|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
A Conversation with Robert Francis of Mid American Indian Fellowships What is Mid American Indian Fellowships? Mid American Indian Fellowships is a basically a network of fellowship groups in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas made up of people seeking to follow Jesus in the context of American Indian cultures. Through Mid American Indian Fellowships, Creator is birthing truly American Indian expressions of the Jesus Way. How does contextual ministry differ from other approaches? The simplest definition of contextual ministry is ministry done within the culture of the people. That being said, I have to admit that the term "contextual ministry" means different things to different people. These differences tend to lie within variant understandings of culture and variant understandings of the nature and work of the person Christians refer to as Jesus Christ. When I speak of "culture," I don’t mean "pop-culture" or "counter-culture" or "fine-arts culture" or "The Culture" (as if there’s only one) against which Christian people across the country are called to engagement each and every Sunday. When I speak of "culture," I mean everything that sets a group apart as a people, essentially defining who they are. For indigenous peoples such as American Indians, culture connects the people to God or Creator, to one another, to the land and to all of creation. In this understanding, culture cannot be seen as a tool to be used or discarded at whim. Rather, culture is seen as a gift from Creator to the people and a gift from the people to Creator. How do you see God working in the Mid American Indian Fellowships currently? Those whose eyes have been blinded by racist ideologies and the resultant self-hatred are now able to see the love Creator has for us. Those whose legs have been cut out from under them by oppression are able to walk with the strength Creator gives us. Those who have been diseased with the unresolved grief, deep sadness, hopelessness and despair that come with being survivors of genocide are cleansed by the touch of Creator who understands our heartaches and accepts us as we are. Those whose ears have been deafened by the noise of multitudes presuming to speak for God are now able to hear the still, small voice of Creator who speaks directly to each of us. Those who have died to any real relationship with Creator or creation, their own people and their own land, are raised to life again by Creator who wants abundant life for all of us. To the poor, to those who have been stripped of everything and left as marginal people, remnants of what they once were, good news is proclaimed. MAIF’s summer newsletter highlights a planned Cultural Immersion & Restoration Center. Tell us more about that. Declaring the purpose and scope of his own ministry, Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Luke 4:18-19). The Jewish people of Jesus’ day were a colonized people; just as we Indian people today are colonized. What Jesus read that day amounts to a powerful statement of decolonization and restoration. That’s why it was so controversial. It was controversial then. It’s still controversial today. This whole statement is often spiritualized, but Jesus didn’t come as a disembodied spirit. Jesus’ purpose, for his people, for all peoples, is decolonization and restoration. The Bible speaks of a vision in which innumerable people of every ethnicity, every tribe, every people, every language, are centering on Creator and Creator-Son and saying "Salvation belongs to our God" (Revelation 7:9-10). We follow Jesus, and this is the direction in which Jesus is leading us. Jesus is actively working to decolonize and restore the indigenous peoples of this land: the Indian peoples. We are honored to be called alongside to help. The proposal is for a land-based center for indigenous cultural immersion and restoration. We are in the process now of looking for sources of funding. It will not be easy. We will focus on balancing and restoring the People in relationship to Creator and Land through immersion in and restoration of the major aspects of indigenous culture which include Language; Oral Tradition; Ceremonies and sustainable, culturally relevant Agriculture. Please don’t misunderstand by assuming we want to reclaim life as it was before the European invasion. All cultures are dynamic. All cultures borrow, learn from and trade with their neighbors. When this is done peacefully, it is good, with each culture, each people group being free to make their own choices. When one culture imposes its ways on other cultures, this is not good. Every culture, each people has a God-given right to be. Creator-Son is leading us forward to restoration of culture and renewal of life. |
Giving to CBF of
Missouri:
|
|
