In the former lumber town of Navajo, New Mexico, CUI cross-cultural ministry 毕业生蒂姆·诺顿和他的家人在极度贫困的纳瓦霍族担任牧师, social problems and great cultural and natural beauty. With the help of Concordia University Irvine teams and interns, 诺顿带领山谷路德教会的牧者们将福音的恢复信息带到保留地.
“让我坚持下去的是看到人们从死亡到生命的转变，”他说. “这里有很多人还没有以个人和深刻的方式听到福音.”
诺顿最近获得了康考迪亚大学欧文分校的2021年大使命奖.
“It was quite an honor to get this award,” he says. “It came out of the clear blue sky.”
诺顿一家住在盖洛普，距离他们的传教地以南一小时路程. The church, founded in 1969, 20世纪90年代，木材工厂关闭，这座小镇只有2万人口,000 on “a pretty depressed track,” says Norton. Ninety percent unemployment is common, 几乎每个会众都受到家庭暴力等问题的影响, drug and alcohol abuse, or sexual abuse. 当诺顿夫妇2013年来到这里时，教堂已经缩小到只有一个家庭.
Today, it counts 35 baptized members, and the people gather multiple times a week to worship the Lord, hear the Word of God preached, and grow together in love. 会议通常以共同用餐结束，其中包括纳瓦霍人最喜欢的煎面包, stew with hominy, chicken, and mutton stew with corn.
Many members are not from a Christian background. 住在这条路上的一对夫妇带着他们的孩子参观了教堂. Both parents had suffered traumatic experiences as children, and their lifestyle reflected that brokenness. 他们住在一起，没有结婚，家里的人酗酒.
After getting to know them, 诺顿鼓励他们结婚，作为一种共同迈向完整的方式. They did, 现在他们的孩子都在教堂接受了洗礼，成为了“小福音传道者”，邀请他们的邻居来参加. The father texted Norton recently to say, “Praise the Lord for life, for my family and for sobriety, and for your part in all that, too.”
‘You’re asking too many questions’
在保留区建造教堂的速度要慢一些，更有关系，这是需要学习的. 诺顿的第一个方法——问很多问题——失败了. “(西方人)通过收集信息、上网搜索、上大学来学习，”诺顿说. “这就是我处理社区情况的方式，问很多问题.”
He soon learned that the people he served didn't like that.
This is where God wanted us. We could see how our experiences molded us for ministry here.
“They wanted me to just observe, to not be so nosy,” he says. 有一天，教会里一位年长的女士告诉他，纠正了他, “You’re asking too many questions. You need to just observe.”
“一开始我想，不然我怎么能理解任何事情?” Norton recalls with a laugh. “Then I understood what she meant. She was saying, that’s not the way we learn. We learn by observing.”
今天，诺顿可以用纳瓦霍语交谈，但还不能用这种复杂的语言讲道. 但由于他的家族之前的召唤，他能说一口流利的法语和一门西非语言.
New Mexico via Africa
The Nortons’ missionary journey began in Guinea, West Africa, where they served as missionaries to a Muslim-majority people. 蒂姆用外语进行广播布道和布道, and believed he would serve in Guinea for the rest of his life.
“在几内亚，你必须相信自己是在播种，”他说. “你坚持下去，相信主会使用它，即使你没有立即看到一堆东西.”
But he and his wife began to notice that their son, Philip, 不太善于交际，对计划的意外改变等事情很难应付. 检查显示他患有自闭症，诺顿夫妇觉得最好还是回到美国.S. “to help him get his feet underneath him,” Tim says. Today, Philip, 19, is a freshman at CU Nebraska and thriving, as is his sister, a high school junior in Gallup. But leaving Guinea caused Tim to grieve. “It was very hard to let that go,” he says.
Believing they would transition to ministry to Muslims in the U.S., 2011年，蒂姆进入波士顿的戈登-康维尔神学院(Gordon-Conwell Seminary)学习，并获得了伊斯兰研究方向的宣教和传福音硕士学位. But the Lord didn’t open doors in that direction.
诺顿承认“当下一个电话来自路德教会印度事工会(lms的一个服务组织)，邀请他来这里服务时，他感到非常困惑,” he says. “I was like, ‘Huh? This is way different. I don’t think so.’”
但在参观和祈祷之后，他说，“这就是上帝想要我们去的地方。. “We could see how our experiences molded us for ministry here.”
‘Fun-loving people’
Navajo is scenic, and perfect for Tim’s love of hiking, 但他更深层的满足感来自于与人的联系.
“The Navajos are an easygoing, fun-loving people,” he says. “They love to joke and laugh. 很多人都有“坚忍的本地人”的刻板印象，但事实并非如此. They are always cracking jokes.”
诺顿说，纳瓦霍人的家庭观念比美国社会普遍更强烈. 他们与大家庭成员保持着深厚的友谊, 把长辈和孩子视为自己最重要的资源.
“The elders pass on wisdom from previous generations, and children are their hope for future generations,” Norton says.
The Navajo also take a while to warm up to newcomers, made trickier by the near-absence of public gathering places.
我们尽我们所能去了解他们，爱他们，圣灵就会为我们打开这扇门.
诺顿回忆道:“我刚到这里的时候，这里没有餐馆，也没有供人们闲逛的地方. “The way to get to know people is privately. They have to invite you into their homes. 你不可能只是在咖啡店闲逛，然后注意到新顾客.”
当人们开始邀请诺顿一家到家里做客时，真正的社区开始了. 2013年，为了加强他的跨文化理解，Tim进入了CUI Cross-cultural Ministry Center, earning an MA in Theology in 2017.
“It was great,” he says. “I enjoyed the professors and really enjoyed my classmates. 他们是来自不同种族背景的优秀人士——一个来自中国，另一个来自埃塞俄比亚. I loved every minute of it. I still keep in touch with them.”
Norton’s connection with fellow-student Jonathan Ruehs ’95, MA ’15, who is now a professor at Concordia, 让蒂姆邀请了来自欧文康考迪亚大学的短期学生宣教团队来他的教会服侍. Two teams of Concordia University Irvine students, and three student summer interns, have blessed the Nortons’ efforts. One such intern, Owen Duncan ’20, is returning for his third summer with the Nortons this year, between academic sessions at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Duncan lives in the parsonage on the church grounds, builds relationships with people nearby, 并指导任务团队，帮助运营假期圣经学校项目，并做其他有价值的当地工作.
“VBS is a great ministry for the church,” Duncan says. “因为这个项目，很多家庭开始来教堂.”
邓肯说，诺顿“真的很喜欢这里的人，也很喜欢这个事工. He has a great sense of humor and is very practical. 他给我灌输了这样一个观念:任务看起来就像人们在交谈, making friends, being available and sharing the gospel as it happens. It’s relational.”
诺顿夫妇的女儿将与保留地的孩子们一起前往康考迪亚大学欧文分校参加周末的活动 Crosswise Institute this year. 在诺顿所做的所有工作中，“真正的目的是与人分享耶稣，”蒂姆说. “We just try to meet people where they are at, get to know them and love them as best we can, and the Holy Spirit opens the doors.”