Kate Adelman: A Future with Hózhó

Living in Harmony: A Future with Hózhó

Your Navajo Lutheran Mission buzzes with good work that benefits the community around us. Every day, we work hard and long so that our students thrive, the hungry are fed, food is plentifully distributed, fresh water flows freely, our business dealings are honest, and the talented staff that makes it all happen are well trained and fairly compensated.

In, with, and under it all is an even higher calling; good work for the sake of justice. It is up to us to practice the difference between ‘power within’ and ‘power over.’ Blessed with resources and generous donors, the Mission’s potential is enormous…and we have the equally enormous challenge to listen for the true need, consider consequences before we act, serve without dominating, love unconditionally.

We operate in a ‘what if’ mode. What if the people who come to the Mission could find refuge from the social, political, economic, and authoritarian systems that oppress? What if we became an outpost where Native people could experience freedom and opportunity in equal proportion to their human brothers and sisters, as the scriptures teach? What if the Mission’s vision ignited a movement and the world around us began to utterly change?

Changing the image of Navajo Lutheran Mission is not a dream for the future but a reality for today. Out of necessity, we face oppression, injustice, abuse, violence and intolerance every day. So do you, if you think about it. Our best work is the hard work of ensuring that our words and deeds are consistently, honestly, and faithfully loving, in the manner of Jesus.

—  Kate Adelman, Executive Director and Pastor