2022 Testimonies
2022 Wen Li

I have never been on a missions trip before. I lost my husband Manny Ma in a beach accident at the end of 2021. I was broken by grief. During my recovery, I visited my sister in New Jersey and attended a local church that was hosting their Annual Missions Conference. There were many missionaries presenting their works and their stories. I was inspired. I prayed to God to restore me, use me, and specifically to send me to a short-term missions trip. God heard my prayer. My friend from Grace Chinese Alliance Church in New York connected me to PaLM’s 2022 STM to the Navajo Reservation. I went with a heavy heart and came back transformed and filled with joy. Great is God’s faithfulness.
I had the privilege of learning a lot from my leader Pastor Howard Chan, and all of our 18 teammates. Our team’s mission was to have the Vacation Bible Study (VBS) in Little Black Spot Mountain.
The place where we slept is called Navajo Gospel Mission in Hardrock. It used to be a compound for missionaries. We spent many memorable hours together there: group devotions in the morning, cooking big meals for the team and a few Navajo friends, and living in the “Big House” with no air conditioning at triple digit desert temperature. We even named the little mouse 🐁 “明仔”, “Boy Ming” that traps were set out for. Pastor Howard set a great example of being a humble servant. He got up early each morning to make us bacon and eggs. When we saw “Boy Ming”, we would tell Howard, and he would come to take care of it. The image of him kneeing down to take care the mouse dropping reminded me how Jesus washed disciples’ feet.
The unobstructed view of the sunrise at Hardrock is so amazing. The morning clouds in the sky are new every day. Every morning, I would get up at 5:30 and rushed out to watch the change of the sky. Two days before Manny’s birthday, I told my roommate Dr Eng that I wanted to see a sign that Manny is ok. I wish to see some horses. Sure enough, on that day, I met two horses at sunrise. They came to the compound’s basketball court, the very place I was standing to watch the sunrise. The horses remained calm allowing me to approach them for pictures as they searched for and ate their grass. God uses His glorious creation to assure me that I am resting in the shadow of the Almighty.
The Little Black Spot Mountain Church is about 30 min dirt road drive from Hardrock. Each morning, we packed all of our teaching materials and water bottles and headed out. Some of the teammates would come later with a big meal to share with all the VBS goers. The church is currently inactive. When I saw that, I had my doubts. “Where are the Navajos’? The church building is so desolate!” I was so disappointed. However, day by day, the VBS goers kept coming and increasing. They were mostly grandmas with their grandkids. These grandmas grew up here joining the VBS each year. Their children were also the former VBS participants. Now, they brought their children’s children to VBS. Pastor Howard had been coming here for 30 years. He seems to know all the Navajo people and their families, and they love him. The children (and adults) love the music, craft, activities and least to say, our delicious food designed by Linda Yen-Woo. I was assigned to teach K-1st grade. They were very respectful, very eager to learn and very engaged. They are bundles of energized bunnies, love outdoor activities and climbing rocks. At the end of the VBS, we witnessed 9 children and young adults accepted Jesus as their personal savior, and 4 of them publicly baptized by Pastor Greg Woo
God never stop working in this land and in the midst of Navajo People. Church is not defined by a building. Church is these Jesus’ followers. Praise God!! I have made many wonderful friends during this memorable missions trip. They are my teammates and have supported me during my journey of recovery. Praise God for giving me this opportunity to rejuvenate my love for Jesus and my love for others.
Wen Li from Boise Idaho
I had the privilege of learning a lot from my leader Pastor Howard Chan, and all of our 18 teammates. Our team’s mission was to have the Vacation Bible Study (VBS) in Little Black Spot Mountain.
The place where we slept is called Navajo Gospel Mission in Hardrock. It used to be a compound for missionaries. We spent many memorable hours together there: group devotions in the morning, cooking big meals for the team and a few Navajo friends, and living in the “Big House” with no air conditioning at triple digit desert temperature. We even named the little mouse 🐁 “明仔”, “Boy Ming” that traps were set out for. Pastor Howard set a great example of being a humble servant. He got up early each morning to make us bacon and eggs. When we saw “Boy Ming”, we would tell Howard, and he would come to take care of it. The image of him kneeing down to take care the mouse dropping reminded me how Jesus washed disciples’ feet.
The unobstructed view of the sunrise at Hardrock is so amazing. The morning clouds in the sky are new every day. Every morning, I would get up at 5:30 and rushed out to watch the change of the sky. Two days before Manny’s birthday, I told my roommate Dr Eng that I wanted to see a sign that Manny is ok. I wish to see some horses. Sure enough, on that day, I met two horses at sunrise. They came to the compound’s basketball court, the very place I was standing to watch the sunrise. The horses remained calm allowing me to approach them for pictures as they searched for and ate their grass. God uses His glorious creation to assure me that I am resting in the shadow of the Almighty.
The Little Black Spot Mountain Church is about 30 min dirt road drive from Hardrock. Each morning, we packed all of our teaching materials and water bottles and headed out. Some of the teammates would come later with a big meal to share with all the VBS goers. The church is currently inactive. When I saw that, I had my doubts. “Where are the Navajos’? The church building is so desolate!” I was so disappointed. However, day by day, the VBS goers kept coming and increasing. They were mostly grandmas with their grandkids. These grandmas grew up here joining the VBS each year. Their children were also the former VBS participants. Now, they brought their children’s children to VBS. Pastor Howard had been coming here for 30 years. He seems to know all the Navajo people and their families, and they love him. The children (and adults) love the music, craft, activities and least to say, our delicious food designed by Linda Yen-Woo. I was assigned to teach K-1st grade. They were very respectful, very eager to learn and very engaged. They are bundles of energized bunnies, love outdoor activities and climbing rocks. At the end of the VBS, we witnessed 9 children and young adults accepted Jesus as their personal savior, and 4 of them publicly baptized by Pastor Greg Woo
God never stop working in this land and in the midst of Navajo People. Church is not defined by a building. Church is these Jesus’ followers. Praise God!! I have made many wonderful friends during this memorable missions trip. They are my teammates and have supported me during my journey of recovery. Praise God for giving me this opportunity to rejuvenate my love for Jesus and my love for others.
Wen Li from Boise Idaho
2022 Linda Woo

It is with great pleasure that I am writing this testimony because the mission trip to Navajo Nation Reservation was amazing beyond expectations. Firstly, I want to confess that the main reason that prompted me to sign up for the mission trip with Palm this year was due to my husband, Greg, being sick this past year. When I found out that he would be traveling to high-altitude mountains and desert areas in the middle of summer, I was very worried if he would be able to survive there. So, I decided to come and help out with anything that he might need. We also decided that the mission trip would be a good learning experience for our 10-year-old daughter as well. After some prayer, I felt that this is what God wanted our family to do.
Before the trip even began, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. We had to attend 3 full-day training sessions, planned for the bible study lessons (5 lessons total). I also had to plan the menu, print out recipes, and make shopping lists for all of the meals because I was assigned as Chief Cook for the team. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I was willing to take on whatever role and job God wanted me to take. I kept reminding myself that God would be my strength and He would give me the abilities that I needed to accomplish the tasks. During the training sessions, I met the other team members for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised at how warm and genuine everyone was. There was an older lady, named Elaine, who was blind and has to walk with a guide dog. I was amazed at how she was able to go on the mission trip for many years with this condition and had such a positive attitude about life. She was an inspiration to me and my husband. Suddenly, all of the challenges that we faced seemed small compared to what she had to overcome.
Once we got to the Little Black Spot Mountain Church and the mission compound where we stayed, we faced many other challenges such as the extremely hot weather (over 110 degrees), the high altitude, swarm of flies that made it harder to cook. The church was filled with dog feces and had to be cleaned up. Bats flew around us and mice ran around in the dormitory. We drove through the long and unpaved roads to get to the church every day. Our mission team was responsible to cook lunch for all of the VBS attendees as well as dinner for our whole team of 18 (plus extra for some visitors). Even though we all rotated to cook and clean each day, not everyone had experience with cooking, not to mention cooking a large meal for over 60 people, I stayed with each cooking team for each meal to ensure that everything went smoothly and helped out as much as possible. It was very intense and a great amount of hard work to cook for so many people in a short amount of time (usually around 2 hours). Due to the high altitude, all of the food took longer to cook. Thankfully no one got sick from the food, and we made enough food for everybody. Looking back, it was a miracle from God that we were able to accomplish all of these things with the limited number of abilities and resources that we had.
Even though we were all inexperienced and did not have much to offer, God was able to use us for His purposes and multiply our abilities to do greater things.
One of the biggest challenges in trying to share the gospel with the native Navajo people was that their culture was very much connected with worshipping idols. To ask them to accept Jesus and stop worshipping other spirits was almost like asking them to give up their identities and go against their families. Their ancestors had suffered so many injustices from the “white people” that oppressed them and tried to eradicate their culture that they have become skeptical when someone asks them to accept the “white people’s religion.”
During the first day of the VBS class with the group of junior high school girls, they told me about the things that the white people did to their people and how they felt that they were being asked to give up their cultural identities if they accepted Christianity. This was an eye-opener for me to their feelings and culture. Growing up in mainstream America and attending public schools, I was never taught about the injustices that the American people have done to the Native Americans. I could only imagine what their people had to endure and tried to empathize with them as much as possible. I explained to them that God’s love is perfect and never intended for there to be so much pain and suffering in this world. The people who commit sins and injustices did not represent who God is. I told them about God’s love and His son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save us from our sins.
Through the lessons each day I could see that their attitudes slowly changed and were asking a lot of questions about God. On the second to the last day of our VBS, Pastor Greg came over to our group and casually asked if anyone would like to accept Jesus as their savior and be baptized. To my surprise, four of the six girls raised their hands! I was not expecting any of them to accept Jesus because of what they had told me on the first day. I had been praying for these girls before our trip and also during the trip, and I know that a lot of our supporters back home in NY were also praying for our trip. It was so amazing to see how God softened their hearts and lead them to Himself.
Our God is really a faithful and merciful God who loves us and listens to our prayers. Even though I had been so busy and tired each day on the trip, sleeping only 6 hours each day (sometimes even less), God gave me enough strength and energy to accomplish each task that I had to do. He also let me see the fruit of our labor in the changed hearts of the Navajo people. Although I had been tired physically, my heart was filled with so much joy and a sense of fulfillment in serving God. I am thankful to God for allowing me the opportunity to serve Him on the mission trip so that I could experience His power and wonders. I also am thankful to all of the members of our team who worked hard alongside me without complaints, praying and encouraging me when I felt discouraged. Finally, to those who are hesitant and have fears about serving on a mission trip, I would like to encourage you to take the leap of faith and go where God leads. You will see God’s amazing power and find yourself growing so much through the experiences.
Before the trip even began, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. We had to attend 3 full-day training sessions, planned for the bible study lessons (5 lessons total). I also had to plan the menu, print out recipes, and make shopping lists for all of the meals because I was assigned as Chief Cook for the team. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I was willing to take on whatever role and job God wanted me to take. I kept reminding myself that God would be my strength and He would give me the abilities that I needed to accomplish the tasks. During the training sessions, I met the other team members for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised at how warm and genuine everyone was. There was an older lady, named Elaine, who was blind and has to walk with a guide dog. I was amazed at how she was able to go on the mission trip for many years with this condition and had such a positive attitude about life. She was an inspiration to me and my husband. Suddenly, all of the challenges that we faced seemed small compared to what she had to overcome.
Once we got to the Little Black Spot Mountain Church and the mission compound where we stayed, we faced many other challenges such as the extremely hot weather (over 110 degrees), the high altitude, swarm of flies that made it harder to cook. The church was filled with dog feces and had to be cleaned up. Bats flew around us and mice ran around in the dormitory. We drove through the long and unpaved roads to get to the church every day. Our mission team was responsible to cook lunch for all of the VBS attendees as well as dinner for our whole team of 18 (plus extra for some visitors). Even though we all rotated to cook and clean each day, not everyone had experience with cooking, not to mention cooking a large meal for over 60 people, I stayed with each cooking team for each meal to ensure that everything went smoothly and helped out as much as possible. It was very intense and a great amount of hard work to cook for so many people in a short amount of time (usually around 2 hours). Due to the high altitude, all of the food took longer to cook. Thankfully no one got sick from the food, and we made enough food for everybody. Looking back, it was a miracle from God that we were able to accomplish all of these things with the limited number of abilities and resources that we had.
Even though we were all inexperienced and did not have much to offer, God was able to use us for His purposes and multiply our abilities to do greater things.
One of the biggest challenges in trying to share the gospel with the native Navajo people was that their culture was very much connected with worshipping idols. To ask them to accept Jesus and stop worshipping other spirits was almost like asking them to give up their identities and go against their families. Their ancestors had suffered so many injustices from the “white people” that oppressed them and tried to eradicate their culture that they have become skeptical when someone asks them to accept the “white people’s religion.”
During the first day of the VBS class with the group of junior high school girls, they told me about the things that the white people did to their people and how they felt that they were being asked to give up their cultural identities if they accepted Christianity. This was an eye-opener for me to their feelings and culture. Growing up in mainstream America and attending public schools, I was never taught about the injustices that the American people have done to the Native Americans. I could only imagine what their people had to endure and tried to empathize with them as much as possible. I explained to them that God’s love is perfect and never intended for there to be so much pain and suffering in this world. The people who commit sins and injustices did not represent who God is. I told them about God’s love and His son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save us from our sins.
Through the lessons each day I could see that their attitudes slowly changed and were asking a lot of questions about God. On the second to the last day of our VBS, Pastor Greg came over to our group and casually asked if anyone would like to accept Jesus as their savior and be baptized. To my surprise, four of the six girls raised their hands! I was not expecting any of them to accept Jesus because of what they had told me on the first day. I had been praying for these girls before our trip and also during the trip, and I know that a lot of our supporters back home in NY were also praying for our trip. It was so amazing to see how God softened their hearts and lead them to Himself.
Our God is really a faithful and merciful God who loves us and listens to our prayers. Even though I had been so busy and tired each day on the trip, sleeping only 6 hours each day (sometimes even less), God gave me enough strength and energy to accomplish each task that I had to do. He also let me see the fruit of our labor in the changed hearts of the Navajo people. Although I had been tired physically, my heart was filled with so much joy and a sense of fulfillment in serving God. I am thankful to God for allowing me the opportunity to serve Him on the mission trip so that I could experience His power and wonders. I also am thankful to all of the members of our team who worked hard alongside me without complaints, praying and encouraging me when I felt discouraged. Finally, to those who are hesitant and have fears about serving on a mission trip, I would like to encourage you to take the leap of faith and go where God leads. You will see God’s amazing power and find yourself growing so much through the experiences.