother.

[Wait for it. It's not what you think.] After just a week in Mescalero I found myself helping a local student prepare for the ACT. What exactly were we reviewing you ask? MATH. Whose mother is a math professor? Oh yes─mine. How many people assume that I am studying to be a math teacher because I want to be just like my mommy when I grow up? More than you would realize.

But you know, I took away a lot from that experience. For one, teaching is not so bad. There's actually a great feeling of accomplishment and excitement that comes when someone you're working with comes to finally grasp a concept. Also, math isn't that bad. I like solving problems, and math─well math has a lot of problems.

Observation #2: Living on your own far away from home can be lonely.

Something I really missed this summer was living with people my own age. [Don't worry family, I missed you too.] Coming from college, where I lived on campus with hundreds of other students the same age as me, to living by myself was a big transition. I had a lot of free time to myself during the week and at times it got to be a bit lonely. I'm very thankful for Melanie's presence in the apartment next to mine. I don't know what I would have done without her there.

Observation #3: There's something special about opening your home to others.

After I hiked to watch the sunset with the work group that came for VBS, we were all invited over for a meal in the home of a woman from church. She made Indian tacos [fry bread with chili on top]. There's just something about welcoming others into your home, providing a meal, and sharing conversation. I hope that's something I'll make an effort to do now, and in the years to come.

What I learned

Lesson #1: There is power in the ministry of presence.

My last Sunday in Mescalero, what stuck out to me was that the thanks many people gave me was for simply being there and being present. It didn't matter what I did or didn't do, it mattered that I was there. It mattered that I showed up and was present with them. And that can be a powerful thing.

Lesson #2: It's not up to me, it's up to God.

A dear friend reminded me of this a few weeks ago. With tough situations it seems that there's nothing we can do─it feels out of our control. And that's the thing, it is out of our control. But it's not out of God's control. Though we leave people and places behind, God doesn't. He continues to work. As I was reminded on multiple occasions this summer─God's got this.

Lesson #3: Life is to be lived with laughter.

Okay, I already knew this one. But a reminder never hurts. With every person I connected with in Mescalero, there was laughter. In Sunday school, laughter opened people up. During the children's message, when the adults laughed at a few of my jokes, it put me at ease. On the 18 hour car ride home, laughter passed the time.

Laughter has the power to connect. So let's use it.

Me and a few of the youth on a trip to White Sands.

And there you have it─a small glimpse into my summer in Mescalero. There is so much more I could explain and share, but for now I'll leave it at this: it's good to be home, but there's a lot I'll miss in Mescalero. There are a lot of people I'll miss seeing in Mescalero. I can't wait to go back for a visit.

[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]


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