The First Peoples Initiative focuses on creating gospel movements among First Peoples throughout all of North America. Approximately 9.5 million First Peoples live in the United States, and approximately 2 million tribal people live in Canada. Over five hundred and seventy tribes exist in the United States alone, and the majority of enrolled tribal members in the United States live off of Indian reservations, with a large number living in metropolitan or urban contexts. First Nations people in Canada also live both on reserves and in a variety of contexts off reserves.
Many tribal people in the United States and Canada view Jesus as the “white man’s God” and have a distorted image of Jesus. They have yet to recognize that, like them, he came from a tribe ― the tribe of Judah. The reason why many tribal people view Jesus as the “whiteman’s God” is due to what has taken place in North American history. For example, for over 100 years, both the Canadian and United States governments worked with various Christian denominations to forcibly remove Indigenous children from their parents and homes on reservations and reserves. These children were placed in distant residential schools where the motto of these schools was to “kill all the Indian in the Indian to save the man”. In other words, forcibly try to remove all Indigenous culture in these children, so that these children look, think, act, and live in general like White Christians. And, Indigenous children endured various types of abuses, including physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, in these schools while being taught the Christian faith in boarding schools. As a result of very negative and even traumatic historical experiences with Christianity, many tribal people throughout North America are resistance and even hostile to the good news of Jesus and Christianity in general.
The First Peoples Initiative exists to show love to Indigenous people throughout North America what true Biblical Christianity looks like, as we also depend on God in prayer, so that these tribal people come to meet, know, and follow a Jesus who came from the tribe of Judah.
