Native Nativity outside Lakota Wesleyan Chapel in Pierre, SD

It’s a December to Remember for He Sapa New Life Wesleyan Church, a Native American congregation in Rapid City, South Dakota.

On Sunday, December 19, the church hosted its annual Native Christmas outreach event in Rapid City, one of several events the church was hosting in Native communities across the state.

They rented a school gymnasium and set up chairs for 400 people. By the time the event started, nearly every chair was filled and people started lining the walls. By the end, all 400 chairs were filled, and 300 more people were filling the aisles, doorways, and an adjoining room which quickly became overflow.

Interspersed between the film clips were songs in both English and Lakota.  Then the gospel was presented very clearly in a culturally relevant way, and a brief invitation was. Twelve came forward to give their lives to Christ, and many others later told Pastor Larry it was too crowded to come forward so they prayed in their chairs to accept Christ.  Everyone who responded to the gospel was given a Bible, and everyone who attended the event received a Native Gospel of John.

A meal of soup, frybread, and wojapi (a traditional Native berry pudding) followed.  The crowd of 700 was fed quickly thanks to a youth team from Sheridan, Wyoming, which did the serving.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, dozens of boxes of donated gifts were rolled out for an unadvertised gift giveaway. Every family received gifts for their children.

One family told Pastor Larry that they weren’t expecting to give gifts to their children this year because the dad had been unemployed for three months. Earlier that day, the children said, “Let’s just go and get soup.”  So they came and enjoyed the program and the meal.

Then the gifts came.  With tears in his eyes, the dad told Pastor Larry that his family now had their Christmas – the children each received two gifts and the family received two blankets.  He said the church had blessed them.  This story was repeated many times over that day, as people expressed their gratitude.

During this Christmas season, more than 1,500 people in several Native communities in South Dakota (Pierre, White River, Cherry Creek, Eagle Butte, and Rapid City) and Arizona (Low Mountain and Red Rock) will attend special Native Christmas outreach events like this and hear the gospel message in the context of their Native culture.  We’re grateful for the many individuals and churches that have donated money and Christmas gifts to help make these events a reality.

It’s not too late to help underwrite the cost of these events, and to help provide the follow-up discipleship for all who make a commitment to Christ.  You can donate today at our secure online donation page.

Lakota Translation Team

Dr. Jerry Yellowhawk, our Respected Elder, continues his work of translating the Bible into the Lakota Language.

This Lakota translation project began in 1960 when several Native believers came together and decided it was important to have the scriptures accurately translated into the heart language of the Lakota people.

The project was on and off for a number of years until 1999, when Dr. Yellowhawk was asked by Wycliff to revive it.  Now sponsored by the American Bible Society, the work progresses on a weekly basis.

Lakota Translation Community Testing Team

Dr. Yellowhawk and other translators first individually work on a section of text. Then they gather together as a translation team to look at their drafts and make any needed revisions. Next, the drafts go to a community testing group for input and then come back to the translation team for revision. When all that is done, the American Bible Society consultants come to check their work.

Several books of the Bible have been translated so far, but there’s still a long way to go until the entire Bible is completed.

The members of the translation team are pictured above.  From left to right (front row):  Jerry Yellowhawk, translator; Rosalie Little Thunder, translator; Carla Marshall, book keeper; (back row) Ben Black Bear, translator; Steve Berneking, American Bible Society consultant; Jack Rushing, Exegetical Resource Facilitator.

A group of twenty-three FLAME students, staff, alumni, and friends from ten different churches in nine states recently completed a seven-day adventure to Red Rock Wesleyan Church near Keams Canyon, Arizona. Under the banner of “FLAME Gives Back” the team worked on nearly 50 construction, painting, and repair projects. Members of the team also led ladies Bible studies, VBS, and classes in knitting, quilting, and craft making. The team included specialists in auto repair, roofing, electrical, carpentry, and children’s ministry.

The group also held worship services and provided meals for attendees of the church and several from the community. Pastor Darwin Tsosie, a FLAME student, is the pastor of this church on the Navajo reservation. Major projects included repairing and replacing the roofs on two church buildings and the pastor’s home, repairing the electrical wiring in the church, building two outhouses (the church has no running water or regular electrical service), painting both church buildings, installing curtains, repairing damaged drywall, building shelves, repairing vehicles and installing a fan and light fixtures in Pastor Darwin’s home.

The team was drawn together by the common purpose of “giving back “ to a fellow FLAME student in the same measure that FLAME students have been blessed by those who teach them and invest in them at FLAME events. Individuals from the Christ Center Wesleyan Church in Sedona, Arizona, provided shuttle transportation, housing, and logistical support for the team members arriving by airplane. Wayne Richards, Director of Ministerial Preparation, served as the team leader.

Richards said, “We participated in wonderful community and fellowship during the trip and have made some strong new friendships.” Additional pictures are available on FLAME’s Facebook site.

This article, written by Wayne Richards, was originally posted at www.wesleyan.org.

Darwin & Ann Tsosie and some of their family

Please pray for Navajo pastor Darwin Tsosie, his wife Ann, and several members of their family who were seriously injured in a serious car accident on Friday, April 30, on the way home from an uncle’s funeral.

Darwin’s vehicle rolled several times and was totaled, injuring all seven passengers including Darwin and Ann, three of their children, and Ann’s sister and nephew.  Everyone sustained cuts and bruises.  Two of Darwin & Ann’s sons are hospitalized in ICU in Flagstaff, AZ, which is a 3-hour drive from their home near Keams Canyon, AZ.  One of the sons is experiencing paralysis.

The family has an immediate need for a new vehicle (a SUV-type of vehicle to handle the dirt roads and two-tracks of the remote part of the Navajo Rez where they live) and help with the costs of food and lodging while they stay in Flagstaff for their children’s hospitalization. In addition, they will likely need help with ongoing medical expenses.

If you can help, please go to our secure online donation page at www.wesleyannativeministries.org/giving to make your donation.

You may give by credit card, debit card or electronic bank draft from your checking account. As you make your gift, please be sure to note in the comments section that this gift is for Pastor Darwin’s family.  Thank you!

A Respected Elder - Dr. Gerald Yellowhawk

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Gerald Yellowhawk has been recognized as Respected Elder for Wesleyan Native Ministries.

“We are honoring Dr. Yellowhawk for his lifetime of ministry as a pastor, district superintendent, leader, mentor and friend in The Wesleyan Church and Wesleyan Native Ministries,” said Rev. Rich Avery, WNM’s director.

Jerry, as his friends call him, graduated from WNM’s former Brainerd Bible School in 1960 with degrees in human services and religion.  His first congregation was in Pierre, SD, where Jerry served as an associate pastor for five years.

From Pierre he went to Eagle Butte, SD, on the Cheyenne River Reservation (where he grew up), and founded the Cheyenne River Lakota Chapel.  He pastored there for eighteen years.  In 1985 the Yellowhawks moved to Rapid City, SD when Jerry took a position with Wesleyan Native Ministries.  He worked for us in various capacities, including district superintendent, until his retirement in 2001.

In his retirement years, Jerry has continued his call by working on a Lakota translation of the Bible.  According to a feature article in the Fall, 2007 edition of Black Hills Faces magazine:

Existing Lakota translations date to the late 1800s and were literal translations written by non-Native missionaries.  Jerry recognized the need to translate the Bible into the everyday language of the Lakota people in ways that would speak to their hearts – and there was no one more qualified to take on this project than a Lakota man who had Christian convictions and a wealth of experience pastoring his people.

So far, with the help of grants and a few assistants, he has finished the book of Luke and is part-way through Acts.  It is a long and complex process, but Jerry is undeterred.  “It’s very necessary.  It’s more human for us in Lakota,” he says.

Aside from his translation work, Jerry is spending his retirement painting, beadworking, traveling to art show and pow-wows, and guest-speaking at churches – as well as enjoying the legacy of seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Whatever he does, Gerald Yellowhawk’s work is rooted in the deep values of his Lakota and Christian heritage.  “It’s been a good journey,” he says.

Jerry also serves on the Native Ministry Leadership Team in the Dakota District of The Wesleyan Church, and he preaches in the Eagle Butte church once a month.

We celebrate Jerry, and his wife Johanna, for over 50 years of humble and faithful service to the Lord – “Still following the risen Son,” as he likes to say.  And we’re grateful for his willingness to serve with us as Respected Elder.

We’ll soon begin featuring Jerry’s writing and thinking on our website and other media, on various subjects related to Native culture, Christianity, leadership development and more.  We want to share his insight, wisdom and experience with others, especially future generations of Native leaders.

Darwin Tsosie, pastor of Red Rock Wesleyan Church on the Navajo Nation near Keams Canyon, AZ, has gone to FLAME classes over the years in order to complete his requirements for ordination in The Wesleyan Church.  In June, FLAME is coming to Pastor Darwin’s!

Rev. Wayne Richards, director of The Wesleyan Church’s FLAME ministerial preparation program, says a FLAME Gives Back missions trip, planned for June 5-12, 2010, is a chance for FLAME students, alumni and friends to stand shoulder to shoulder with FLAME student and Navajo Pastor Darwin Tsosie and his family.

Richards explained:

Darwin and Ann Tsosie gave up a comfortable lifestyle many years ago to follow God’s leading to minister to their own people in the harsh realities of the Navajo Reservation.  Darwin is a current FLAME student nearing ordination and the pastor of Red Rock Wesleyan Church.

In recognition of his servant spirit of giving back to his own people, FLAME students, alumni and friends will try to give back to the Tsosies and their Navajo neighbors through this trip and through future support.

Trip participants will make needed repairs to Pastor Darwin’s parsonage  and  church,  teach VBS in the surrounding community,  paint,  fix  vehicles,  do  electrical  work,  and more.

To learn more about the FLAME Gives Back trip to the Navajo Nation, download the official trip information sheet.

If you’d like to support the project financially, you can make your tax-deductible donation at our secure online giving page.

We recently changed our name slightly, from Wesleyan Native American Ministries to Wesleyan Native Ministries.  We no longer go by our old nickname of “WNAM”. Though if you still call us that, we won’t mind!

As a result, our old website at www.wnam.org needed to be changed.  You’ve found us at our new home at wesleyannativeministries.org.

We’re getting settled, but are still moving some things over from our old site.  And in the coming weeks, we’ll be adding new articles and resources to keep you informed of our ministry.

If you have any questions about our recent changes or if you have any suggestions for our new site, please contact us!