I would like to join and be worthy of this callenge. Please!
Welcome, it's good to have you.
I want to return to the topic of reaching the indigenous peoples for Christ. It is an issue that greatly upsets and troubles me. I refuse to accept the reasons why this issue is so widely ignored in the majority of Christian churches. I did bring this up in the Witness forum here, but I have only received two responses since I opened the thread on May 5th. The next two paragraphs is part of what I wrote in response to one reply.
Since the coming of Columbus in 1492, tens of millions of North American Indians have died due to sickness, slavery, massacres, and extermination. The European missionaries looked at Native Spirituality as a worthless superstition inspired by Satan. And for those not slaughtered many were forcibly converted to Christianity. In the last century, NDN spiritual leaders ran the risk of jail sentences of up to 30 years for simply practicing their rituals. But in 1978, this came to an end when the Freedom of Religion Act was passed.
As you can imagine, Christianity is not well received among many NDNs. But seems to me that the majority of churches have already abandoned the souls of unsaved NDNs anyway. Perhaps these churches feel that such a task is an unworthy cause, a waste of time, energy and money to reach the indigenous peoples for Christ. These churches will send their missionaries across the sea to witness to remote villages in the jungle or to Hindus, Buddhists or Muslims, but they will not send their missionaries to an NDN reservation (no matter what the distance). Why is that?
That is the end of my response.
That is a good question. It is sad that churches do that.
Good morning,
God is a good God and He is helping all people no matter what ethicinity they may be. I am Apache and I am German.
Happy Mother's Day everyone
kris~
Welcome, it's good to have you too.
Lord God, help us to get a vision of spiritwind's yearning. Give us just a small piece of her dream to bring Jesus Christ to the NDN Population.
I know that I have a large vision for the homeless and for addicts in my county. Other people do not catch my vision; they misunderstand my passion and walk away saying that I am crazy. But I must! I must carry out this dream God has given me! A shelter/halfway house is needed, and God will provide.
In the same way, spiritwinds spirit is alive with the dream and vision she has for her people to receive Christ. We must lay down our misunderstanding and our apathy and catch the dream. We must pray with her for God's will to be done. For that....my friends....is what Jesus would do.
Dear God, bring spiritwinds prayers to fruition. Bring workers, Holy Spirit anoited workers to bring the gospel to all peoples, especially Native American Indians in all of United States. In Jesus name, Amen.
I am tired of being ignored, disregarded, or shunned for the burning compassion I feel toward all indigenous peoples and their eternal souls. And I am tired of the excuses, the laziness, and the lack of concern for their eternal souls by the majority of Christian churches. There is no excuse for this.
No there isn't
In so many words, I was told that my efforts were futile and my compassion misguided and wasted. And that I needed to focus on a more 'worthy' cause.
That's just wrong. As was mentioned before, in a way, take encouragement from this, satan doesn't attack those that he doesn't see as a threat. So, keep on threatening him.
Welcome AwhMissSunshine and krisMusik. I'm glad you are both here.
Like Christianna, I'm also thankful for spiritwind's compassion and fire. We all have different areas of ministry and different giftings, yet we all serve the same Jesus.
I've never prayed for NDN's before today, yet I've been moved to tears in American History Classes, when I heard the true stories like "The Trail of Tears" and the stories of Native American children being sent to "boarding schools" to change them into white men. They were torn from their families; there was sickness and death; and it was solely wrong. Sometimes I think there is no way that the Indians can be repaid except through us sharing the Great Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
There is no way to repay for what has been done in the past. Yet we CAN be moved to compassion TODAY. We can do something TODAY. We can pray, act, and move according to the Holy Spirit's leading.
JESUS REIGNS
King of Kings, let's pray unto Him.
I'm in the same boat a bit, and fully agree with you.
It has been more than just one someone. Because I am not full-blooded Cherokee and Choctaw, I have been looked down on by many white Christians and by even more NDNs. I have been shunned by many white people for having NDN blood, and shunned by more NDNs for having white skin. Many times I feel like I do not belong on either side. So, the path that God has put me on has been difficult and an inner struggle for me, to say the least. I have walked away from it many times before, only to be led right back to it in time. The 'drumbeat' running through my veins that he has placed there only increases in volume as he speaks to me through my dreams, and through NDN music and culture.
That is hard, I will keep you in prayer.
Many people will tell you lies, sister.
satan does not like what you are doing and will try to stop you!
Don't listen - God is with you, and it is He who vindicates and upholds you. And He will answer your prayers.
Your zeal and compassion are beautiful - don't listen to those who disparage you.
Praying for you!
I mentioned before on how God spoke to me through NDN music. I wanted to share one of those songs here. Please watch the video Praise Him by
CLICKING HERE.
Thank you for sharing
Vindicate me, Lord, because I have lived with integrity and have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
For your faithful love is before my eyes, and I live by Your truth.
I do not sit with the worthless or associate with hypocrites.
I hate a crowd of evildoers, and I do not sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence and go arount Your altar, Lord, raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about Your wonderful works.
Lord, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
Do not destroy me along with the sinners, or my life along with men of bloodshed in whose hands are evil schemes, and whose right hands are filled with bribes.
But I live with integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground; I will praise the Lord in the assemblies."
Psalm 26 1-12
People persecute unfairly; but God prevails. I wrote a long story here of my present trial, but I pressed the wrong button and it was erased. So I came back and put this scripture to encourage you instead.
Jesus told us that they hated Him; and that we should expect that they (that don't follow Him) would hate us too. But be strong and take His peace, for He is with you.
Evil wrong button.
but great scripture.
thank you
Hey all, I'm back again. I want to tell you all, the seven hour trip that I was dreading turned out to be one of the best things that could possibly happen to me. On it, I ended up spending a lot more time studying God's Word than I ever have in one day before. I got to the point where I was enjoying reading the Bible. I'm not telling you guys all this to boast about what I've done, but to boast about what God's doing.
I feel so much closer to God now and I spent even more time with God on the way back. I was greatly challenged in my faith. I've found that my definition of faith was completely lacking. I have since revised it entirely and am now working on putting faith into action.
That's wonderful to hear PTL
See, I told you it wouldn't be that bad
Now, when you're on a plane for more than a day let me know and we'll talk about long trips.
thanks for the link
I have a heart for the homeless and for addicts. I was unfairly shut out of a county-wide ministry named "Living Water Ministries."
The women that shut me out were very cruel in their way of doing it. I will not go into detail here as in their methods, but let me just say I was lied about and my family was slandered.
Now I am no longer in jail ministry because of these ladies and I am no longer allowed to participate in their plans to open a shelter/halfway house for prison inmates who get out of jail and have no place to go and get dry of drugs and alcohol.
I did nothing wrong at the jail ministry. Only a private meeting where we were discussing pastors, and which pastors should be on our board for the new halfway house, did I say something that offended them.
They proceeded to slander me and pull the rug from under my feet completely within 2 months, even though I had repeatedly apologized for saying that their pastor was uncaring toward the homeless (He is uncaring toward the homeless.)
God has given me a new ministry where I help a shelter already in place. This makes those ladies at Living Water very angry, because they said I couldn't be in ministry any more. They basically cut my wings off, or so they thought.
Lol, they don't know God very well. God puts fortitude and strength in His children and He doesn't tell them to stop just when things start to get exciting.
After they kicked me out, about 1 month later I was walking outside with my toddler in his stroller. The Lord spoke to me ever-so-clearly: He said: "You will be over the NEW jail ministry and the NEW Halfway house. Then all those that laughed at you will stop laughing. They will no longer ridicule you for saying that I called you.
Also," He added, "They will no longer laugh at Me."
I asked Him, "Lord, when did they laugh at YOU?"
He said, "When they laughed at you, my child, they laughed at Me, for I chose you."
10 minutes after he spoke to me, I saw two other mothers strolling their children in strollers too. I waved at them; they waved at me, I thought nothing of it.
but when I got to my house, I said to my little boy: "Let's go around the block again. I want to walk some more."
The second time around the block, the 2 ladies were walking toward me again. They stopped me and started testifying of the Lord's grace. The Lord told me to tell them what He had said to me about the jail ministry and halfway house.
I didn't want to do it; I was embarrassed, I didn't even know these ladies.
But I did it.
The blond headed lady said, "My husband and I are pastors, can you come to our bible study at the shelter in _______?"
And that's when I started volunteering at that shelter.
I am learning now and need to finish school, but I will start up a shelter here in my own hometown, when the right time comes, when God speaks and moves.
And that's my story in a general way.
Be encouraged, spiritwinds, God will not let you down in your ministry to your people.
oh my, the first bit is uncool, they shouldn't have done that. But PTL, He is awesome.
Yes, I was told that I was not called to be either in jail ministry or shelter ministry. She directly said to me, "No, you are not," when I said that God had called me.
People like that are trying to replace God somehow. How can they call people, or determine whom God calls?
I need to cease being angry at this set of people; for I can see with my own eyes--God is not blessing them or their so-called ministry. In fact, 2 of them, (the two that came to my house to rebuke me) have fallen sick in the last few months.
One had shingles on her head and almost lost her sight when the shingles came near her eyes.
The other one, who suffers Parkinsons's, had a major relapse and her medication is doing no good now. She walks about weaving and stomping like a drunk person. I am sad for her.
Why they try to play God, I don't know.
I agree, staying angry and not forgiving will only eat away at you.
Proof yet again, that you don't mess with God's anointed.
Lord, I hope I'm truly following you.
Please pray for me that I am hearing the Lord correctly. My life is in a scary place right now.
God Bless,
Monica
Will be praying for you.
He never made His will clear to me until I stepped out in faith. Everything was still troubling on that day when He spoke to me. Nothing around me in my circumstances seemed to have God's touch on it at all
That's the odd and funny part.
God loves to surprise us, I believe.
He is such a great God.
I believe He rewards when we persevere for Him. Perseverance is one of the fruits of the spirit that has been much overlooked.
Lol, no one wants or asks for perseverance. Because that means you will go through trials and harsh situations but still need to trust God. I don't like those kind of situations and I'm sure no one else does either.
Being sent to another country has got to be scary. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Yet God is there with you in your shoes, annapple
spiritwinds, you too, sister, you are a blessed woman
Kanga, don't be afraid, just seek His face
God's blessings on everyone here!
I'm sure He likes to surprise us like that, saying, come on, you can do it, I'm right here. BAM! Look what I have for you now.
WOW! I leave for a few hours and come back to a hopping thread! Where's wolfman hiding at????
That is an excellent observation. I have never thought of it like that.
He's been a busy wolf this week.
and it is an excellent observation.
This has got to be the most accepting, CHRIST-LIKE club at CF. Praise God for WWJD Club.
Glad to hear it
No problem-- feel free to swing by anytime.
And a very good morning to you Spiritwinds, and everyone else.
Anyone seen wolfman?
He's around, busy at work, but around.
Hi all.
I'm facing a tricky parenting situation today - please pray that I'll rely on God's wisdom, not my own feelings!
Thanks - love you all
Will pray for ya.
Thanks.
I just wanted to say that people will know the children of God for the love they have for all people.
God is Good
God bless
Kris~ {i appreciate you greeting me Cristianna)
How true that is.
PTL! God has put you through a difficult situation and you have been faithful. He will reward you. May God bless your new ministry. And remember, when God calls you to do something, no one can stop you. Just rely on God, and He'll get you through.
Have any of you noticed how many of us members (the ones who are here regularly) are called to ministry?
Even though they were wrong in telling you those things, we should pray for their health and pray that they draw close to God.
I will pray for you. Remember the power of prayer as you go through whatever you are going through. We are praying, and God will get you through. He's with you.
Are you a missionary or something, or what? Trust Him and He will show you His will. Unfortunately, I am having trouble figuring out God's will in my life as well. I'll be praying for you as well.
Thank you, please come again. lol.
Yes, Praise the Lord! It is wonderful to have you all as friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.
I'm praying for you, Criada.
hmm, too many replies at once, I completely forget why I was replying to you here, sorry about that.
Hey all,
I know this is really not that important, but I just want to tell you all. My grandma just gave me two hundred dollars! For someone like me who has no job and wants to go on a mission trip eventually, this is great! I now have a grand, but not so grand, total of $440! To me that's a lot, but also, I need to get a lot more before I can go on a mission trip. Still, I'm very glad to have this money. Anyways, I'll be keeping you all in my prayers.
Chase
Awesome.
Take a look at this pic I made. I don't know how to make it show up in the post so here's the link:
Thanks for that, it's a good challenge.
Eldaah... you are very observant... or just quickly put two and two together. I never paid much attention to those of us called for ministry. There are two areas, well two areas that I yearn for. One of which the husband will absolutely, positively not agree to (adopting children) and the other I'm gaining ground on.
And don't be so hard on yourself Brother. I realize *technically* I'm not that much older than you (contrary to how I feel), yet I have no idea what God's will is for my life either. My interests and passions are all over the board-- I have no idea which way God is trying to steer me.
That is awesome!
Will keep you in prayer for the situations.
Beautiful poem Eldaah. Thank you for that.
Tonight finds me with peace, contentment, and strength. My fears are lifted. Although I still expect to have fearful and turbulant times...
I'm entering into a divorce. We have yet to tell the children. And dh wants to run off to Vegas to marry another. A lot is happening, quickly. A lot that I don't have control over. Giving up control to the Lord and then finding peace is difficult at times.
God has placed a safe and wise person in my life to help mentor me through.
Thank you for your prayers. God bless.
It is good to hear that His peace is keeping you. Trust in Him.
I'll be praying for ya.
Good morning everyone. I pray you have a blessed day in our Lord Jesus, and that you are a blessing to others. Let us remember to pray for Kanga. She is in need of our prayers and support. I'm also concerned about wolfman, since we have not heard from him in sometime. Let us remember him, too, in our prayers. I ask for prayer, too, for my beloved who is out of town, our unborn daughter and for each of our children. May each of you walk in peace.
Thank you for your prayers my friend. We've had a few issues to sort out, but all is well now. Not going to get into the craziness of PennDOT and insurance rules.
Thank you for your compliment, Eldaah. May you be blessed. You are a blessing to us here. I have opened a club, Spirit Winds American Indian Fellowship. Each of you are welcome to join (whether you are of Indian descent or not). May you be blessed.
Link?
Good morning. I pray that each of you has a blessed day, and continues to be a blessing to others. We need to lift up Kanga and Wolfman in our prayers to our Great Father. We need to remember them both in our heart and in our prayers.
Good Morning, well evening now
Cool, What do you do in your group? What do non-indians do in your club?
good question.
Well, I have just opened it, with one other member, who is of Cherokee descent. I have posted a variety of different topics and issues relating to NDNs. You are more than welcome to go check it out.
awesome.
Well, I'm back. Been busy at work, installing new hardware and dealing with coworkers "cleaning" up m stuff on my desk. Then some craziness with driver's license and car stuff.
But all is well now.
