Covid-19 and the Navajo Nation

Our brothers and sisters on the Navajo Nation need help. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the Nation particularly hard, according to the Rev. Norma McCabe, our Native American consultant among the Navajo churches.

One of our church members lives in Dennehotso, AZ. She and her elderly mother have health problems. They came to Bashas and were told not to come in unless they had a mask and gloves on. She asked a person who had gloves and a mask on to buy them their items. Bashas only had half of what they needed in stock. They eventually came over to the church, and I gave them masks my daughter Milinda had made. Some of our congregants live away from town so they don’t have running water nor electricity and have to come to the church to cook and shower. Others have to drive up to 60 miles round trip to grocery shop.

In addition to the supply shortages and long drives to get to a grocery, the hospitals and clinics cannot handle Covid-19 treatments and patients are being transported to Flagstaff or Albuquerque. There is a 5:00 curfew on the Nation. As I listened to Norma and others describe the situation, the notion occurred to me that they need a Marshall Plan. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the full weight of the U.S. government to enact such a plan; however, I know some Presbyterians.

The Valley congregation in Paradise Valley has stepped up, offering to take the lead in coordinating support from churches in the Phoenix metro whose members are willing to provide food, bottled water, disinfectants and other essential supplies. Through contacts at Valley, the Rev. David Joynt has secured the assistance of Shamrock Dairy to transport all donated items to four locations on the Nation from which our Presbyterian churches can distribute items to those in need. Additionally, David has secured the support of Bashas grocers to help with logistics and Wells Fargo who has agreed to give a matching grant of funds provided by Valley.

Here is how you can help. For the next two weeks, Valley’s members will receive your donations in their parking lot at 3535 E. Lincoln Drive in Paradise Valley. Church members will be present to receive and sort your donations at the following times:

Tuesday, April 21 from 9:00-12:00 a.m.

Wednesday, April 22, from 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 23, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 28, from 9:00-12:00 a.m.

Wednesday, April 29, from 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 30, from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

My request is for you to coordinate with your friends and fellow church members and deliver some of the items listed at the end of this missive. If you have been itching to get away from “shelter in place,” here is a safe, socially beneficial reason to get out and about. Let’s do this for our brothers and sisters, for together we are one Body in Christ Jesus.

Grace out,

Brad Munroe

Essential items:

·      Water

·      Face mask,  hand gloves.

·      Hand sanitizer, hand soap, shampoo/conditioner.

·      Clorox, Pine Sol, disinfect spray and wipes, air freshener.

·      Toilet paper and paper towels.

·      Dish soap and detergent soap.

Food items:

·      Flour, powdered milk, baking powder, lard (Crisco), salt.

·      Potatoes, spam, corn beef hash.

·      Can food: vegetables, any meat products, noodles, fruits, etc.

·      Pinto beans

·      Spaghetti and spaghetti sauce,

·      Macaroni and cheese, noodles, rice, mashed potato mix.

·      Vegetable oil

·      Cereal, oats, Cream of Wheat.

·      Powder juices (Tang)

·      Coffee, tea, cream, sugar.

·      Any type of can items.

Extra non perishable items:

·      Dog food and cat food

·      Batteries: D’s, AA & AAA.

·      Candles and matches

·      Light bulbs

Holy Week Amidst Covacalypse 2020 He Is (Still) Risen! Alleluia (Still)! He is risen indeed!

I am certainly not the first to note that Holy Week in the midst of Covacalypse 2020 is a bit surreal. We want and we will walk the journey that follows in the footsteps of Jesus: from Palm Sunday “Hosannas” to sacred remembrance in the Upper Room, from shouts of “Crucify!” to an empty tomb. So Holy Week this year is exactly the same as it has always been, only completely different.

More poignant will be our Maundy Thursday remembrance that celebrates our community, as we long to be together again, embracing one another in whatever ways will be appropriate as our new normal emerges. With greater clarity of our fundamental interconnectedness as humanity, we will remember Jesus’ new command: Love one another.

More profound will be our Good Friday immersion into the sin and brokenness of this world—sin that endangers and destroys, brokenness whose folly overwhelms medical systems and cripples public health. When we hear Jesus’ cry, “It is finished!” how many of us will connect it to current events and wonder, “When that will be?”

More problematic will be our Easter celebrations that long for the light and airy beauty of lilies and little girls in bright dresses and little boys in bow ties as together we sing “Jesus Christ is Risen today! Alleluia!” Though we might note the congruence between the empty tomb and our empty churches, and though we might be have a deeper appreciation for the angel’s words, “He is not here…He is going on ahead of you…Go, tell his disciples,” these are cold comforts from the warmth of our homes, which feels weird—it’s like we’re in exile in our own homes.

This is not the first time the people of God have been in exile. Beginning with Abraham and Sarah leaving their home in Ur, to Joseph bringing his brothers and his father Isaac to Egypt, to the Israelites being shackled and drug to Assyria, to the Judeans being forced into Babylon, to the Jews of Jesus’ day under Roman rule, to the earliest Christians fleeing to Antioch to avoid persecution, God’s people have discovered the Psalmist’s truth:

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139)

The Holy One in whom we have put our trust will not begin to fail us on our about April 9, 2020 but will be with us in our journeys, wherever we go: to our couch and to our kitchen, to our porch and to our patios. If we go to the bedroom, the Lord is there. If we hide from family in the bathroom, the Lord is there. If we seek human contact in a grocery store, even there God’s hand will guide us, God’s right hand will hold us fast.

So, yeah, Holy Week this year is exactly the same, only completely different. Let’s make the best of it and remember both who we are and also, more importantly, whose we are.

Grace out,

Brad Munroe

P.S. Join me in celebrating Easter with ALL Presbyterians from around the nation (and perhaps the world) by logging into the church-wide Easter service led by Diane Moffett, Cindy Kohlmann, and J. Herbert Nelson (https://www.pcusa.org/easter-worship-service/). This is a BOTH/AND invitation: attend BOTH your local congregation’s Easter service AND our church-wide service. What? Do you have somewhere else you need to be?