Supporters Gather to Honor Rehoboth

More than 40 people associated in one way or another with Rehoboth Christian School gathered recently to share memories and tell stories of the Christian Reformed Church’s nearly 110-year involvement and ministry with the Navajo people at the school in northwest New Mexico.

Rehoboth supporters and former volunteers also came together at the Prince Center on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., to celebrate the publication of the colorful, coffee-table book Rehoboth, A Place For Us: An Album of Family Stories by author James Schaap.

"I'm grateful to see so many people here today who invested their lives among the Navajo people," said Art Bosscher, who worked in maintenance at the school for 80 years.

Former teachers, dormitory monitors, and others shared what they did at Rehoboth and what it meant to them.

"What we're talking about is God’s story told through people such as us," said Charlie Bosscher, who attended school for many years at Rehoboth. His father is Art Bosscher.

"I was a minority among the students, but they made me feel welcome, and I made many friends," said Bosscher.

Others spoke of what it meant for them to volunteer at the school or teach at the school or to, in the early years, give nickels in their CRC Sunday schools to help “our Indian cousins.”

The cover of Schaap's book features a rainbow dropping down from the sky, shining heavenly light onto the school.

But the book itself, containing the stories of 12 families, makes it clear that the CRC's ministry has not always been bright and shiny and has been, in fact, counterproductive, if not detrimental , at times.

"We have made mistakes," said Ron Polinder, former executive director of the school. In the new book itself, Polinder writes in the Foreword, "In hindsight, we recognize the paternalism we brought to our mission. Certainly, we thought the native people would be thrilled that we have come to teach them . . . while we hope we were worthy of our calling as educators, we learned more from the Native people than they did from us."

While acknowledging the mistakes in an interview before his talk at the Prince Center, he said that the CRC has remained committed for more than a century to working with the people at Rehoboth. The church has never abandoned its "calling to the area," which is an example of God’s amazing grace at work.

Polinder helped author James Schaap to identify families to feature in the book and also helped to connect him with them. "To ask them for their stories was not something you do cheaply. It was an enormous privilege that they were willing to trust us with their stories . . . So often white people have come down there and not really tried to get to know them for the wonderful, loving, faithful people that they are."

Schaap, who was not at the event on November 20, will be in Grand Rapids from November 27-28 to meet with Rehoboth supporters and to speak at churches. He will be available to sign copies of the book on Saturday, November 27, from 3 to 4 pm at the Prince Center on the east side of the Calvin College campus. The book Rehoboth, A Place for Us can be purchased there at that time. On November 28, Schaap will give a message on “Amazing Grace” at the 5 p.m. service at Woodlawn CRC, which meets in the Calvin College Chapel. All are invited. Doing the book, Schaap said, taught him first-hand the significance of the ministry performed by the CRC among Native Americans in New Mexico.

"If one does any study whatsoever of denominational ministries on U. S. reservations or Canadian reserves, my guess is that finding a successful one that has lasted for 100 years—and one which has basically stayed in the same hands of a single, small denomination—would be difficult," said Schaap in an email interview.

Schaap is the author of more than 20 books and countless short stories. He is a professor of English at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.

The 12 families featured in the book met at Rehoboth recently to celebrate the publication of the book by Faith Alive Christian Resources, the publishing agency of the CRC. Many exchanged copies of the book and had friends and family members sign their names under photos in the book.

Jim Schaap said in his blog that the warm connections he felt at the event that night made him feel as if he was experiencing part of heaven here on earth.

In getting to know Navajo students and their families over the years, said Polinder, he has had the chance “to learn the beauty and texture of these people and their lives.”

But he had to be willing to set aside preconceived notions and things he’d been taught and to sit at the feet of these families, listening as they slowly opened up to him. Only in this way could they become trusted friends.

"These folks have been part of our CRC story since 1896 [when the missionaries first arrived] and I'm sorry to say that they are still on the margins of the church," said Polinder. "We haven’t listened and learned from them the many things that we could. These people have deep faith even given the reality of pain in their lives . . . Native Americans can teach us so much how to live through the pains of life."

Still, the CRC has persisted in its work, readjusting its approach as it has moved forward, and people such as himself, said Polinder, have been richly blessed by the chance to learn more about the Native culture and approach to life.

Over the course of more than a century of outreach work to the Navajo, said Polinder, "God, in his grace and good providence, saw fit to bless the work of his stumbling servants."