Ministry Update – June 2014

Ya’at’eeh my friends. I (Mark Charles) wanted to give you a short update on the latest happenings for 5 Small Loaves.

Last week, in Washington DC, I presented at a conference for Sojourners called the Summit for Change. This was a gathering of about 300 Christian leaders from around the country to dialogue about national issues of social justice. We discussed topics like Women in leadership, Mass incarceration, implicit bias and immigration reform. I spoke in a panel on the topic of Implicit Bias and had 3 minutes to educate people regarding the Doctrine of Discovery. Because my time was so short I actually wrote out my remarks (which I almost never do) and then read them. Overall it went well but the topic of the Doctrine of Discovery is so huge that it would have been wonderful to have additional time to address the topic more fully.

Please pray that future opportunities will open up for a broader and more indepth dialogue regarding the Doctrine of Discovery. And if you have not yet read my remarks please send me a message and I will be happy to send you a link.

On Monday, June 30, Tim and Martha Stoner will be signing a lease to rent a hogan about 1/4 mile from our house here in Fort Defiance. They are planning to move on July 8. We are extremely grateful they are moving here to partner with us and ask for your prayers that their move and transition will go smoothly.

This week Rachel and I had a meeting with the priest at the Good Shepherd Mission here in Fort where 5 Small Loaves is planning to run a coffee shop for the next several months. We are scheduled to open the doors on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally a gourmet coffee shop on the Rez! 🙂

Last week I gave a seminar at the District Church in Washington DC for about 25 people regarding the Biblical dynamics between Power and Authority from Mark chapter 6. The teaching went extremely well. Most of those in attendance were younger leaders from the DC area and they are were extremely challenged by the scriptures. Please pray with us for more opportunities to teach on this topic.

Rachel’s blog series (published on our website) on Mission Models that Empower has been very well received. She has published 3 articles so far and is nearly finished with the fourth. Please pray that these articles will challenge churches and organizations to think very critically regarding their mission models.

Opportunities for dialogue and conversations regarding the work of 5 Small Loaves continues to increase. This October I have been invited to participate in a Think Tank at Kilns College in Bend, OR regarding Creation Care and the environment. I have a possible invitation to speak to an African American group in NYC later this year regarding the Doctrine of Discovery. And I am involved in some ongoing work with the CRCNA to develop some educational material regarding the Doctrine of Discovery (a US version of the Blanket Exercise) that we are hoping to have completed by the end of August.

We are thrilled that our Crowd Funding campaign on GoFundMe has raised nearly $900 in the past three weeks. As we continue to rethink the Evangelical Fund Raising Model in an effort to find a method that not only works for 5 Small Loaves but is also sustainable for other indigenous leaders and ministries, I have grown very partial to Crowd Funding. I am finding that because this model is dependant on gathering smaller gifts from a larger pool of people instead of soliciting fewer larger gifts from a small pool of personal relationships it seems much more indigenous friendly and sustainable.

We are extremely grateful for your prayers, support and partnership and we thank God regularly for your willingness to walk with us.

Ahe’hee’

Mark Charles