Acadia Imhof is a junior sustainability studies major. As our time at Black Mountain Mennonite comes to a close, I cannot help but reflect on how we were embraced into that community. When I first set foot there I felt a bit like I was in another world. Our first experience with members of the … Keep reading »
President Nez! Silversmithing, Pottery, Museums
The majority of our time in the Navajo Nation was spent building relationships with the Black Mountain Church community. But, we also managed to fit in a number of guest speakers, field trips, hikes and other activities. Crystalyne Curley, Senior Public Information Officer and Assistant to the President, met with us at Black Mountain Church … Keep reading »
Sami and Leta
Willa Beidler is a sophomore biochemistry major and the author of this post. This week the adventure shifted as we stayed with host families for three days. I stayed with a woman named Sami and her mother Leta. The two of them along with their three dogs lived in a development in Cottonwood, Arizona. From … Keep reading »
Goats, chickens, and sheep, oh my!
Anna Smucker is a Graphic Design major, double minoring in Music and Bible and Religion. For the past three days, I had the opportunity to stay with a host family and two other students, a couple of miles away from the church. I was pleasantly surprised from the beginning how easy the transition was from … Keep reading »
Making connections through song and prayer
Aurora Flores Avila is a sophomore nursing major with a minor in Spanish. After a late night of singing and prayer we all awoke sleepy eyed and ready for another day of church camp. The day’s activities started with breakfast at 8:00 am. We were joined by Pastor Smiley and members of the church community. … Keep reading »
Yá’at’ééh shi’kis
Meagan Gutierrez is a senior double major in English and Secondary Education. On our second day at Black Mountain Mennonite Church, a local teacher came to talk to us about her life and career. Irene Bizahaloni teaches the Navajo language at Chinle High School. What was supposed to be only about an hour lesson, turned … Keep reading »
Space and Clouds
Ben Good-Elliott is a senior physics major. As somebody from Goshen, I am used to lots of trees. While there are plenty of corn and soy fields around, in town, there are trees blocking off large portions of the sky. Mesa Verde has plenty of large mesas to block off the horizon but at the … Keep reading »
Hidden Wonders
Ben Reichenbach is a senior molecular biology major and theater minor. He wrote the following reflections from Mesa Verde. The first thing that I noticed when we entered our campsite at Mesa Verde National Park was a chorus of almost mechanical clicking sounds coming from the trees growing around our campsite. Upon further investigation to … Keep reading »
Are We There Yet?
The author of this post is Levi Glick, a senior interdisciplinary major: Our first stop was at Bethel College to hear from historian and archivist, John D. Thiesen, about the earliest anthropological study of the Hopi tribe in modern day Arizona. At the archives, we learned about the life work of H. R. Voth, an anthropologist … Keep reading »
Getting To The Navajo Nation
We left Goshen on the morning of June 16 with a 15 passenger bus, a mini van and a car packed with 18 students, 5 members of the Yoder Lind family and as many backpacks, sleeping bags, and suitcases along with other sundry things like tents, books and food for the journey. A fourteen hour … Keep reading »