Our Mission
Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission
How it Started
More than sixty-five years ago, Lutheran Christian missionaries arrived in Rock Point, AZ, a remote, isolated village near the Four Corners area where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. They were leased 5 acres of land on which to build the Mission. The original goals stated on the lease included starting a medical center, a mechanic shop, a radio station and a Christian boarding school. The very first building on this land was a combined church, clinic and two apartments built in early 1954.
Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission
Rock Point Mission Today
Today Rock Point has a gas station and convenience store, a laundromat and post office, high school, a chapter house and senior center –and 2000 people living on the land in family clans. Food and medical services are still more than 50 miles away, and general shopping is 115 miles away in New Mexico.
The Mission campus includes Navajo Mission Preparatory School, a K-2 private Christian school, a clinic operated by Tachiinii Nursing Services, Inc. home healthcare services, and an ELCA congregation, House of Prayer.
At the Mission, the Navajo people learn to see themselves and the church as the guiding light – but not the whole show. There are other components of the Mission (like our school, clinic, cultural center, water project, and food bank) which demonstrate our commitment to love one another.
What we do and how we assist the community is the practice of our faith in daily life. We believe this is the teaching of Jesus that holds us in the right relationship with our neighbors.
Help Us Continue Our Ministry of Love and Care
We believe that love and care create community, and we are committed to partnership with the Navajo people in our ministry of caring for one another.