On Monday evening December 29^th, Chief Illiniwek was not present at the Assembly Hall.  Ray Aldred from Regina, Saskatchewan, was present, though, and he spoke to a packed Assembly Hall of collegians in town for Urbana 03, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s 20^th student mission convention.

Aldred’s presentation was unique as he was the first ever Native North American to be a main speaker in the event’s 57-year history.  Aldred is a pastor and the director of the First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada.  His is a member of the Cree people of Treaty Eight, Swan River Band.

Aldred recounted how he grew up hating his culture.  He said he thought of Indians as dirty, stupid and lazy.  One of his clearest childhood memories is of an elementary school classmate criticizing him by saying, “You’re just an Indian.”  In fact, said Aldred, “I saw no value in my culture.”

But then Aldred began training to be a pastor.  It was only then that he began understanding that conversion is about becoming who God made us to be.  To give context to his own experience, Aldred told the Urbana 03 delegates of the Apostle Paul’s conversion, which is recounted three times in the New Testament.

What strikes Aldred as so remarkable about the Apostle’s conversion is how God finally got Paul’s attention.  Prior to his decision to become a follower of Jesus, Paul was a young Jewish intellectual set on destroying all followers of Jesus.

Aldred recounted how God struck Paul down with a bright light.  Then God spoke to Paul in his native Hebrew language, not in the Greek language of those around him, the language that Paul himself eventually used in his missionary enterprises. 

“The Gospel must be presented in the heart language of the people,” Aldred noted.  He continued by saying that when the message of Christianity is presented cross-culturally it must take into account all the cultural categories of the people -- art, economics, traditional religion.  “God always speaks to us were we are.  Our message must be crafted to the heart language of those we want to reach,” he said.

While challenging the delegates to reach beyond their comfort zone, he added:  “We must add our pain and suffering as we live in both the here and now and the not yet.”

In the West we are tempted to share the message of Christianity from a position of power.  Aldred said when we share from power without approaching others by revealing our own pain and suffering, we build a persona of strength.  Those we are trying to reach then set up barriers by taking on their own persona which essentially says, “You have all the power.  There’s no way I’ll open up my heart to you.  You’re not willing to take a risk by showing me your weakness.  I won’t show you my weakness either.”

Aldred then asked the delegates to think about those who are not like themselves.  How should people be viewed, especially those who are poor and uneducated?   Take Indians, for example.  How would we describe, say, the average Indian living on a reservation?  Would we say given to depression, chemically dependent, constantly in need of government services?  Or would we use the words Aldred once used of himself – dirty, stupid and lazy?  Would we ever use the words loving, motivated, articulate, and powerful?

“If you have a mostly negative view of people, do you want to hang out with those people on Friday night?” Aldred asked.

Jesus wants to enter every culture, Aldred concluded.  When Jesus comes to people he always comes from a position of weakness.  Aldred reminded Urbana 03 delegates that Jesus said, “And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself.” (John 12:32) 

“We must communicate on the level of the cross,” Aldred implored.  When we share our suffering and insecurities with others, Aldred said “we share heart to heart.”  It was only as he began embracing his own “messy, dirty story” and telling it to others that he was then really free to tell people how much he realized Jesus truly loved and admired him as a Cree Indian.

The evening ended with a worship service led by a Canadian Native American group called Broken Walls.  As drums pounded, about 30 Indians in native dress worshiped God through traditional dance.  Many of the delegates danced too, perhaps having their eyes opened for the very first time.