Ministry Origins

Having worked in schools on or near the Navajo Nation, I was aware of gifts of our Indigenous Relatives, e.g., spiritual, intellectual, artistic, and social.  When I found four United Methodist churches on reservation land in southeast Utah, I was put in touch with the new missionary, the Rev. Dr. Rodney Aist.  We developed a partnership with those four churches and asked how we could be in ministry with them rather than to them. 

It has taken time for both sides of this partnership to be understood and to grow. When Harry Johnson, Lay Leader of the church in Diwozhibikoh, Utah, asked me why we never try to change what they do – to make it “the white man’s way,” I explained that we are here to help them do what they do better and not different. To generate revenue for this partnershp, we buy and sell handmade crafts and jewelry. We always pay cash to the crafters or the family representative for the items we buy so the crafters recoup their expenses immediately.  We are in ministry with and not to! -Glenna Kyker.

At the 2009 [Utah-Western Colorado] District celebration of United Methodist Women [now United Women in Faith], I admired a striking necklace worn by someone new to me. Turned out to be Glenna. “It’s for sale. Would you like to buy it?” “How much is it?” I asked.  $120.  I hadn’t come to church that morning with the idea of buying anything.  Glenna handed me the Cross & Flame necklace even hough I hadn’t given her any money!  Glenna was quiet for a moment and then said, “As I got dressed this morning, God told me to wear it.” Being faithful, Glenna did as she was called to do. From that small exchange, this Native American ministry was born.  I’ve purchased other necklaces for myself and as gifts for others. – Annie Hauck, Montrose UMC, CO

Some of the projects, past and present, of our ministry: 

• Established Native Grace Intertribal Fellowship in Cortez, CO 
• Wrote a grant for Native Grace to buy mutton for a community celebration 
• Paid the Native Grace pastor’s salary for several years (equitable compensation) 
• Buy enough jewelry and crafts from roadside vendors for them to wrap up for the day 
• Give scholarships to students at Northern Arizona U; Pima Community College, Arizona; Methodist-related McMurry University in Texas; Fort Lewis College, Colorado; University of New Mexico; Colorado Mesa University; San Juan College in New Mexico; Utah State University, Blanding Campus; tech schools in the Four Corners area 
• Provide housing for families visiting hospitalized relatives 
• Connect donors with Indigenous People and ministries around the country 
• Commission designs for greeting cards