"A Powwow is a celebration of unity of all the Indian Nations of the Americas. It honors the earth and as we dance we give blessings back that the earth and Creator God gave to us. The Powwow teaches respect for the earth and for others."
Now, before you start wondering why a church would host some gathering where people are "honoring the earth", stop to think about native culture. Native culture is tied to the earth in a way that contemporary culture only strives to grasp. We are just now starting to realize how important our resources are and that we need to be taking better care of the earth if we want to continue using it. The earth is a gift to us and we have treated it very poorly. Why not take some time and be thankful for the food and resources that we get from earth?
It is also important to note that the church should be a place of healing. The Powwow is a place for recognizing unity among people that are often divided. I think the church should maybe start following the native plan for hosting celebrations of unity, maybe we could learn a thing or two about getting over past hurts and differences and learning to support each other in our own cultures and beliefs. Hmm.. could Baptists and Methodists have a Powwow to celebrate that even though they have different beliefs, they share a common God? Maybe they couldn't dance, well.. at least, not the Baptists!
So anyway. The Powwow. Amazing. So much fun worshiping and celebrating. We were honored to be part of such an amazing event. Relationships were formed and renewed. There was healing of hearts and lives. Wow.. just, wow. I'm going to share a few of our pictures. Take some time and listen to the sermon podcast, it was wonderful.
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