Ever been Wooly Riding?  I haven't, but I watched about 30 youngsters doing it 3 weeks ago while I was in Gallup for my lamb project.   Following my ministry partner back to his church after leaving the sheep ranch, we stopped off at the local feed store to purchase some hay for his horses.   When we arrived at the feed store, there were so many people there that our curiosity was instantly aroused.  While my ministry partner purchased the hay, my team walked to the back of the parking lot to check out what was happening.  What a surprise when we saw about 30 kids ages 7 and under waiting around for their turn to ride around an arena on the back of a sheep, just like real rodeo riders. 

 

We had so much fun watching those youngsters, some riding all the way to the rear of the arena on their sheep and others instantly falling to the ground as their sheep jumped out of the chute.  When we got ready to leave, we looked around for my ministry partner to see if he was ready to go.  We couldn't find him at first but then spotted him on the bleachers with a Navajo family.  He introduced us to them when we approached......the great grandmother of the family being a member of his church.  One of her great grandsons was Wooly Riding that day, so we decided to stay and watch.  Just before her grandson mounted his ride, I snapped a couple of pictures of him and then got another picture while he was riding in the arena. 

 

When his ride was over, I showed the family his pictures.  They were ecstatic that I had gotten pictures of him, so I told them I would mail them copies when I returned home.  His grandma scribbled out her address on a piece of paper for me and off we went.  When I returned home, the first thing I did was run off those pictures and stuck them in the mail to the Navajo family of the Wooly Rider.

 

A few days later I received a "Thank You" email from the grandmother saying that the whole family really enjoyed the pictures of her grandson and that receiving them had "made their Mother's Day."   Then she asked me to tell her about my ministry with AIM, as she went to

a local baptist church in Gallup and was interested in missions.  I sent off an email telling her all about AIM and asked her if she would be interested in meeting with me the next time I was in Gallup, to which she instantly replied, "Yes."

 

I just returned from my meeting with her here in Gallup.  She was so interested in helping me staff a project this summer on the rez.  She said she wanted to stay in the area and minister "to her own people" because of all the suffering around her.  She wants to tell them that there is hope to be found in a relationship with Jesus.  She wants to share what she has found........that the answer to all the heartache on the rez is simply.....Jesus!  She knows because she has suffered so much heartache herself......4 deaths in the last couple of months, with the hardest being her 29 year old son who committed suicide.  She told me that Jesus is what has kept her going through all of the pain.  Jesus is bringing her hope.  Jesus is walking beside her.  Jesus is her comfort.

 

Just before I left her home, she told me that our meeting at Wooly Riding was not an accident, it was from God.  AIM was exactly what she had been praying for.  Who would have thought, a Divine Appointment at Wooly Riding? 

 

My heart soars again, as I see my ministry philosophy being carried out through this Godly woman.  A ministry philosophy of raising up American Indians who will take the gospel back to their own people.  I am oh, so humbled that God would allow me to be a part of this precious Navajo woman's journey of bringing the hope of Jesus to her own people!  To God Be The Glory!