Empowering the Indigenous Missionary

Who are the indigenous people of the world? My own experiences serving in Mexico, South America and Southeast Asia have enlightened me to the reality that the term ‘indigenous’ is largely misunderstood in the Christian church. Indigenous peoples are too often confused with what are in fact ‘nationals’; Spanish-speaking Mexicans or Peruvians, Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, Nepali-speaking people of Nepal, etc., are all nationals. Wikipedia defines indigenous peoples as “the ethnic minorities who have been marginalized as their historical territories became part of a state.”In context of the Great Commission, the Tijaltepec Mixteco Indians of Mexico, Amahuacas of Brazil, and the Raute of Nepal are indigenous peoples. They are “tribes, tongues and nations” still living… Continue reading