At the beginning of October it was our pleasure to have Anthony & Barbara Pennings here to share about their ministry in Manitoulin Island. They were sent out from Freedom seven years ago and it's been great to be able to keep up with their mission and calling to the First Nations communities they've been serving.
I wanted to briefly recap the teaching that they shared that Sunday morning as a reminder of the great work they are doing and of how to pray for them. I heard a lot of great feedback from our church about what Anthony shared and I know that it was incredibly eye-opening for me as well.
Here are the big ideas that were shared...
Like the three poles of a tee-pee that are all needed for structure and stability, the three foundational principles that hold the native community and person together are Non-Interference, Heritage, and Ceremony.
Heritage and Ceremony were essentially taken away with residential schools, the 60s Scoop, and other such programs, leaving only Non-Interference without a sense of cultural heritage to look back on and inform the future or Ceremony to build up the boundaries on the path of life.
Further, Jesus has been seen as someone who comes to kick out the pillar of Heritage since some of these programs were done in the name of the church.
These three principles are needs that have to be embraced if discipleship is going to happen inside of the culture. So, new patterns are needed to be able to present and then share the gospel.
It starts to become clear why the indigenous people can't 'just get over it'. There are some deep wounds that need time and care to be healed.
There is a strong belief that everyone walks their own path in life (blazing their own trail). Evangelism can be like inviting people onto a path that you’ve tried and have found to work better. You can respect Non-Interference by asking someone to walk with you and telling them you’ll walk it with them. We don’t tell people what to do, we invite them to a journey with us.
Building a foundation of respect is key. "I will listen to your story. Will you listen to my story?"
Our privilege and responsibility is to pray for the First Nations people and for those like Anthony and Barbara who are working to bring hope and healing to the individual and the culture through Christ
We continue to support the Pennings through our 2019 Missions Giving Plan. Thank you for your generous financial gifts that have gotten us to 93% (!!!) of the way to our goal. Let's continue to care for our missions partners well by meeting and exceeding this goal by the end of the year!
Thankful to partner with you,
Pastor Tracy
This Sunday
FAQs of Jesus
”Do You Want to Get Well?”
Join us on Sunday at 10am as our Pastor Tracy continues in our series.