Special Sundays - Native American Ministries Sunday - Overview

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Native American Ministries Sunday - April 18, 2010 (can be celebrated at anytime)

 

Your Generous Gifts help develop and strengthen Native American ministries within the annual conference if the conference has Native American ministries.

  • Provide scholarships for Native Americans  attending United Methodist schools of theology and other schools approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church: (General Board of Higher Education and Ministry)
  • Expand the number of target cities in the Native American Urban Initiative: (General Board of Global Ministries) 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

"The Lord blessed me
by bringing me into this ministry where I can be who I really am."

 

Click here to hear Ray deZafra describe how the Third Sunday Fellowship that is supported by the Native American Ministries Sunday offering is helping him link to his heritage. 

Ray deZafra walked through the doors of Houston’s Third Sunday Native American Fellowship and found a part of himself that had been missing since his early childhood. Adopted at age 5, Ray was raised in a culture that did not match his genetic identity as a Potawatomi Indian, and he lost touch with his Native American heritage. The consequences of that denial made him feel as if he were always on the outside. Then he had a chance to explore his roots while attending the Third Sunday Fellowship and began to feel he belonged – not only to the Potawatomi Tribe, but also to a community of Christians.

“All my life I’ve been seeking the truth,” Ray explained. Third Sunday Fellowship used the offering collected on Native American Ministries Sunday to create a Web site that invites local Native Americans to join them for worship. Funds also enabled the fellowship to invite Native American guest preachers and to provide hymnals in the native language of churchgoers.

In today’s economy, your contributions are critical to The United Methodist Church, honoring its commitment to ministries that support more than 20,000 Native Americans.

To read additional stories of those whose lives have been changed click here.

For more information please contact the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and/or the General Board of Global Ministries.

You can give online to the Native American Ministries Sunday offering at any time by clicking the "donate" button above.

NOTE:  The printed version of the leaflet offering envelope and posters included incorrect information. Mr. deZafra was adopted at age 5 and his tribal affiliation is Potawatomi. We regret and apologize for these errors.