You Are Loved

JULY 17, 2023   |   4 MINUTE READ
LAURA ARNOTT, BECKY DARFUS, USA: SOUTHWEST MINISTRIES

You are loved.
You were created with a purpose.
Your life has value.

This is the message missionaries Darin and Laura Arnott and Doug and Becky Darfus want Native American children and youth to hear.

Through consistent investment into their lives, we speak Jesus over them, trusting the Lord will imprint this message on their hearts. We are passionate about children’s ministries because we believe the children are the next generation of believers in communities. They will be the next pastors, community leaders, and influencers in the years to come.

The Arnotts and Darfi invest in the lives of Native American youth through their children's ministries.

Here are three of the ways the Arnotts and the Darfi (as they call themselves) are investing in the lives of Native American children and youth. 

Thriving ministry moves into a new space
Laura Arnott

In a small village on the south side of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Darin and I have a ministry focused on investing in people’s lives, building godly character, and bringing the truth of Christ to see lives transformed for the better.

We do this through weekly church services, compassionate ministries such as food distribution, children’s Sunday school class, midweek adult discipleship classes, and children enrichment programming. While midweek adult discipleship classes have been going strong for several years under Darin’s leadership, midweek children and youth programming had been a dream of mine for some time. With growing attendance and enrichment programming opportunities, we knew we needed a larger, more effective children’s ministry center for, as I affectionately call them, “my children.”

The idea of enrichment nights came from the desire to minister wholistically in the lives of children. Our desire is that they would know how loved by the Father they are, that God created them with a perfect plan and purpose for their lives, and that their lives have great value. We hope that by bringing enriching academic opportunities tied with biblical life applications, the children will continue to grow in their faith, as well as character, that will carry through their entire lives.

The children's classroom has undergone a huge transformation from beginning (left) to end (right).

It has been an amazing transformation that we have seen in the last nine months. The old children’s classroom was literally falling apart at the seams following an especially hard monsoon season in 2021. We knew it was time to expand and move into a space better designed for the next step of children and youth ministry.

The new ministry center began as a shell, without electric, plumbing, or interior walls. It took a lot of work by the church congregation and several mission teams to transform this building into a space bustling with children, but we are so glad it is now fully functional and only lacking a few finishing touches.

We knew it was an ambitious goal, but by prayer and perseverance, God brought it into being! The children’s ministry center now has an area designated for large group learning. We also included a kitchenette to be used for cooking activities and snack preparation. The children especially enjoy the game room and art room used for crafts and games. We are thankful to be moved into the new space and are especially grateful for the Lord’s provisions for bringing the dream of a new children’s ministry center into reality.

Doug (left) and Darin (right) lead training to help churches reach children and youth.

It’s more than a shoebox

New partnerships often provide new opportunities. In our case, partnering with Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child (OCC) as the Southwest Native American District team provide us, along with the Darfi and Pastor Felix Juan, with resources to train Native American churches to reach children and youth in their communities.

While people typically think of the United States as a country that solely packs and sends boxes, parts of Native America also receive OCC shoeboxes and resources. OCC has several Native American regions across the U.S., with teams like ours working in Native American communities.

We love the fact that Operation Christmas Child is a program operated by local churches. It isn’t an outsider coming in and taking over, but instead provides churches the resources and training to reach youth and children in their community. All the materials are provided free of charge by OCC and are distributed to participating churches. The material is well laid out and user friendly. We find it especially effective for churches who may not have current children’s programming. At one local church we worked with last year, they were able to add a children’s ministry into their church where there wasn’t one before. The training combined with the resources can really set churches up for success.

Camp is another opportunity to invest in the lives of the Native American youth.

New location, new opportunities
Becky Darfus

In September 2021, Southwest Indian Ministries camps moved from Peoria, Arizona, to Prescott, Arizona. Gone from the camp scenery are the Saguaro cacti and the 100-degree temperatures. New to the scene are pine trees and cooler temperatures. While the new location brought along obstacles like transporting the group 96 extra miles to Prescott, it has also brought the joy of seeing the smiles on campers’ faces when they master new challenges like rock climbing, zip-lining, and learning how to steer a kayak.

Doug and I took over as camp directors in 2020, during the Covid lockdown. Once the lockdown was lifted, camps began again in 2021. While a major part of camps used to be summer camps, the focus has changed to six weekend camps throughout the calendar year. Elementary camps are held in March, June, and September, and teen camps are held in April, July, and October. It is nice to be able to see campers more often throughout the year, and it also helps with relationship building. It is an absolute joy to see these precious young people become more familiar with the Bible. We praise God when they answer questions showing their comprehension of what is being discussed.

At one teen camp weekend, we were thrilled when one of the teens stepped forward to lead her small group when there wasn’t an adult leader available. It is these glimpses of how God is working in their lives that fill our hearts with joy and encourage us to keep pressing on.

ACTION STEPS

PRAY: Would you please pray for these ministries? The Native American people need to know, as we all do, that true freedom is found in God, the Creator of all things. Please pray these precious people realize they are loved by God, they were created for a purpose, and their lives have value. Pray they come to church, camp, or OCC events with ears and hearts open to hear God speaking.

Your prayers make a difference!

GO: Have a heart for children’s or youth ministry? We’d love to have you come to Arizona and be part of what God’s doing here, whether for a week, a year, or somewhere in between! Let us know you’re interested, and we’ll follow up with you to help you say yes to God’s call!

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