Missionaries Needed

I am so glad that you are interested in helping. There are different ways that you can come and help.

A. You can come by yourself and commit to a year or more (After a 30-day probational period). This is for men only right now. The mission site is not ready for co-ed. This only applies to full-timers.
B. You could choose to come by yourself for a shorter period, let’s say a few days or weeks.
C. Another way is to form a group of people or teens from your church and come during the summer months to do VBS or work projects.

In any of these cases, we need to get to know each other first. In the past we have had child molesters attempt to volunteer. We also had several groups who were abusive and very disrespectful to those at the mission site. Many of the other mission sites have told me they no longer want outside help because they have been treated so poorly by visiting mission teams. Because of this, as the leader, I want to get to know you before you come. On the same note, you will likely want to get to know me and will probably have a lot of questions. Start by reading the information below. If the information below sounds acceptable, then download and fill out the questionnaire at the bottom. If you e-mail the questionnaire to me, I will read it that evening and we can move on to the next step in which we talk on the phone. Of course, you can just call me first if you want. 928-679-5400 Jeff (cell).

Let me give you an idea of what will be expected from you and what your living conditions will look like.

For individuals (Men):

A.    We are not funded by a mother church. This means that no one gets paid. We are all volunteers. We do not eat steak and drink our favorite power drinks. We eat what we can afford. There will not be money for you to go sight-seeing or making trips back home. We live on a budget.

B.    I have converted my house so that a small team can live somewhat comfortably. There can be up to three to a room – two bedrooms with full bathrooms in each. There is also a living room and a full guest bathroom. There is a washer and dryer, electricity, heat in the winter, and Internet.

C.    We work during the day except for Saturdays. We view Saturday as a Sabbath and no one works. The exception is if we are doing a VBS program. This would fall under priestly duties and most likely will only occur in June and July.

D.    Submitting to authority is essential. This is not a democracy in which the group votes. As the leader I am gentle in nature; not a dictator. But, in order that we flow together as a team, anyone who volunteers must submit to the leader.

E.     If you are an introvert, this will not be a good environment for you. If people bother you and you want to avoid them, that will be a problem. We are around people all the time and have to be friendly and outgoing.

F.     If you are addicted to your cell phone of tablet and you spend most of your time hiding out so you can go online, this might not be a good place for you. After hours is your time but during work hours cell phones should be off. If you are the type of person who sits down at a restaurant and plays with your phone instead of talking to the people who are with you, this is not the place for you. It is important that you can socially interact with others without the use of electronics.

G.    Someone once told me that there is a time and place for everything. When it is time to eat, we eat meals together. When it’s time to work, we work together.

H.    Every person who volunteers comes with skills that may be unique and add value to the team. If you are interested in working on vehicles, then you we will try and put you in charge of vehicle maintenance. If you like cooking, then you might be in charge of meal prep for the team. If you like to do puppets or skits, then that is where we will put you. We will try to match you with something you like – but, we all have to do stuff we do not like.

I.      We are not a mission organization that attempts to give you an experience. There will not be a schedule that has quite time, Bible reading time, prayer time, or sharing time. We are here to be a special ops team that works to advance the Kingdom. You should read the Bible and pray during you personal time. We will probably spend time together discussing the Word, but we are not here to oversee your relationship with God. I will spend some time each week telling you why I do what I do and what scriptures or stories from the Bible I use as a guide. I will encourage you to know the Word, but no one will judge you.

J.      Your behavior must reflect that you are a child of God. Meaning, you must be kind, avoid using curse words or filthy language. You must be careful what you do and what you say since as a missionary, you will be representing God and the mission site. We have a lot of baby Christians. As long as you are here, whatever you do and wherever you go, you must be careful about how you behave and what you say.

K.    When you first arrive, you will be on a 30-day trial period. It is a two-way street. You must decide if you can work with the team and visa-versa. If you want to stay, then I suggest committing to a year or more at a time. This means that the Kingdom comes first. For instance, during Christmas, we do a Christmas play to tell everyone about who Jesus is. If you want to go home for Christmas, then this is not putting the kingdom first. Going back home to visit occasionally is acceptable. But the Kingdom should be first in your heart; not your family and friends. This is not to say that you cannot go home for Christmas; it just means that go after the Christmas play.

L.     It has been said that captains would set their ships on fire shortly after landing in America. This was so that none of the crew would be double-minded and not committed. When things get tough, many give up. Commitment is setting your sights on something and not giving up or changing your mind. If you want to come into the mission field, you need to be committed. It is natural to want to return home to visit friends and family. But when you come here, you will not be another member of some huge organization. You will be a member of a small team that needs you. When you leave, the team will have to pick up the load.

M. When you first come to the mission site, you can do it several ways. On May 27th I will be in the Phoenix area. If you fly in on that day I can pick you up at the airport. The closest airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The mission site is about four hours from there. You could fly in and rent a car and drive to the mission. If you are unhappy and want to return home, you have a car. If you want to stay, I can go with you to return the car. If you fly in to Albuquerque, let us plan it so if I have to pick up someone else, you all come on the same day. Purchase an open return ticket because at some point you are going to want to go home.

N. It can be valuable for you to get financial support from family, friends, or even your church. You probably will not need money once at the mission site, but eventually you will want new clothes or a new phone. If you get sponsors, keep your money to yourself in a bank account. We have to function as a team so if one person has a bunch of money, the others will feel left out. Do not share how much your partners give you. When it comes time to fly home or get some dental work done, you will have money. The mission site will cover your food and we have vehicles to use.

You can make a difference here. We need individuals who can work autonomously; without someone continuously motivating them. We want those whose hearts are with the Lord. We want those who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and are not addicted to technology. We want those who know how to be respectful, kind, and outgoing.

Mission Teams

A good mission group can do incredible things. They can help bring in new children, build playgrounds and advance the Kingdom. On the other hand, bad mission groups can be devastating. They offend people, destroy property, and can cause people to leave the church. So, here are a few things that a visiting group must understand before agreeing to come:

The mission will not look like your church. That doesn’t mean that our hearts are not with the Lord. Our focus is on getting the kids to come to the site and making the mission site fun so they will return. Most of the children are not brought by parents. If the kids get offended, hurt, or if they think church is boring, then they will not return; ever. We will never get those kids back. So we have one chance. It is very difficult to keep the children coming to the site year after year. We have a fun one-hour church service for the kids followed by play time. We have hay rides, a little train, go-carts, and a water slide in the summer. We have water balloon wars and other fun activities. We attempt to show God’s love to the children. We are not rigid. We believe that the children are what is valuable; not the buildings. Jesus taught His disciples how to be fishers of men. Fishing for children requires a different type of bait. We want to make the mission site fun so kids are attracted to it. When the kids come, we tell them about Jesus. Several groups that visited were so offended by how we ran our program that they told us off and left. Visiting groups must understand why we do what we do.

In the past “Professional” mission groups attempted to give their teens and experience rather than focusing on the job at hand. I would discuss the mission site’s goals with the group leaders in advance. I would tell them we need to go out at 9 in the morning and start inviting kids in for the VBS program that day. I would watch as the groups would eat breakfast, then have Bible reading time, then prayer time, then sharing time, then time to reflect and so on. By the time they were ready, it was too late. This is one of the reasons why we do not use “Professional” mission groups anymore. Any group coming in should be ready to go. You are coming to help us accomplish something that would be very difficult without your help. Focus on the goal at hand.

Chain of command. Groups with weak leaders are often not that productive. You can tell when the group leader is a poor leader because the group is scattered and accomplishes very little. A good leader knows how to form small teams, give them specific goals, and check on them to see that they are still working. The military has this worked out perfectly. They tell the soldiers what they want them to do and how long it should take. They make sure they know how to do the task. The check back to see if everything is going to plan. And, at the end, they inspect the job to see that it was done correctly. As the leader of the mission, I do not want to take over your group. There will be times when I will need to jump in to provide guidance. In most cases, we will have a quick leaders meeting in the morning or the night before. I will give a detailed description of what we want to accomplish and how. As the leaders of your group, you will decide who will do what and you will keep an eye on them to see that everything is going to plan. From time-to-time I might talk with your group so they can have a deeper understanding of what we are doing and why.

Before you bring your group, talk with me extensively so I can convey how I do things and why. If you are not in agreement, then don’t agree to bring your group. We want our interaction to be pleasant. We do not want visitors to try and teach us or set us straight. We want those who love the Lord and can understand why we do what we do.

The primary reason to bring a group is to canvass and help us put on a VBS program for several days in a row. Groups should stay at the mission site at least from Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. If a group comes in earlier, we can either do projects or additional canvassing and ministry. Whatever you do, once you are here, focus on the mission. If you want to go site seeing, try to do it before or after. Some teams have taken their group to an amusement park on the way home.

We are really good at making VBS programs. Your team can do puppets, skits, games, and worship. We will work together. In the past we noticed that if a group did a VBS from Wednesday to Friday (But not on Saturday), the new kids would not show up on Sunday; which defeats the purpose. On the other hand, when we had the VBS program flow in to the Sunday, let’s say Thursday through Sunday, then on the next Sunday, many of the new kids would come.

What to expect: if your team stands off at a distance, then the local children will be stand-offish as well. If your team is super friendly and loving, you will be shocked at how fast the local kids connect with you. If the local kids like you they will want to connect with your kids via e-mail or some other method. I encourage this. You can go home and your team can still be ministering to the kids here. If you enjoy your visit, you might go home and think about coming every year.

Another factor that you should be ready for is meals. Visiting groups should purchase and feed their group. The mission site will not have enough funds to feed a group. But, here is something that comes up - the local kids will not likely be on the mission site in the morning before a VBS program. But, you will find some of the local kids want to hang out with your teens and they might remain on the mission site to help and join your team (If you approve of this). Invite these few kids to eat with you. Make sure you purchase enough food to cover extra kids. In the past we had a group that kicked the local kids out of the church so they could eat their lunch. The local kids stood outside, hungry, knowing they were excluded. That is not showing God’s love. You can really make a connection in some of these kid’s lives. Remember that you are representing God. Visiting groups should demonstrate love. This same group that did not want to share their food offered the mission over a thousand dollars when they left. They should have used that money for the kids instead.

Housing: We will eventually build two barracks for visiting groups. This will likely not be ready in 2026. Your group can sleep in the church. There are local hotels because there is a tourist site nearby - but the church is available. The church has a kitchen and bathrooms. We will figure out how to provide showers. We will provide cots as well.

A perfect VBS mission trip would probably be: you group arrives Wednesday and settles in. We start canvassing and doing a VBS the next day on Thursday. We finish the last VBS Sunday at 2 p.m. Your group eats lunch and then you are free. A typical day would involve canvassing before the VBS program. VBS from 11 to 1 and then your group eats lunch, rests, and prepares for the next day. Afternoons could involve additional canvassing to invite more kids for the next day. Or doing some type of work. As the leader of your group you need to figure out how to get the most out of your group without burning them out. Recreation time is good.

What to bring:
1. Bring food for your group, We have an ice machine, a kitchen with stoves and a fridge, and water purifier.
2. We supply cots, but your kids can bring air mattresses if they want. Bring a towel, toiletry kit (Shampoo, soap, comb). Bring a pillow and
sleeping bag or blanket.
3. The Arizona sun is strong so do not wear black clothing. Lighter colors - white is best. Bring hats if you want. Water bottles are a must. Shorts
are good. Some people bring sun lotion and bug spray.

Here is the most important information - before you bring your group to the mission site, have a talk with them; even the adult leaders. Remind them of the following:
1. The Navajo people are not prejudice. They look forward to VBS groups coming during the summer.
2. You are going to really enjoy the kids. The kids are desperate to connect with you - don’t be shy.
3. Do not offer to train the missionaries or the workers at the mission site. This is really offensive. Do not try to set us straight or teach us what we
are doing wrong. Be respectful to everyone at the mission. Be humble and gentle of heart.
4. Unlike a typical church, you are going to see water balloon wars and activities that are normally considered “Wrong” in city churches. Let them
know that Jeff is focused on saving the children - not the buildings. Be careful not to judge.

Once last thing…if you have a rebellious teen in your group or a “Karen”, don’t bring them. In the past we had some really good groups but they brought one person that was so bad that we had to ask that person to leave.

Our long-term goals.

Although Jeff has been a missionary since 1997, he has only recently been put in charge of the mission site. He inherited the site three years ago. Jeff’s goal is to create a mission site that can handle 1,000 children on Sundays and then reach out from there. We will be building playgrounds, fixing old vehicles, building fences, cleaning up, and other physical work. At the same time we will be doing ministry. Much like Noah built the ark in preparation for what was to come, we need to get the site ready. Once the construction is finished, we will focus all of our resources and time on outreach and ministry. We consider our area to be a circle with a radius of 29.4 miles from the mission site. Within that area are some 20,000 people. Over the next 20 years I would like to say that we invited every last person to come to Jesus. Of course it is unlikely that most will not come. But for those who do, I want to provide a place for them to learn about Jesus. This means places in nearby towns.

You can make a huge difference here. There are not too many places in which most of the people do not know who Jesus is. Help us bring in the sheep and after you leave, we will feed them and take care of them.

What are the Navajo people like?

They speak English (With the exception of the elderly). They have cell phones, satellite TV, Internet, and the youth can be addicted to texting and their cell phones. Their priorities are not the same as most Americans. They are not driven by money. Most are not goal-driven. They are friendly and are used to tourist. They drive cars and dress like people anywhere. They are laid back. They talk slower. They will not treat you different. You will fit in easily.

Whether you are an individual or someone who wants to bring in a team, either call me or e-mail me. (Jeff 928-679-5400 cell) canyonfamilychurch@gmail.com.

I would like to get to know you before we commit. This might mean several phone calls or even seeing each other in person.