J-O-Y: House of Joy

This spring break I had the chance to go on a mission trip with 18 other students from Western to the beautiful Black Mesa, Arizona. Black Mesa is the home of the Navajo Indians and we experienced life as Navajos for 6 days. It is hard to put this trip into words...I have never felt so loved, so accepted and most of all, so JOYFUL. We worked with an incredible organization called Experience Mission on 4 different house projects including dry walling, roofing, painting, and tiling. We organized kids clubs where we spent time with the Navajo children, coloring, playing games, running around, and building unforgettable relationships with beautiful and joyful children that reminded us of the simple excitement of tossing a kickball back and forth for hours on end.

In Black Mesa, I was cold, covered in dirt, snowed on, unable to shower, and physically exhausted..But also in Black Mesa, I experienced an energy and a joy that is so undescribable that I can only continue to use the word JOY to explain it. The church that was our home for the week was called "House of Joy". There is no name that would fit it better. The people we encountered greeted us with love, and open arms..Instantly we were a part of the family.

Throughout the week our team read from Romans 12 that says "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others". I never imagined that at the end of the week, we would not just be a team of 19 students from Bellingham WA, we would be a whole body of Christ that included Navajo Indians, their beautiful children, and The House of Joy. Our lives were changed.

That week, we filled The House of Joy with our stories, music, new friendships, prayers, tears, laughter, and hands that worked for God. That week, God filled our team with an absolutely unforgettable love for strangers who became our brothers and sisters.

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You're beautiful