Upcoming Events & Projects

We are so excited about this year's Convocation of Eagles that will be at Ross Point, Post Falls, Idaho from August 28 through September 2, 2005.

The theme of this year's COE is "Soaring On The Clouds". Your hosts are the Bob Family (TEOTTM Ministries) as well as local ministers and churches. All meetings will be held at the Ross Point Bible Camp, which is located on the Spokane River, south of the I-90 & HWY 41 junction, in Post Falls, Idaho.

This year's COE will include fun activities for the whole family. In addition to Native style dancing, drumming, singing and talking circles, there will be workshops, Bible classes and several outdoor activities. Contact us immediately to REGISTER.

Then in September, we are hosting a 3-day women's healing retreat with Morning Sun Yellow Pony. We have reserved the Glacier Mountain Lodge at Glacier Bible Camp in Hungry Horse, MT. The dates are Sept 9-11, 2005. This will be a wonderful and safe time of refreshing, healing and building relationships. Morning Sun Yellow Pony is a warm and sensitive, yet bold and courageous teacher, song writer, singer, evangelist and mature minister of the Gospel. She is Cherokee and the founder of Take A Stand Ministries, which is a ministry for those who have suffered from abuse. Please contact us as soon as possible to REGISTER.

In addition to these gatherings, we are also involved in some outreach projects. The first is the Jesus Video project coming to Montana. Our team leader is Chuck Cushman, who works very closely with YWAM and local area churches. He is gifted at networking and church planting, as well as mobilizing people for a common goal. Although the project is focused on putting a copy of the Jesus DVD in every home, it is MUCH MORE than that! Our part is to work towards putting the NATIVE North American version of the Jesus DVD into Native households. Not only that, but also to strategize toward planting culturally relevant and viable churches in areas where there is not currently a church.

We are also praying about the small groups and talking circles we will begin in the Fall. Many people want to participate in the Healing Circle study on residential boarding school. There is also interest in Jewish Roots studies. We hope to facilitate a school in partnership with Institute For Hebraic-Christian Studies. www.rbooker.com .

Israel Report

Baruch HaShem! Thank God! We had an absolutely wonderful time in Israel. Wado! Thank you! We sure appreciate your prayers and support. As you know, Wilma Bob and I went with several others to Israel for the "Gush Katif Solidarity Mission". There were nearly 50 people in our group, representing churches and ministries from across the US and around the world.

Our primary mission was to go to the Jewish Settlements in the Gaza Strip and Samaria. We wanted to meet the people, hear their hearts and pray with them regarding the upcoming forced government removal, the Disengagement Plan. For more information, see our ISREAL REPORT at: http://AcrossTurtleIsland.injesus.com .

In addition to visiting Gush Katif and the settlements in Samaria, we also enjoyed a lot of touring and sight seeing. Wilma and I baptised each other in the Jordan River! We all sailed in the "Jesus Boat" on the Sea of Galiliee. We walked through the old temple in Capernum and we strolled through the Garden of Gethsemane. We stood on the Mount of Olives and looked over Jersusalem. We prayed at the Wailing Wall and we visited the Garden Tomb.

We met several beautiful people. Our Bedouin cabby who was also a Believer! Our sweet tour guide, Shimon, and our bus driver, Mordecai. We also had brief, yet memorial, meetings with many orthodox Jews. Two orthodox Jews approached Wilma and I, asking if we were aware that many people believe the Native Americans are the lost tribe of Israel!

I'm in the process of putting together a power point presentation of all the pictures we took while in Israel. I might even include pictures from Peru and DC, etc. I know many of you would have liked to have come with us and I'd like you to share in the trips as much as you can!

Please ... please ... be in prayer for the people of Israel, the peace of Jerusalem and the families facing the forced removal.

Also, please be in prayer for the Joint Resolution of Apology to the Native Peoples which is currently before congress. ( www.NativeRes.Org)

Looking Back on Five Years of First Nations Monday

First Nations Monday, as you know, is a Native American prayer network and resource ministry, as well as a Montana based non-profit religious corporation. The ministry began in 2000 for the primary purpose of facilitating networking, communication and prayer between leaders in Native American ministry, as well as various interested individuals and intercession groups. This was accomplished through a monthly exhaustive prayer letter through email, a web based directory of Native Ministries, as well as two on-line discussion groups focused on cross-cultural, contextual ministry.

In the beginning, the ministries of First Nations Monday represented the largest Native American/ First Nations prayer network, the most informative on-line directory of Native Ministries, and the largest Native/ Christian on-line discussion groups. After the first year of service to Native American / Christian leaders and those interested in Native Ministry, several other projects immerged.

First Nations Monday published a ministry brochure called "Prayer Guide For First Nations People and Those Serving In Native Ministry" which has been widely distributed across North America and around the world. In addition to the booklet there are several radio public service announcements promoting prayer for Native Ministry that are broadcast weekly across Montana, as well as weekly email prayer alerts sent world-wide. The text of the prayer guide is also available on the web. The purpose is to unify as many as possible in prayer for Native people and ministry.

In addition to the extensive prayer mobilization projects, First Nations Monday also produces a weekly radio program for the purpose of highlighting Native American / Christian music and events in Native Ministry. Although this is a local program, it reaches parts of both neighboring reservations: the Blackfeet Reservation to the north and the Flathead Reservation to the south. Also, there is a weekly email post with the basic text of the program and additional announcements and resources. Again, this email takes the basic local program and puts the information into the hands of people around the world. The goal is to do all that is possible to promote Native American / Christian worship leaders and music ministries, particularly those that are contextual and reaching Native American communities in a culturally relevant way. You can now hear the program on-line at www.kals.com.

In the last year, the vision and goals of the ministry have expanded rapidly in other bridge-building endeavors that include hosting local and national Christ-centered Native American gatherings and conferences. In five years of networking, the ministry has successfully grown so much that many of the original projects have had to be changed or dropped. Although the role of liaison and/ or bridge builder between the Native and non-Native Christian communities remains the same, the strategies have had to change to keep up with the growth and effectiveness of the ministry.

The on-line directory of Native Ministries has been put completely into the care of Polished Arrow Ministries based in California. Polished Arrow originally maintained the paper version of the directory, while First Nations Monday provided the web presence. ( www.polishedarrow.com) In addition, one of the original on-line discussion groups was dropped. However several others have been started by other people in the Native/ Christian community across the country.

Finally, the monthly exhaustive Native Ministry prayer letter was dropped. It had grown to the point that it represented over 200 Native American ministries across the United States as well as 16 in Canada; 6 in Mexico; 3 in Africa; 4 in Australia; 3 in India; 1 in Israel; 1 in Pakistan; 1 for Parsee; 5 in Peru; 2 in Philippines; 1 in Scotland; 1 in Siberia; 1 in Switzerland; 1 in Turkey; and 1 in the Ukraine. It became a project too big for one person to manage. That being said, the original goal of facilitating communication, networking and prayer support was accomplished to a far greater point than what anyone could have imagined. (NOTE: We did spend about a year of praying and strategizing the use of regional coordinators to expand the prayer ministry and manage the larger responsibilities. However, it became apparent the Lord wanted us to 'let go' rather than 'hang on'.)

To date, the ministry of First Nations Monday is taking on more of a leadership role as a bridge builder/ liaison while stepping out of the earlier roles of support and administration. This includes speaking at conferences, teaching workshops, speaking at schools, churches and other outreach events, teaching through radio broadcasts and writing articles to be included in Christ-centered teaching publications. After 5 years of prayer and networking, the ministry will now move into a new phase of hosting Native American/ Christian contextual gatherings and conferences with a long term goal of planting churches that are more culturally relevant to reaching Native American/ First Nations peoples.

Last year (2004) we hosted the 3-day Convocation of Eagles which was very successful. This August the COE will be in held in Post Falls Idaho. We are also hosting a 3-day women's retreat in September. In the Fall we will continue with our talking circles and home meetings.

 

2005 Calendar

* June 30 - July 5: Arlee Pow Wow
* July 4: Independence Day. ATI Program 6:45 PM MST
* July 7-10: Browning Pow wow
* July 10: Emma's 10th Birthday
* July 11: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* July 15: Planning Mtg - Jesus Film in MT
* July 15-17: Elmo Pow Wow
* July 18: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* July 22-23: Prayer Mtg - MT and SJ Res 15
* July 25: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* Aug 1: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* Aug 8: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* Aug 15: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* Aug 16-21: Camp Meeting, Flathead Reservation. Dean Buffalo
* Aug 18-19: First Nations Women's Conference. MT Womens Aglow
* Aug 20-21: Crow Fair Outreach, Crow Agency
* Aug 22: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)

* Aug 23: Planning Mtg - Jesus Video Project

* Aug 28- Sept 2: "Soaring On The Clouds" 2005 Convocation of Eagles. Ross Point Bible Camp, Post Falls, Idaho.

* Aug 25: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)
* Sept 3: Dave & Jeny's Wedding Anniversary
* Sept 5: ATI Program 6:45 PM MST (listen live kals.com)

* Sept 9-11: Women's Healing Retreat with Morning Sun Yellow Pony. Glacier Mountain Lodge, Glacier Bible Camp, Hungry Horse, MT.

* Nov 1-5: Partnership for Shamanist People Groups, Krasnoyarsk, SIBERIA.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ABOVE MEETINGS, CONTACT: FIRST NATIONS MONDAY. www.firstnationsmonday.com . Be sure to REGISTER for Convocation of Eagles and the Women's Healing Retreat, as soon as possible.

 

Prayer Needs

* Please pray for God's favor in the upcoming meetings.

* Please pray for abundant provision in our personal and ministry finances.

* Please pray for favor as we apply for a new 501(c)3.

* Please pray for our businesses, Covill & Basham Construction and Designs By Running Brook.

* Please pray for victory over strongholds and favor among our local community.

* Please pray that the Lord will bring people to hold us up in prayer and who will support our work unto the Lord, through whatever means the Lord would so desire.

* Please pray for Chief Walking Bear and Amonsoquath Tribe of Cherokee.

* Please pray for Pastor Daniel & Christine Oyoko. They have asked to be representatives of FNM in Kenya Africa. Daniel writes: " To run the ministry we will need a support of $ 800 every month due to fuel in the generator, crusades, and travelling with our ''Team of Praise and Worshipping ''. The buying of the Public Address System, would cost $ 1100, and the Tent would cost $ 3800. This will make the ministry run for the Lord. " To contact Pastor Daniel and Christine Oyoko, you can write to: PO BOX 150, Homa-Bay 40300 Kenya. Email: christineoyoko@yahoo.com .

* Please pray for Israel and the Jewish people facing the Disengagement Plan.

* Please pray for Montana and the Jesus Video Project. Specifically for bringing the Native North American version into every home on every MT reservation.

CONTACT US

The Covill Family
PO BOX 2870
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
(406) 892-1355 - Home
(406) 885-3435 - Cell
(406) 892-2367 - FAX
www.firstnationsmonday.com
jenycovill@gmail.com