Partnering with JOM

AYM is excited to be partnering with the Johnson O'Malley Program (JOM), which is a grant-funded program which provides supplemental services specifically for Native educational purposes. Recently, JOM put on a Native American Education conference that some of the AYM staff were able to volunteer at and attend, in attendance also were local high school students and teachers. There was a class offered about the dangers of meth use. Marissa attended this class and really got a lot out of it. She found out that Navajo county (which we are in) is #2 in the nation for meth abuse among high schoolers. This has just motivated us to pray that the kids that we minister to are not ensnared in this deadly trap. Also, there were workshops offered for Native American cooking (yum), Apache culture, and "the Power of Vision". One class worked with three teams of students all day the first day to create three filmed public service announcements. The students helped direct, act and script the short announcements which turned out really good. Overall, we really enjoyed the classes offered and went away feeling like we knew a little bit more about Native American life and culture.

Calling All Warriors!

A major ingredient that makes our ministry successful is the time that we spend with our students building meaningful relationships. After relationships are started we immediately look for ways to grow them both spiritually and in ways that will empower them to be productive citizens. We spend countless hours scheming plans to intentionally make this happen. This July our staff will be traveling with our students over to Missouri to partnered with On Eagles Wings. They host a summer conference for Native youth called the Warrior Leadership Summit. The mission of the conference aligns well with ours…to equip and empower Native youth to make a difference in their lives for Jesus Christ. This conference is a great opportunity for White Mountain Apache youth from Apache Youth Ministries to network and build relationships in a Christian environment with other Native youth. One of our students, Millie Lavendar, says,” I love meeting someone from a different tribe who’s also a Christian.” The youth have opportunities to be a part of large group praise and worship and attend seminars and workshops (battle councils) on issues related to Native America. Another one of our students that has attended is Angie Cody. She told me,” I love the battle councils…you go to a building and pick a class of your choice. You learn about issues and a Christian perspective to those issues.” She stated that her favorite part of the conference were the times of worship when youth would surrender themselves to the Lord.

On the lighter side, youth have fun through daily recreation times where various athletic tournaments are held, including basketball, skateboarding, volleyball, water games, and floor hockey, etc. This conference also provides them with the opportunity to hear from respected Native Christian elders and learn from their stories of hope and faith in Jesus Christ.

Immediately after the annual Warrior Leadership Summit conference, On Eagles' Wings takes ministry teams of Native American and First Nations young people onto reservations across North America through the month of July. This outreach ministry is called "Seasons of Hope" and has been used by God to bring healing and hope to many people. A few of White Mountain Apache youth from AYM have been apart of these ministry teams!

It costs students $200 to attend the conference (food, lodging, fuel, etc.) The students are expected to be a part of fundraisers and work to raise money for the trip. Some, however, could be a little short of their goal. If you are able to sponsor one of our student to attend this year please contact us as soon as possible. Please pray that this would be an amazing personal experience for our staff and students!