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What ever the case, we would love to hear from you, your experience, and your preparation in reaching out to the 1,200 tribes of the Americas.

Tell us your expectations. Tell us what God showed you through the experience. Tell us about the people and the new discoveries you made in relationships.

In short, tell us your story…

Today is the 60th year of the National Day of Prayer.  People will take this day and pray personally and corporately for our country, nation, and leaders on all levels.

Prayer is a vital part among the Native First Nations peoples as well.  Today CHIEF wants to encourage you to pray .  May we suggest you begin by acknowledging the true character that God is. Secondly, concede how far away we may be from Him. Thirdly, thank him, for ways He has revealed himself to you, and lastly, share your concerns and needs to Him.

We want to encourage you to post your prayer requests, today.  How can we pray for your Nation?  How can we pray for your leaders?  How can we pray for the social issues of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas?

Be sure and view  the CHIEF Prayer Quarterly which gives more specifics requests for 31 days.  CLICK HERE

Whenever expressing thanks is in order—but not done—it may produce a literal break in relationship. This failure alone may cause diminishing support. One church I know of drops missionaries from the budget if they don’t hear from them. Donors may discontinue support to those who do not respond with gratitude for their giving. Aside from hearing that the gift was received, supporters need to be commended for their partnership in ministry. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a great example of this, expressing thanks to God and their church for the gifts sent to him. Paul thanks God, commends the Philippians, and expresses his commitment to them, while also taking time to speak words of life to build them up.

You may wonder if I’m always great at this? No! Even as I write, I’m experiencing “conviction nudges” about several recent special gifts I need to acknowledge, affirming the timeliness of their check, and the way in which God used their generosity to encourage and strengthen me. The more we understand the role of thankfulness in our life in Christ, the more sensitive we become to His nudges for “right responses.” The importance of expressing thanks came home to me in a painful way recently. One person to whom I had gone out of my way to be kind and give gifts to gave little acknowledgment to my generosity. Then I had the opportunity to do similarly to someone else who immediately and graciously acknowledged my gift. What a difference that made to my gift-giving experience! It made me want to give more to the grateful person, while I found myself pulling back from the one who seemed to expect me to give to them, and with little thanks expressed.

A gift, whether small or large, deserves a personal thank you (not every ongoing monthly gift needs this, but first-time or single gifts certainly do). A quick response of appreciation, whether by phone, email, or personal note, will be a special encouragement to those who have blessed you. Ask the Lord for words of affirmation, so you’re not only conveying thankfulness, but also building up the other person.

Yes, expressing thanks is both an art and a skill. It requires listening and responding to the Lord, while also having tools (thank you cards, etc.) on hand to communicate gratitude and encouragement in a very practical way. May the Lord help each of us to “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:18-19)

Visit their website: Excellent Resource!

You can well imagine the thoughts in Kathleen’s and my head. And the accompanying emotions of the heart. The next twenty seconds seemed like an eternity — as we waited for the news.

Then the police officer smiled – which seemed really strange. Like he forgot protocol. It seemed like the place and time where the director of this episode should holler, “Cut!”

Then the officer said, “Well I know Trevor. I had him do some log work on our house. He told me his parents lived in this area. And since I’m patrolling this area now I am just stopping in to tell you what a great son you have.”

It’s a funny feeling — a feeling of tremendous relief, but still feeling like you want to hit somebody. I resisted the latter. And reveled in the former.

I’m convinced that police officer had the best intentions. However, his communication skills could use a bit of work. That “bit of work” would include considering these questions: How does what I say come across to the listener? Can I predict that the listener will accurately interpret my message?

A Visit From the Missionary: A couple is working in their yard (in Alaska, or Yakutia, or Canada or South Africa – it doesn’t matter much where). They look up to see a person approaching. As the person approaches them, he says, “Hello. Nice evening. I’m here to tell you that God loves you. And He has a wonderful plan for your life.”

What is the couple to think? What does the speaker think they think? Or does he know? Or does he care? The fact of the matter is that it matters much. What concept of God already exists in the couple’s world? Would the Yakutian know what God you are talking about? Would the Alaskan have a pre-conceived concept of God that matches the speakers? Would the South African have a syncretistic view of God already firmly planted in his thinking? If the couple were to “accept Jesus” on the spot, what “Jesus” would they be accepting? And where would they fit him into their already-existing way of thinking?

Bottom line: Good communication involves more than just speaking. It involves listening, relating, and being able to predict the understanding of one’s words by the hearer(s). Even (or may I be permitted to say, especially) the proclamation of the Gospel requires such attention.

Perhaps you can share some similar experiences you may have faced.  We would love to hear from you!

Mike Matthews: Coordinator of Ministries to First Nations Peoples for Worldview Resource Group.

Since 1976 Mike Matthews has worked in Alaska, Canada, and Siberia in various cross-cultural ministry roles – church planter, Bible teacher, curriculum developer, field director, and church planting consultant. Mike is a PhD student in religious studies. He coordinates Worldview Resource Group’s training with agencies that work with First Nations peoples. He and his wife, Kathleen, live in Spokane, Washington, where they enjoy gardening and spending time in nature. They have four children and six grandchildren.

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.

One of the very proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans” and for three years they adopted such a day. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.

The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.

The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.

In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, under variants on the name (including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.

Theme for this year’s heritage month is “Pride in Our Heritage. Honor to Our Ancestors .”

Crisis is often that which leads people to seek comfort. Some turn to alcohol and drugs during this time. Others grow bitter instead of better. Yet it seems all have deep underlying questions about God during this time. Where is he? Why me? It is how we respond to these questions that lead us to form new core beliefs out of which arise our feelings and actions.

We have been teaching God’s truths from the Bible for the stages of grief, loss and pain to help replace Satan’s lies that often steal, kill and destroy lives. (John 10:10) One of the reservations we visited shared with us about an 11 year old girl who hung herself after being molested. Her family had told her after being molested “you’ll get over it.” Yet those who come for help to our classes are struggling with losses and pain that is not only fresh but happened years ago as well. The wife of a traditional medicine man was willing to walk into the church we were at for the first time because of her anger and inability to cry for two years since her grandson was shot to death. A reservation pastor shared that we don’t like to have them come do suicide prevention classes here anymore because suicide cases always rise after they have been here. Programs like this and drug and alcohol education focus on the symptoms of grief, loss and pain rather than the solution. Even a tribal Women’s Coalition shared with us that victims don’t come to services for domestic violence because of the shame related to how they are coping with their loss and pain.

Yet the response we have found to the help we have offered for the underlying causes of their suffering is making a difference. It brings understanding of God’s plan of HOPE for us. What are you seeing among Native peoples regarding grief, pain and loss and the process of healing taking place in your communities? How can we pray for you in your ministry to the brokeness in our world? What words of encouragement have been healing to you from God’s Word?

WE SHALL REMAIN presents America through Native eyes. The provocative five-part television series from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE shows how Native peoples resisted expulsion from their lands and fought the extinction of their culture — from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement.

Episode 3: The Trail of Tears is airing Monday, Nov. 1.

The Cherokee would call it Nu-No-Du-Na-Tlo-Hi-Lu, “The Trail Where They Cried.” On May 26, 1838, federal troops forced thousands of Cherokee from their homes in the Southeastern United States, driving them toward Indian Territory in Eastern Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the way.

For years the Cherokee had resisted removal from their land in every way they knew. Convinced that white America rejected Native Americans because they were “savages,” Cherokee leaders established a republic with a European-style legislature and legal system. Many Cherokee became Christian and adopted westernized education for their children. Their visionary principal chief, John Ross, would even take the Cherokee case to the Supreme Court, where he won a crucial recognition of tribal sovereignty that still resonates.

Though in the end the Cherokee embrace of “civilization” and their landmark legal victory proved no match for white land hunger and military power, the Cherokee people were able, with characteristic ingenuity, to build a new life in Oklahoma, far from the land that had sustained them for generations.
Watch FilmAbout the FilmCast & CrewBehind the ScenesBuy the DVD…

 

We welcome your thoughts and questions in this cultural forum regarding the series.

 

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What might be the issue of most interest or concern when speaking of First Nations/Native Americans?

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