Ride Across The Rosebud Cowboy and Indian Camp July 15-17 2013

Here are a few links to blogs and videos of the camp that I co-directed with Shane and Noella Red Hawk on the Rosebud Sicangu Lakota reservation in July:

http://flyovermevalentine.com/stories/reservation/lakota-youth-learning-to-dance/

To view my pictures from the camp, you can go to:

https://www.facebook.com/caiford/media_set?set=a.10151817429096349.1073741825.635256348&type=3

Seed Corn Project-Cherokee NC

I have been consulting with Carol Bradley Long of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in regard to their new Seed Corn Project. It is an exciting program that is starting and it seems to be one of the few residential models that is culturally appropriate for Native people. I am excited to watch it come together. It is a 2 hour drive from my home to meet with Carol across the Cherohala Skyway (Dragon Tail) weather permitting.

Seed Corn Family Healing Housing Program Description

The single most important unmet need of persons returning from in-patient substance abuse treatment is safe drug-free housing and recovery support services. As a result, relapse and mortality rates are high.  

Seed Corn Family Healing Housing Program is designed to not only to meet the housing needs of persons with substance abuse issues, but will also provide supportive services for immediate family members. Implementing Cherokee culture at a very early age and substance abuse prevention for the children would change the direction of our Tribe as a whole.  Families will heal together and be planted back into the community as cultural leaders and positive role models for the rest of the community.

There will be 5 distinctly different components with 20 family housing units each and 10 units for the sex offender component, yet all will be following the same cultural education curriculum. Residents are volunteers who agree to follow strict policies teaching responsibility, personal accountability, substance abuse prevention, Cherokee culture and personal health care.

MISSION STATEMENT:  To provide a family oriented community that includes safe drug-free housing; counseling, education, 7^th generation programs for participants plus recreational facilities and traditional ceremonies.

Target population:

1)    Member of a federal/state tribe and meet one other criteria;

A)    Veteran

B)   Substance abuse issues

C)   Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

D)   Sex Offender

E)    Re-Entry from Prisons

Services:

1)    Housing (Safe, drug-free)

2)    Counseling

3)    Family Oriented Community

4)    Provide 7^th Generation Program*

*Footnote:  Reference to 7^th generation programs comes from the Native American Concept what we do today affects the 7^th generation; that it takes 7 generations to create permanent changes in a tribe. 

Uruguay May 18-29 2013 Music Services

When we look at the great need of evangelism and mission, we continue to see the church paralyzed to be able to get the general public to enter our buildings and attend the beautiful worship services we produce. We also feel that if we do enter the community to share the gospel it must be either preaching, performance or some form of benevolence. I work in the disabilities field as my weekday job now and so I am aware of opportunities that I did not know of as a pastor.  

When the AG and COG missionaries invited me to Uruguay recently, I was grateful to preach and do music in the churches as we traditionally do on mission trips. I, however had a vision some years ago to do something different. The idea was to represent American music to the university setting by providing an American guitar clinic-in this case it was blues guitar technique. This genre finds as its context the African American churches and jook joints of Mississippi, etc. I approached this from a historical perspective and it was well received. About 15 students got college credit for the clinic from two music conservatories.

I was also scheduled to do movement music programs and blues guitar demonstrations at two elementary schools, one technical school for adults and a school for autistic children. I preached at none of these, but shared in church concerts following these presentations which resulted in some coming to church that normally might not. This all resulted in these schools asking "what would cause the church to provide these educational opportunities without requiring to be able to witness formally?"

This endeavor resulted in friendships in which I am providing resources for the intellectual disability community in Uruguay and among the schools. I am thankful we were able to make friends for the church in the educational and health care industries. Do you think your country might benefit from such a project?

To view my photos from my Uruguay trip go to:

https://www.facebook.com/caiford/media_set?set=a.10151873244916349.1073741828.635256348&type=3

Washington and Oregon-March 2013

One of the enjoyable projects of my ministry has been J.R. Lilly. He is Dine from Arizona, and went to work as Administrative Assistant to Dr. Richard Twiss 7 months before Richard crossed over. J.R. has still a wonderful prospective future in the contextual movement. He took time out to host me in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon in March. I was privileged to stay in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Eastty, who serve with Wiconi also. During my stay there, J.R. took me to tour the Native American Youth Association (NAYA) and Native American Rehabilitation of the Southwest (NARA). These two organizations serve the various social and health needs of the some 58 tribes of the urban indians of Portland, Oregon. Here I was able to dialogue with a number of leaders concerning the needs of Native people who suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome. I am learning more as I travel as to what is being done concerning this widespread situation. J.R. also introduced me to the cultural director and tribal relations person at Youth Villages, Inc. in Portland. This was an important relationship to begin as I envision health care centers that are culturally appropriate for Native people.   

Soon we went to Seattle, where we joined the annual meeting of the Society For Pentecostal Studies. There my book was reviewed by Dr. Rick Waldrop (far left) and J.R. presented a response to Dr. Randy Woodley's (far right) new book. It was a great meeting that gave me opportunity to fulfill my objectives of my ministry through the empowerment of Native leaders and giving voice to their concerns. To God be the glory! Thanks to all for support.

 Greetings, Friends and Supporters! There is a lot going on with me since the first of the year. On some Sundays I have been going to Living Waters Church in Cherokee, N.C. to support Pastor Jack Russell and his fine congregation. The congregation includes some very historic descendants of leaders and the entire congregation has been very sweet and welcoming. It is about a 2 hour drive for me and I have had a rockslide and snow situation that prevented me, but I'm going to keep going.

  Great Loss
 We suffered a great loss recently in the passing of Dr. Richard Twiss. He was in Washington D.C. and suffered a massive heart attack. He was the most visible leader of the Native American Contextual Movement. He was scheduled to review my book at the Society For Pentecostal Studies in March at Seattle Pacific University. He will be sorely missed and I will miss his personal encouragement greatly. Pray for J.R. Lilly, his personal assistant that I introduced to Richard. If you are interested go to the link to be able to watch the memorial that will be streamed via the internet.

  SPS
The SPS meeting in Seattle in March will also welcome to the missions/intercultural studies group (of which I am the group leader) Dr. Randy Woodley, who will be responding to a review of his book by J.R. Lilly.

  Book Series
The third significant item I want to mention is my appointment as book editor of a series "Native American Contextual Movement" by Centre For Pentecostal Studies in Cleveland TN. The series is published on the imprint Cherohala Press, and will feature my book "Native American Pentecost" as the first, then followed by dissertations and theses by Cheryl Bear and Eric Bates (son of preacher Tommy Bates).

Lakota Rodeo Camp
The last item I want to mention is that along with Shane Red Hawk (pictured), I will be conducting a Rodeo Camp for kids on the Lakota Rosebud Reservation in Mission, South Dakota during the month of July. For those of you who have not been familiar with the camps I directed in East Tennessee, it is a three day camp in which bull riding and barrel racing champions mentor young people in both their rodeo event skills and their personal lives. The young boys ride small steers FYI! There is a great rodeo community there and to date I have secure Wiley Petersen from the Professional Bull Riders for the bull riding instructor. This has been historically a $5000 project and as always I have no money right now. I am also towards the end of my support money so anything you can do will be greatly appreciated and will give glory to God. I just believe you should go and do what needs to be done and God will send people to help you! You are that people-bless you all!

On September 20, we were privileged to welcome Dr. Terry Leblanc (Mi'kmaq /Acadian) to Knoxville, where he participated in the Veritas Forum at the University of Tennessee. Terry is helping to lead the North American Institute For Indigenous Theological Studies, which I participate in now. October 7, I flew out for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to meet with Dr. Doug Beacham, General Superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and Re. Darrell Rice, Administrative Bishop of the Church of God in Oklahoma and Kansas. Accompanying me on those meetings was J.C. Elliot (Cherokee/Osage), an Indian holy man, which has been a mentor to me in the Indian tradition. Those meetings concerned the situation of Native American missions in the Oklahoma area, by some standards, the largest population density of Native Americans in the U.S. (approximately 266,000). My time with J.C. strengthened my knowledge of Native affairs in Oklahoma. I intend to go back soon. J.C. and I flew out of Oklahoma City and spent October 9-16 in the area of Sturgis, South Dakota, where we participated in prayer ceremonies on Bear Butte along with representatives from Sioux Falls Seminary, Northern Cheyenne and Sicangu Lakota leaders. It was a wonderful time that marked 7 years to the day since my personal call to Indian ministry, and the 36th year of J.C.’s journeys to Bear Butte with Iron Eyes Cody and many others. I met a number of Indian leaders at the base camp from several areas. I have compiled a rather lengthy (55 minutes) slide show on DVD for any that would request it for the cost of shipping.

A highlight of this trip was getting to visit Pine Ridge Reservation, where we toured Red Cloud Indian School, Rosebud Reservation and the site of Wounded Knee. All were very moving and emotionally charged for me. October 15 , we accompanied J.C. to the Black Hills Astronomical Society, in Rapid City, where he lectured on his years as NASA Retrofire Officer, having received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for charting the Apollo 13 astronauts back to earth. He was the first Native person to ever work for NASA.

On October 27, I performed a wedding for a fellow staff member at Life Bridges. Linda Rotelli’s wedding was held at Red Clay Council Grounds (Cherokee-Cleveland TN) during the Inter-tribal Powwow. I was pleased to find out that Linda, having been raised in the Navajo Nation had served Seminoles in Florida, who had developmental disabilities. I continue to meet more and more health care workers who have served Natives and am encouraged to see where it will all lead. On November 10, I completed the article for Religious Studies Review on Randy Woodley’s, Shalom & the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision (Eerdmans 2012). It is a short review that I was honored to write. As you all can see, I continue to follow the three areas of concern for this ministry (empowering leaders, education and health care) and appreciate your continued prayers. All donations should be made out to Bethel World Outreach Church and mailed to me at 154 Holt Drive, Loudon TN 37774.

Book Release

This week, my dissertation was released as a published book. Thanks to Dr. Lee Roy Martin and Dr. Chris Thomas for making this possible. The description reads: This important study examines the significance of traditional Native American practices in Pentecostal worship and observes how members of the Native American Contextual Movement integrate these practices. Alexander suggests missiological implications of traditional Native American practices in Pentecostal worship and church life. He addresses the development of the powwow movement and pan-Indianism as an important sociological phenomena paving the way for inter-tribal ministry. He surveys the history of Native American ministries in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) and traces the development of a pneumatological Pentecostal theology of religions and the use of sacred objects in Pentecostalism. By using participant observation, personal interviews, and case studies, Alexander investigates examples of active contextualization and discovers how contextualized traditional practices enhance Native Pentecostal worship and mission. The study focuses on six traditional practices that are being contextualized in Native Pentecostal churches: language, smudging, drums and rattles, dance, talking circles, and ceremony. Alexander argues that implementing these contextualized practices in Pentecostal worship reduces syncretism and moves people closer to God. To order the book go here.