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Show By the Crace of Almighty Cod The Right Reve rend Ri chard Simpson Watson, D.O. The Bishop of Utah will dedicate to the Clory of Cod the new chapel of St. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo on the Day of Purification, Wednesday the second of February Nineteen Hundred and Sixty -Six at ten o'clock in the morning Bluff, Utah 84512 Mass will be followed by a social period and refreshments in the avajo style . Christmas in Navajoland Last year many wrote to thank us for the Navajo story of the Birth of Jes us; copies are still ava ilable for the asking. This year our s tory is about a gift that lives and grows. Kii was last one to get off th e government bus which had brought th e c hildren home for a few days at Christmas. He look ed out the window. It was dark now but he would know the way to the warm hogan up against the mesa. Why, he would run most of the wa y! The dogs would bark and mother and fath e r , little brothe rs and s ister would know he had come home. The bus slowed. A light snow cove red the dirt road leading away over the desert. It' s a bright night! The moon is almost full and it's only a mile to walk. In August whe n he had walked to the bus, it was a hot, still day. Old Dibe, hi s ewe sheep, had looked up at him when he passed the herd. Then she lowe red her head and kept hunting for the little, dry blades of grass. Will Old Dibe still know me? Kii stepped down. What's thi s? Pic k-up tra cks leading to the highway. Sure ly the family will be home_ He had written a lett er to th em care of the Trading Post beginning, " Dear Mother and Father, I would like to say a nice big hello and I will be comi ng home for Christmas. _ . " As he hurri ed over the last little ri se, the re was the -hogan in the moonlight. No smoke? 0 lig ht? Why, of course, the famil y had gone to the Chri stmas party at the Chapter House_ Records would be play ing_ All would have a gift and cand y from the mi ss iona ri es a nd trade r. And that de li c ious swee t, hot c hocola te! Yes, tha t is whe re. He hadn ' t told th em what day he would be home. On to th e cold hoga n. Fi rst light the lamp. Then build the fire to a high blaze and have some cold fry bread and mutton ste w. Old Dibe, whe re was s he? He went out into the cri spy cold to the summer shade_ The re s he was loo king up at him and knowing that Kii had returned. She seemed to groan and then relax. Here, Old Dibe, come with me into the warm hogan. Kii lay against her. Her wool was soft and warm and the fire made him drowsy. He slept. Suddenl y, a meltor turned off, the door burst open' Mother and baby, Fathe r, Julia, Freddy and Tom filed through. Each had a bright toy and a sack of cand y. All shook hands. There was nothing for Kii - only those who had been th ere could receive gifts. Old Dibe looked up into Kii 's face. What? A bundle of wet wool th ere bes ide her. A little bod y! Kii tou c hed it. It moved again and he picked it up. A baby lamb. I'll call it Dibe Yazzie, littl e shee p. He held it close in his arms. It raised its eyes to hi s. His Christmas present! It was so warm . All were getting into bed. Kii lay back down with his arm around Old Dibe. His oth er hand was on thc littl e soft, white body. The lamb was at its mothe r's breast. Kii closed his eyes in sleep. Mission Portraits: Helen Sturges Even if Connecticut College for Women had offered a course in How-to-Dig-an-Irrigation-Ditch, the unlikelihood that it would have any practical value would, Helen Hope Sturges feels, have deterred her from taking it. She received her B.S. degree in 1920, proceeded to study Religious Education and Social Case Work and Fi eld Work at St. Faith's Training School at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Dr. Adelaide Case's Teachers' College and the New York School of Social Work, then launched into a career of Social Service without suspecting for a moment that there might be anything lacking in her preparation for it. After all, the problem of irrigation ditches seldom, if ever, arises in the life of an Executive Secretary and Case Worker for the Church Mission of Help in the Diocese of Connecticut, or even in that of Parish Vi sitor and R. E. Director for several Manhattan churches_ All Saints', Henry Street, didn't want one. Neither did St. Clement's in the area of Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen. And the West Indian congregation of the Church of the Crucifixion on th e edge of Harlem couldn 't have cared less_ But one day the Chairman of the Publi c ity Committee of the Church Mission of Help in the Diocese of Connecticut mention ed to the Exec utive Sec retary a nd Case Worker that he was planning to start a Mission to the avajo Indians in some out-of-the-way spot in the desert of Southeast Utah, and he sure could use ome volunteer helpers. She found herself in 1943, with four other volunteers und er Fath e r Liebl e r's leade rs hip, on the bank of the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah, with her titl e changed to Vi cePresiden t- i n -charge-of-d iggi ng -the-irri ga ti 0 n -d itch! He len has had a good many other unofficial titl es since that time. She was sc hoolteacher in Bluff for a year (after be ing ass ured that the youngs te rs lik ed her and promised not to bite her!); s he has been gardner, cook, RE teache r; she has kept the records of Births, Marriages and Deaths of the Navajo People in the Mission area; s he taught the Mission School for many years, until the Bluff Eleme ntary Sc hool was integrated . She has traveled by horse back and jeep over miles of desert trai ls. She has driven the People to church, school and hospi tal - and returned th em to th e ir homes afte rwards. She has seen the Miss ion's ups and downs and has been a tower of strength in various cri ses throughout the years. Helen has been tireless in going out, week after week during the school terms, to the outstations whe r e s he has taught R.E. classes on " releas ed tim e," sometim es with a helper, very often alone. Helen is a born sto ry tell er. Some of the most entertaining hours at the Mission have been s pe nt li stening to her devastating accounts of adventures in the Mission field. Helen and Roger -- -I - I l |