09/29/2024
Silencing Skin-Walkers.
At Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School, where Allison taught horsemanship, she learned about a unique and deep-rooted fear among her Navajo students. One evening, as she was whistling happily through the dusk, a student named Kai interrupted her sharply.
"Stop right now!" Kai exclaimed, her voice edged with fear.
Allison, taken aback, paused. “Why?” she asked, bemused. She had always enjoyed whistling, whether in the dark or light, and didn’t see the harm in it.
Kai’s eyes darted around nervously. “In my culture, whistling in the dark can invite skin-walkers,” she whispered. The words seemed to send a chill through the air. Allison listened closely as Kai explained that, in Navajo belief, a skin-walker was a sinister witch, capable of transforming into animals or even possessing them. They were beings of dark power, lurking in the night.
Allison smiled gently, sensing the deep fear in Kai’s voice. “God is much more powerful than any skin-walker,” she said confidently. “If you’re on His team, you have nothing to fear.”
Kai hesitated but was comforted by Allison’s calm. When she realized that being with God meant safety, she stopped being afraid.
But Kai wasn’t the only student who harbored fears of skin-walkers. Fifteen-year-old Enola, another of Allison’s students, always brought a friend with her when she had to go to the school barn in the dark to care for her horse. Enola was terrified of being alone at night, but Allison understood and allowed her to bring a companion as long as it didn’t slow her down.
One morning, however, Enola made an unexpected announcement.
“I went to the barn by myself last night,” she said proudly.
Allison blinked in surprise. “You didn’t take anyone with you?”
“No,” Enola said, a bit sassy in her reply.
“Weren’t you scared of the dark?” Allison asked, curious about the sudden shift in behavior.
Enola shrugged. “Of course I was! That’s why I always take someone with me.”
Allison pressed further. “Were you scared last night?”
“Yes, but I kind of wanted to see if anything would happen,” Enola admitted.
“What do you mean by that?” Allison asked, trying to understand.
“Well, being in the dark around here feels dangerous. That’s when the skin-walkers come out.”
Realizing that Enola had been struggling with the same fears as Kai, Allison leaned in. “And…?”
“And… nothing happened!” Enola exclaimed, a note of triumph in her voice.
“Of course not!” Allison replied with a smile.
But Enola wasn’t done. “No, you don’t get it. They almost got me once before,” she confessed, “but then I realized how silly I was being. Why would they get me here?”
Curious, Allison encouraged her to continue. “Tell me more.”
Enola grinned sheepishly. “Well, I’ve always felt safe here at the school, like nothing can touch me. Sometimes I even joke with myself, thinking, ‘If I stand with one foot inside the school gate and one foot outside, could they get half of me?’” She chuckled at her own joke.
Allison smiled back, grateful that Enola was beginning to understand the power of God’s protection. Holbrook’s campus, nestled in the heart of Arizona, had become a place where God’s presence was felt, where even the students—once scared of the dark and the mysterious dangers they believed it held—were starting to trust in His strength.
Enola’s brave decision to face the night alone had become an opportunity for God to show her that His protection was real, even in the places where shadows seemed to hold ancient fears. For Allison, it was yet another reminder that this school was a true mission field. “This is a mission for sure,” she reflected, knowing that God was at work.
Thanks to the support of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings, schools like Holbrook could continue to provide a safe haven where students, like Kai and Enola, could overcome their fears and learn to trust in something greater than the shadows of the night.
