(Nov. 11, 2001 issue - www.pe.ag.org).

I hear that there are perhaps 20 Assemblies of God congregations in the state of Washington, but I have only visited one. This issue of Pentecostal Evangel has 3 stories about improving prospects for AG reservation churches. I am glad for them (I did graduate from an AG Bible College.).

When I visited a local native congregation recently (AG) I met an older Tlingit cousin of mine there. When the subject rolled around to how he grew up, he expressed discomfort with regalia and culture since he heard how sinful it was from a very young age. He is even uncomfortable in attending tribal gatherings. But with the AG church, he has a place to go, and I am happy for him. If my cousin came to my native church, I am pretty our level of culture would really cause him some grief, so I would not try and put him into that situation.

I have been trying to understand how various denominations approach native church planting, including, of course, the Assemblies of God. From the AG articles I read, there seems to be an arm's-length distance from the culture, and a focus on traditional Western-European (AG) activities. In fact, if I had closed my eyes, nothing would have indicated that I was in a "native congregation" on my last visit.

But there are many natives who will never recover from the damage done to their cultures. The majority church created a fear of native tradition, in the same way that many Protestants protest against the sacramental traditions. But my call is not to try and convert AG natives into more "cultural" people. I am called to preach the Good News to the lost. And the cultures that I mostly encounter are more traditional, and have a different set of issues than the AG natives. The AG preaches the Good News reaching out to other sectors of the population, such as native homeless and reservation natives. So we both preach the Gospel - we both work for the same Jesus - and I hope that we can show the world that even with our different approaches, that Jesus is Lord and we are truly just one church.

But I heard of another denomination "spying out the land" on a newly-rich reservation. This denomination has no reservation works or ties to the people. But they have a new strategy - to plant churches where the casinos are raking in the cash, so that through tithing, the church can be self-supporting, requiring no denominational investment to keep the 'poor Indian church' afloat.

Now there's a strategy - follow the money! That's got to be in the Bible - why everybody says it don't they? "Cleanliness is next to godliness" "The Lord helps those who helps themselves" "Follow the money! (and teach tithing early and often).

Where was this denomination at when the tribe was poor and struggling with no cash flow? Did they even try to send in a bi-vocational pastor that didn't need funds to bring in the Good News?

If they want a stable cash-flow as a pre-requisite, why not just approach the casino for direct sponsorship? Maybe they could name the church "The Lucky Salmon Casino Revival Center"? The tribe gets the advertising and the denomination is not out-of-pocket any cash!

Unless, of course, the church ends up needing to minister to the families whose lives are wrecked by gambling addictions, and the alcohol that often accompanies a fun time at the casino - well, that could be a small problem.

What if the reservation was looking for a moral voice to sound the call for non-addictive sources of tribal income, such as adult-care homes, nursing homes, food-processing operations, or light industrial parks? Well they probably would not be able to go to the church for something like that - no one would want to force the church into a conflict of interest.

Paul says that he doesn't mind that some preach out of vainglory and strife - but hey, the Gospel is still preached. Sadly, the casino-sensitive approach reminds me of the Christian missionaries appointed by the government to run the "Indian schools". Today the stories of residential school atrocities still impede the Good News from being heard by many, all because of a convenient and financially stable arrangement.

Perhaps the denomination will reconsider their strategy - I cannot say. I will just stick with my poor brother and sister servants of Jesus who are planting worship gatherings wherever natives happen to be, irrespective of potential cash flow and return-on-investment models. Hey, can someone give me a ride to the bus station?