MissioAllianceEssentialReadingListOneofSeedbed’s10NotableBooksThegospelofJesushasnotalwaysbeengoodnewsforNativeAmericans.ThehistoryofNorthAmericaismarredbyatrocitiescommittedagainstNativepeoples.IndigenouscultureswereerasedinthenameofChristianity.Asaresult,tothisdayfewNativeAmericansarefollowersofJesus.However,despitethefar-reachingeffectsofcolonialism,someNativeshaveforgedculturallyauthenticwaystofollowthewayofJesus.Inhisfinalwork,RichardTwissprovidesacontextualizedIndigenousexpressionoftheChristianfaithamongtheNativecommunitiesofNorthAmerica.Hesurveysthepainful,complicatedhistoryofChristianmissionsamongIndigenouspeoplesandchroniclesmorehopefulvisionsofculturallycontextualNativeChristianfaith.ForTwiss,contextualizationisnotmerelyaformulaorevangelisticstrategy,butratherarelationalprocessoftheologicalandculturalreflectionwithinalocalcommunity.Nativeleadersreframethegospelnarrativeinlightofpost-colonization,reincorporatingtraditionalpracticesandritualswhilecritiquingandcorrectingtheassumptionsofAmericanChristianmythologies.TwissgivesvoicetothestoriesofNativefollowersofJesus,withperspectivesontheologyandspiritualityplusconcretemodelsforinterculturalministry.FuturegenerationsofNativefollowersofJesus,andthoseworkingcrossculturallywiththem,willbeindebtedtothiswork.
