I volunteered in 1988 as a classroom teacher on the Navajo Reservation (The Res), at St. Michael’s Association for Special Education (SMASE), in St. Michaels, AZ. I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer with six other Mercy Volunteers and we resided in two trailers in Fort Defiance, AZ, all of us volunteering at SMASE in a variety of capacities. The landscape and beautiful vista led to many sunset walks, especially stunning with the red mountains surrounding us. God’s beauty and creation is so evident in the natural world and in the faces and interactions at SMASE and in my MVC community.

One of the most meaningful experiences was when the classroom assistants began teaching me some words in the Navajo language. Up until this point, the classroom assistants would only speak Navajo to one another and rarely spoke to me at all. Later, they had shared with me that at that time many volunteers from other organizations would leave quite early in their volunteer commitment. The assistants wanted to make sure I was staying around before trusting me. I felt honored by their acceptance and thrilled to have earned their trust!

I also loved the opportunity to create and benefit from the creation of prayer by my community mates, again, as varied as each individual and we set aside an evening each week for this practice. If I were to encourage new volunteers in any capacity, it would be to be patient with yourself and your community. Also, work to create the kind of relationships with your community to support one another in the three charisms of MVC: prayer, service and community. This was life changing for me in the way our community supported one another, not only in enacting the charisms, but also in leaning into them as well.

This was all quite a long time ago, much longer than many of our current and upcoming volunteers have been on this planet! I went on to teach one more year, once I returned east and then got a master’s degree in counseling. I have worked in two agencies doing community counseling and at the local community college as counselor and academic advisor. Since 2018, I have had a small counseling practice working primarily with clients who are recovering from trauma. I am forever grateful to MVC for allowing me to explore myself and other experiences that have contributed to my faith and my profession which go hand in hand.

Diane McHirella Elliot: Arizona Alum