“This book bubbles up out of the heart of a man who has been on pilgrimage in Central Asia’s heartland. He has walked the dusty caravan trails he writes about in this perceptive and challenging book . . . . I’ve walked beside him as together we’ve sought to see Christ plant His church among an unreached Central Asian people group . . . . Gene will challenge you to radically rethink what we mean . . . when we speak of indigenous churches.” –John Lee (pseudonym), Missionary, Central Asia
Materialism. Greed. Loneliness. A manic pace. Abuse of the natural world. Inequality. Injustice. War. The endemic problems facing America today are staggering. We need change and restoration. But where to begin? In Shalom and the Community of Creation Randy Woodley offers an answer: learn more about the Native American 'Harmony Way,' a concept that closely parallels biblical shalom. Doing so can bring reconciliation between Euro-Westerners and indigenous peoples, a new connectedness with the Creator and creation, an end to imperial warfare, the ability to live in the moment, justice, restoration -- and a more biblically authentic spirituality. Rooted in redemptive correction, this book calls for true partnership through the co-creation of new theological systems that foster wholeness and peace.
Native and Christian is an anthology of essays by indigenous writers in the United States and Canada on the problem of native Christian identity. This anthology documents the emergence of a significant new collective voice on the North American religious landscape. It brings together in one volume articles originally published in a variety of sources (many of them obscure or out-of-print) including religious magazines, scholarly journals, and native periodicals, along with one previously unpublished manuscript.
This book tells the gripping story of New England's Natives' efforts to reshape their worlds between the 1670s and 1820 as they defended their land rights, welcomed educational opportunities for their children, joined local white churches during the First Great Awakening (1740s), and over time refashioned Christianity for their own purposes.
Early in his ministry in Central America, Melvin Hodges became firmly convinced that training national workers was the key to effectively evangelizing any country. The Central American church experienced rapid growth in the early 1950 s. In 1953, Hodges was asked to expound on the church planting principles used, so he wrote The Indigenous Church. This new volume combines Hodges' book The Indigenous Church with a later work, The Indigenous Church and the Missionary. These books have had incredible influence on missions worldwide. This new edition offers a fresh look at proven missions methodology for a new generation answering the call to reach the lost and to establish the Church worldwide.
Kateri Tekakwitha is the first North American Indian to be canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Indian Pilgrims examines Saint Kateri's influence and role as a powerful feminine figure who inspires decolonizing activism in contemporary Indigenous peoples' lives.
Passing on is simply the separation of the natural body from the spirit. The natural body returns to dust and the spirit joins the spirit world. Indigenous peoples, including Batswana and their descendants, Bapedi, two ethnic groups in South Africa with which the author has blood links, believe that when the separation occurs the spirit then joins the spirit world. This is where everybody who passes on goes to. A reading of the Bible reveals in the book of Genesis that the fathers also knew this fact, and it is recorded in their passing on that they joined their kin. The true person being the spirit, which simply resides within the natural body, is not restricted by the grave in its power to communicate once the person leaves the natural body. There is no basis why a spirit still resident within a natural body cannot communicate with a spirit which has joined the spirit world. The only Biblical condition is that there must be discerment of whether the spirit spoken to is a good spirit or a bad spirit. The book seeks to explain the knowledge systems of the Indigenous people and seeks to demonstrate that the thinking, in general, that Indigenous knowlegde is inferior, unBiblical or UnChristain can no longer be sustained. This is done through scriptural references. An explanation is also given of some practices, traditions and the hierarchical organogram of Indigenous Churches in South Africa through scriptures. Indigenous Churches are generally excluded and as a result do not generally engage in discusions and as a result they are most often misrepresented by the main body of Christ. The chapters are an exposition of what is Zion, who and what is a leader in Zion terms, the ecclesiastical polity or leadership hierarchy and/or organogram of the church, what is a family unit, creating my future my way, a discussion of the rift within the body of Christ as it relates to Zion and the church's dress code.
