Making Medicine
If you are like me, you have never heard of David Pendleton Oakerhater, better known as Making Medicine.
He was born in the middle of the 19th century in Oklahoma, the nation of his Cheyenne people. He was a warrior, a leader of men in battle, and he led his men against the United States Army, fighting for land rights for his people.
Making Medicine and his troop were captured and imprisoned in Florida.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I have been helped; Therefore my heart dances for joy, and in my song will I praise him. - Psalm 28:8-9
Now here is where the story gets interesting. An Army captain taught them English and encouraged them to make money teaching the visitors archery and art. It was here that learned about Christ.
Making Medicine and three others wanted to learn more, so they went to New York to study for the ministry. He went on to become a deacon and go back among his people to teach them about Jesus, a warrior leader who fights for peace.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
At the time, people hailed this story as an evangelical success. The native was converted and converted his people. They were saved.
Today, 130 years later, we tend to look at this differently, don't we?
What changed?
Were we wrong to want to spread the Gospel? Was it a violation of this native American's rights and traditions?
This is the kind of topic we explore in our Education for Ministry (EfM) classes. It has bite to it; it makes us scratch our heads and think twice.
If you have a strong opinion one way of another, you would benefit from sharing it in an environment that respects your view as yours and gives you space to time to express it.
We don't agree all the time. In fact most of the time we have more opinions than we have students, but that is the point. We tackle difficult questions of faith and learn from each other while applying some theological thinking to the issues of our times.
In the end, we can celebrate this deacon's accomplishments as a minister of his newly acquired faith, and we can recognize the struggle he must have gone through to deal with the unwanted changes and conflicts in his life and the life of his people.
We can apply those appreciations and concerns to the world around us today, and look at the struggles of immigrants and refugees others the same way.
That is the value of EfM.
We start up classes again at Christ's Church in Rye in 2 weeks with an open house on Monday September 14th from 7-8 pm.
If you live or work in the area, you might want to stop by and add your thoughts to the mix.
More to come...