Lutheran Indian Ministries
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Lutheran Indian Ministries (LIM) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin which mostly serves isolated communities in dispersed locations across Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and the western United States. Operations serve the purpose of strengthening community relationships, educating children and adults, improving individual heath, and fostering evangelism.
Although it is a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod,[1] LIM is not funded or operated by the denomination. Instead, it draws on its own network of supporting churches and individuals for funding, supplies, and volunteers. In 2018, it had a Charity Navigator rating of 82.36.[2]
Mission[edit]
The Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. The historical trauma American Indians suffered starting with the arrival of Europeans resulted in death, extreme marginalization, and the deliberate taking of resources needed for subsistence. Lutheran Indian Ministries seeks to fulfill the Great Commission to the Indian Nations by addressing the wounds caused by this historical trauma.
| Lutheran Indian Ministries |
|---|
| Abbreviation |
| LIM |
| Classification |
| Christian |
| Director |
| Tim Young Eagle |
| Region |
| United States and Canada |
| Headquarters |
|
Brookfield, WI |
| Official website |
|
www |
Origins[edit]
Originally, LIM was known as the Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots [3] and its antecedents date back to the 1970s.[4] Its current name dates to the year 2000.
Teaching programs[edit]
Key to LIM's ministry are three programs: Sacred Grounds, Celebrate Recovery, and Fatherhood is Sacred/Motherhood is Sacred.
Sacred Grounds[edit]
Sacred Grounds is based on the concepts of the Beauty for Ashes program from the Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, AK which states that healing comes from sharing your story. LIM's Sacred Grounds program is similar and explicitly Christian.
Sacred Grounds consists of large and small group sharing sessions in a safe place, where individuals can tell their stories of abuse and trauma without fear. These sessions are usually followed up with one-on-one sessions with trained ministry staff to help the individual on their path toward healing.
Celebrate Recovery[edit]
This is a Bible-based program for overcoming hurts, hang-ups, and habits. While many of the participants are recovering from alcoholism, it is also helpful for other forms of addiction and self-harming habits. Celebrate Recovery consists of weekly large group sessions.
Fatherhood Is Sacred/Motherhood Is Sacred[edit]
These programs are from the Native American Fatherhood and Families Association based in Mesa, Arizona. Their focus is to “help parents devote their best efforts in teaching and raising their children to develop the potential and attributes needed for success in life”[5] through teaching, mentoring, and encouraging.
Ministry locations[edit]
Alaska[edit]
Fairbanks, Alaska, houses the Mission Training Center. This large home is the centerpiece for an extensive program which brings Vacation Bible School and Adult Bible classes to villages in remote Alaska throughout the summer months with the help of volunteer pilots,[6] although some projects use a boat instead of airplanes.[7]
The Mission Training Center is also base camp for the yearly Teen Camp which brings dozens of teens from remote villages to Camp Bingle, just outside of Fairbanks, for a week of worship, discipleship, and mentoring.
Assistance is provided by the Zion Lutheran Church in Fairbanks.
Arizona[edit]
A staff member was hired in early 2018 to establish an urban ministry in Phoenix, Arizona.[8] Ministry includes the use of the Fatherhood Is Sacred/Motherhood Is Sacred programs.
Hawaii[edit]
In 2014, ministry was expanded to include the native population of Hawaii.[9] A staff member currently works to build the Lutheran/Christian community on the island of Oahu by bringing together people and resources, especially focusing on small house churches and youth groups. A summer children's program is also operated. Distance education is used to encourage community members to pursue clergy positions. [10] Also help is offered to small homeless camps with coffee and prayer.
Kansas[edit]
In Lawrence, Kansas, Lutheran Indian Ministries’ Haskell Light House is adjacent to the Haskell Indian Nations University campus, which is attended by students from 145 tribes across the nation.
The Haskell LIGHT House has frequent Sacred Grounds activities and weekly Celebrate Recovery meetings available to the students, and open to the public.[11]
New Mexico[edit]
Lutheran Indian Ministries maintains a pastor at the Valley Lutheran Church in Navajo, New Mexico to serve the local Navajo population.[12]
Washington State (three ministries)[edit]
On the Lower Elwah Klallam Reservation on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, ministry includes food assistance, elder advocacy, and Bible studies.
At Makah Lutheran Church in Neah Bay, WA, staff and volunteers serve the people of Neah Bay through a variety of outreach activities[13] (including a Back-to-School Supplies Party and Trunk-or-Treat) and run a thriving youth ministry. The church also holds weekly Celebrate Recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. In 2009, Makah Lutheran ordained a minister through a distance education program based out of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis especially intended for recruit more candidates for ministry from ethnic minority communities.[14] Prior to this program a satellite campus in Tacomah, Washington was used for this purpose.[15]
At St. John's Lutheran in Vancouver, WA, staff is also closely tied to the Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, AK. They train volunteers to participate in Sacred Grounds programming and also run it themselves.
Manitoba and Ontario, Canada[edit]
The staff members here are sponsored by LIM through their home organization, My People International.[16] They are trained trauma counselors and focus on grief counseling, and they lead a number of events that proclaim the Gospel through music and hockey. They serve indigenous villages in Canada that have suffered tragedy. It is here that they can put their training in trauma and grief to work in healing the pain, while at the same time pointing individuals to the hope of Christ.
A rehab clinic was operated in Ontario in 2014-2015.[17] Summer programs for children are operated by volunteers.[18]
Partnerships[edit]
St. Louis Native Partnerships and Programming Alliance - a collaborative effort between the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University - St. Louis and with leaders at the following institutions in Missouri – Lutheran Indian Ministries, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri Humanities Council, and Missouri History Museum.[19][20]
References[edit]
- ↑ "RSO Directory". lcms.com.
- ↑ "Measuring area nonprofits' performance". BizTimes: Milwaukee Business News.
- ↑ "LAMP is a cross-cultural ministry sharing Jesus Christ with God's people in remote areas of Canada". Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots (LAMP).
- ↑ for example, the Lutheran Church and Indian People organization as described in "Wounded Knee 1973: Forty Years Later: Papers of the Forty-Fourth Annual Dakota Conference-A National Conference on the Northern Plains, p. 103" (PDF). Augustana University: Center for Western Studies.
- ↑ "Our Story". Native American Fatherhood and Families Association.
- ↑ "Century-old stained glass windows begin new life at Tanana church". The Daily News-Miner: The Voice of Alaska.
- ↑ "Unique ministry on the sea faces uncertain future". Stories in the News: Ketchikan, Alaska.
- ↑ "The Lutheran Indian Ministries" (PDF). St. James Lutheran Church April 2018 Newsletter.
- ↑ Dr. Jeff Mallinson and Dr. Daniel van Voorhis (13 June 2015). "Ep: 128 Missions to Hawaiians and Native Americans with Clarence De Lude III and Tim Norton". Episodes Archive (Podcast). Virtue in the Wasteland. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ↑ "Church Anchors 'Melting Pot' Ministry on Oahu". Lutheran Church Extension Fund News.
- ↑ "Laborers strengthen outreach to Native American students". The Reporter.
- ↑ "Mission Trip to Navajo, New Mexico" (PDF). Utah-Idaho LWML District Newsletter.
- ↑ for example: "Neah Bay packed and prepared for arrival of Tribal Canoe Journey (Article published July 20, 2010)" (PDF). Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles-based, reprinted for the April 2010 Muckleshoot Monthly.
- ↑ "Leadership Development" (PDF). 2010 LCMS Convention Workbook: Synod Reports.
- ↑ Johnson, Don. Broken Parts Missing Pieces: A Native American describes how God takes the broken and missing pieces of life and fixes us so that we can be made whole once more. Bloomington, MN: Bethany Press International. p. 100 (Chapter 17). ISBN 978-0-578-11854-3. Search this book on
- ↑ "About Us". My People International.
- ↑ "Mission trip to northern Ontario rewarding". The Mitchell Advocate.
- ↑ "Mission Trip to Weagamow Lake First Nation a welcome visit for locals". The Mitchell Advocate.
- ↑ "Native Partnerships and Programming Alliance". Washington University in St. Louis:: Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies.
- ↑ "Honoring America's First People" (PDF). Washington University in St. Louis:: Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies.
External links[edit]
- Article, East Valley Tribune, Tempe, AZ, Feb. 11, 2019
- KFUO radio interview 6-9-17
- KFUO radio interview 9-13-16
- KFUO radio interview 2-2-16
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