Highlights from Urbana 2003
First Nations leader Richard Twiss reports on a powerful Urbana conference he was part of in December.
Urbana is the largest missions conference in the world. It is convened every three years in Urbana, IL, on the campus of University of Illinois. It is a ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. This past December, at Urbana 03, 19,000 mostly college aged, people attended.
The message by Ray Aldred, Cree pastor and ministry leader, was one of the most impacting I have ever heard. Likewise, the presence of the Lord that accompanied Mohawk musician, Jonathan Maracle and Broken Walls, as they led an hour of worship, joined by myself and eleven other dancers in full regalia on stage was amazing. (These can be seen and heard at www.urbana.org).
There were 1800 small groups that met every day. Lindsay Olesberg, the Urbana 03 Small Group Manager, sent me the following comments and testimonies of both small group leaders and students, in response to the First Nations presentation at Urbana.
“This was a powerful evening where God gave us an amazing gift through Ray Aldred and Jonathan Maracle. I appreciated the blessing that was given by the Native American community. Thank you for your risk and forgiveness of the church of North America.”
“This is my third Urbana, and there always seems to be one pivotal talk through which God speaks a prophetic word. I believe that Ray Aldred’s preaching was that prophetic word. As an educated white man, I’ve grown up with the lies of power and self–sufficiency. I’ve been taught and trained to view my culture as having everything of value that needs to be shared with all other ‘less fortunate’ people. The Holy Spirit spoke powerfully through Ray and reminded me that I am just as much in need of salvation (conversion) as every other person. Praise God!”
Several white and Asian–American students were struck by the idea of “white man’s gospel.” They said it made sense but that they had never realized that this was happening.
A young man from Minnesota shared that he was from a town that was surrounded by three Native American reservations. He said that racism was prevalent and he had seen misunderstandings, anger, and bitterness prevail between the races in that area. He shared that he was deeply moved by the experience of the Native American worship leader extending a welcome from First Nations people to the rest of the people groups at Urbana.
“I’m a white female staff worker who grew up in Southwestern Colorado, near the Navajo Reservation. I’ve begun to struggle through my own racism, and to understand the magnitude of the genocide committed against Native Americans. It was an inspiration to me as I struggle through racial reconciliation.”
Urbana 03 was a momentous event in the history of missions among First Nations people in North America for two reasons. First, it prophetically and profoundly embodied the paradigm shift for the Body of Christ in North America, where First Nations people are to no longer be singularly defined as the perpetual missions field; but instead are to seen through the lens of God’s eternal purposes as co–equal participants in the life, work and mission of the Church of Jesus Christ among the nations.
Second, a major, highly respected evangelical ministry organization did not acquiesce, nor compromise their biblical mandate in the face of political pressure to disallow Native North American Christian leaders from participating on their platform as part of the ministry team in a distinctly, culturally Native way. In relationship to Native peoples, I believe Urbana 03 was a manifestation of the Fathers heart that heralded a deeper call to Biblical reconciliation, unity and co–equal dependency among the many and diverse expression that make up the Body of Christ.
To hear the message by Ray Aldred, and to watch the concert by Broken Walls, visit http://www.urbana.org/u2003.mediaplayer.cfm and scroll down to the December 29 evening session entries.
