Native American Camp Meeting

Native American Camp Meeting (NACM) is a very special time of year. It is a time of gathering, camaraderie, spiritual uplifting, and renewal. Holbrook Indian School (HIS) has been blessed to be the host site for this beautiful event for our brothers and sisters three years running. One of the most important people who spearheads this event is Pastor Dale Wolcott. We are thankful to him for his dedication and passion in his role as director of Arizona Conference Native American Ministries.

This year’s featured speakers were Bill Payne, associate director of Voice of Prophecy Ministries; Dennis Bizahalani, retired lay pastor; and Tamara Peshlakai, licensed clinical social worker. Attendees also had the added blessing of listening to the Melashenko Family Singers on Sabbath afternoon. “Jesus Calls Us” was this year’s theme, and it is clear that Jesus indeed called each of these individuals to share His word, hope, and gospel through speech and music. 

The most special time of Native American Camp Meeting is when attendees stand up to share their testimony. Not everyone who attends is from the Seventh-day Adventist faith, and it is a beautiful thing to hear how Christians from other denominations learned about Native American Camp Meeting.

 A woman named Elizabeth shared that Pastor Wolcott crossed paths with her and talked to her about Native American Camp Meeting. Wolcott shared the NACM brochure with her and invited her to attend the event. Elizabeth, who is a Baptist, shared about her heartbreak when she heard the news that our student, Kiarra Gordon, her distance niece, was killed in the bus accident of August 2022. She had reached out to Kiarra’s mom and extended family, who told her that HIS had planted a tree in honor of Kiarra’s memory. Elizabeth made sure to take a picture of it while she was here. At the end of her testimony, she sang the hymn “Amazing Grace” in Navajo for all who were there. She was very grateful for the invitation to attend NACM.

Another woman by the name of Sally shared that she had been a student of HIS back in the day. She told us that she had learned a lot while she was at HIS, especially about Jesus and God. She asked for prayers for her husband, Gary, that he would return to the Adventist faith and to God. Sally was also grateful for the opportunity to attend NACM, and at the end of her testimony, Pastor Wolcott asked if he could pray for her husband with everyone there. We bowed our heads and pleaded with the Father on Gary’s behalf.

So many heartwarming stories were shared with us during testimony time at NACM that there simply isn’t enough space in one article to share the depths of each life story told. It was very clear that, in conjunction with this year’s theme, each person who spoke or attended Native American Camp Meeting was called to be there—be it in service or to offer their testimony of hope. We thank God for the opportunity to continue opening our campus for this blessed event and pray that we will be able to do so for years to come.