CHIEF, Inc.

Seeking to help restore hope, healing, and honor among the Indigenous people of North America takes many ministries working together . . . the task is vast, but we at Indian Life are committed to partnering with other ministries. One of these is CHIEF, Inc.

CHIEF, Inc. was founded in 1975 by Tom Claus. As he went to individual Native reservations and met with pastors, lay leaders, and missionaries, he observed, firsthand, the need for culturally relevant evangelism that would be effective and the need for culturally specific discipleship/leadership training. So he called together more than 100 Christian Native leaders, from different areas of the hemisphere, who represented mission agencies, denominations, schools, colleges, tribes and government agencies to participate in the Conference on Christian Indian Leadership and Evangelism, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He noted on http://www.Chief.org, "Our Native Christians are a quiet people, but if they are taught the power of prayer and power of the Holy Spirit, they can go to their families, tribes, and nations and speak boldly the Word of God. Then, our evangelism strategies, like the early church, will be effective and powerful not only in the location where we live, but in other Native villages, in every part of our reservations and even to the remotest tribes and nations of the world."

According to Huron Claus, the current President/CEO of CHIEF, the vision of CHIEF was-and continues to be-"To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every Native First Nations tribe throughout the Western Hemisphere and other related people groups throughout the world." CHIEF has faithfully fulfilled its purpose since its inception nearly 50 years ago.

CHIEF's purpose is fulfilled through their three ministry goals. The first goal, evangelism, is accomplished through partnering with local Native churches in their individual ministries to the surrounding Native community. CHIEF strives to train the Native evangelists and believers in effective evangelistic methods, and they help enlarge the Native church's vision to reach all tribes and nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Another goal of CHIEF's is keeping a focus on discipleship/leadership development. The CHIEF leaders accomplish this goal through mentoring, encouraging, and empowering Native believers who are called to be in leadership positions in ways that are culturally relevant, taking care to not compromise Scripture. Their training programs include School Without Walls, CHIEF Shepperd Disciple Center, The Native Christian Leadership Forum, and Stephen's Ministry.

The third ministry goal is helps/community impact. They fulfill this goal by giving practical assistance to the First Nations communities.

An example of how CHIEF engages in evangelism is in how they share the gospel. Huron Claus said, "One of the greatest discoveries in my life was to realize that God's Word is God's voice. Every time I open His book, I literally am hearing His voice speak to me each day. In reading His book, I discovered that His greatest gift to all of His creation is a restored relationship through His son, Jesus Christ, to our indigenous people.

"I also know among our people, the greatest offense can be when a gift is rejected. The question I ask many is 'How do we respond to Our Creator's greatest gift?' My friend, may we consider with great joy the privilege to extend God's gift to whomever we see. May we, as Indigenous people, show honor and respect in joyfully accepting His gift! The choice is ours."

As the ministry focuses on discipleship and leadership development, the leaders of CHIEF provide resources including Bibles, Transform Native Discipleship Magazine, cultural counseling, and more.

They also welcome anyone to participate in their events. For instance, on July 18–20, 2024, CHIEF will sponsor a gathering of Native Christian leaders in Bemidji, Minnesota, which occurs every three years. This year's theme is "Rooted and Grounded" in God's Word." Participants can enjoy learning from four plenary speakers, twelve workshop leaders, and twenty exhibitors representing Native ministry in North America.

The next 2024 event open to the public is the Indigenous Christian Leadership Conference in Calgary, Alberta, on September 11–12. This event is a joint ministry event with CHIEF and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Next year, to celebrate 50 years of ministry, CHIEF will be in three different cities to celebrate: Phoenix, Arizona; Chicago, Illinois; and Washington, DC. Further details for each are available on their website.

When asked about the greatest challenge and the greatest joy in ministry, Claus said: "Native Christian leadership is the greatest need in our communities today. . . . We need Native Christian leadership demonstrated on our councils, impacting our nations; in our families, impacting the next generation; in our churches, making a viable difference working together in our communities. It is a great joy to meet Christian Indigenous leaders making difficult decisions in Native life yet giving hope and strength to the people God has given them influence to."

To learn more about CHIEF's ministry and its events, visit their website, http://www.chief.org. If you go to the "Get Involved" tab on their website, and scroll to the Prayer Circle on the drop-down menu, you can find 31 days of prompts to help you pray for the Native people in the Western Hemisphere. You can also connect with CHIEF on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/chiefinc.

Please join us at Indian Life Ministries in praying for those who minister through CHIEF as we seek together to continue to fulfill the Great Commission by seeking to help restore hope, healing, and honor throughout the Native communities throughout all of North America.