I'm a Texan. And for us Texans, "Remember the Alamo" is a significant phrase. It calls to mind those great men who held fast for thirteen days before succumbing to Santa Anna's army in the defining battle for Texas' independence. After this week, however, the phrase has taken on for me a new meaning.
I write this after only recently returning from the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation, about 30 miles north of Magdalena, New Mexico. It is an isolated place -- about 60 miles from the nearest Walmart and 260 miles from the main Navajo Reservation. Described in some sources as America's most impoverished reservation, its people are, for the most part, a gentle people. And simple. Things many cannot live without, the Alamo Navajo have never known. Yet despite the isolation and poverty, as a community they work hard to assure a better life for those coming behind them.
Well last week I spent five days among them, in support of a mission team from Oakshade Baptist Church, Cleveland, Texas. While the team led VBS and performed community service projects, I worked to foster relationships with the members of Alamo Baptist Church. I discovered a pastor, Jonathan Vicente, who truly has a heart for Jesus, and many wonderful church members continuing a work that has been in place since President Teddy Roosevelt gave the land for the church in 1913.
The heroes of the Alamo fought for 13 days to assure Texas' freedom. But the heroes of the Alamo Navajo have served faithfully for 95 years in order for their people to know freedom from sin. Pray for them. Pray for pastor Jonathan as he leads the church past a series of recent issues. Pray that God would raise up partners to help them become all that He wants them to be. And pray for me: that God would grant me wisdom to help this church as they continue to represent Christ. Remember the Alamo!
To His Glory!
Bro. Jim
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2 comments:
Bro. Jim,
Nice to see your comments about Alamo. My parents were Mission Service Corps Missionaries for the Southern Baptist Convention from 1967 to 1974, based in Magdalena. Consequently, I attended school in Magdalena from 1st through 7th grades, before we moved back home to Alabama.
The people of Alamo will always hold a special place in my heart. Last year (2007), I took my wife and daughter to New Mexico to see some of the area where I grew up, but we were on a tight schedule for travel, and though we spent the better part of a day in Magdalena, I didn't get to take them to Alamo. I want to do that the next time we come back. I remember my father leading the singing at Alamo for the preacher, Bro. Denny Apachito. I remember that service went on for hours...it seems the Navajo Indians have their own sense of time.
My parents are Ray and Joyce Reed. They are still around, having retired and now living in Brent, Alabama. My siblings are Lucy and Martin Reed. Lucy lives in Pelham, Alabama, and my brother went to be with Jesus nine years after we moved back home to Alabama.
Keep up the great work you are doing. I will lift you in my prayers.
Blessings,
Rev. David Reed
Pastor (Bivocational), Underwood Baptist Church, Montevallo, Alabama (Since 1998)
revdavidreed@bellsouth.net
Bro. Jim,
In reference to my initial post on your blog, I should also add that my father also served in several other capacities while we were out there. He served as Interim Pastor at FBC Magdalena for about a year, as well as Interim Pastor at Reserve for a period of time. He taught school at Magdalena HS, and worked in the summers for the US Forest Service at the Magdalena Ranger Station. Mom also worked as a Secretary at the Ranger Station.
In my first reply to your blog, I also mentioned a service that my father helped with at Alamo. It was a Christmas service. I remember that it seemed to go on for several hours, and they tacked a traditional Navajo wedding ceremony on to the end of it! I think it was around 1969 or 1970, the best I can remember. Daddy remembers it well. Brother Denny Apachito would preach a while, and then look at my father and say, "You sing." He'd lead a couple of songs, and then Brother Denny would preach about thirty more minutes. Then he'd look at my father and say, "You sing more." This cycle repeated itself several times, and then the wedding followed! It was quite funny to me as a child of about 9 or 10 years old.
The last four years we were there, Daddy served as Pastor at Datil Baptist. I was privileged to take my wife and daughter to worship there in August of 2007, when we were traveling through the area. We met Brother Kenny Vance, and there is still one lady there, Mavis Perdue, who was there when we moved away. She and my mother were very close. I thought she was going to squeeze the stuffing out of me when I told her who I was! It was good to see that part of the country again, as well as the people.
When we first moved to Magdalena, the Associational Missionary was Ray McKinney. As I recall, he was a pilot, and had a small plane he used to get around the area, as his territory was quite spread out. I'm thinking that he had both the Mountain and Western Associations when we were there, as well. I think he's gone to be with the Lord now, if I am not mistaken. I last saw him in 1981 when I returned to New Mexico as a Student Summer Missionary for the SBC Home Mission Board. Though I was assigned to the Navajo Lake State Park area, I did get to see him at orientation in Albuquerque.
I look forward to returning once again with my wife and daughter sometime in the future. Getting vacation time away from work is a challenge, but when I can get it, we like to do things as a family. My wife is a cancer survivor, and we are just about to the five-year mark. We don't take anything for granted anymore. She had been wanting to go out west to see some of the country where we lived as I grew up, so we finally decided to make it happen last year.
Sorry if it seems as if I am rambling...I'm writing this on a break at work...I work overnights as a Correctional Officer in a Juvenile Detention Facility in suburban Birmingham, Alabama.
Again, please know that I am praying for your valuable work there. I found your website on a "Google" search while my mind was fixed on our trip last year. Though I enjoyed the time I lived there, I sure was glad to get back to Alabama. Yet, New Mexico will always hold a special place in my heart.
Blessings,
Rev. David Reed
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