Navajo Christian leader to speak at NWC

Mark Charles, a Christian leader who works for reconciliation on behalf of Native Americans, will speak in Northwestern College’s chapel service on Monday, Oct. 13, at 10:05 a.m. and on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 11:05 a.m. The events are free and open to the public.

Charles seeks to understand the complexities of American history regarding race, culture and faith in order to help forge a path of healing and reconciliation for the nation. To support this mission, he and his wife founded an organization called Five Small Loaves, based in Fort Defiance, Ariz., on the Navajo Reservation. He serves as a board member for the Christian Community Development Association and is on the Board of Trustees for the Christian Reformed Church of North America.

A former pastor of Denver’s Christian Indian Center who still preaches in churches, Charles developed and coordinates the Global Discipleship Network project through Christian Reformed World Missions and seeks to strengthen Native Americans’ national political voice through his work in communities around the nation. On Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 13, he will release a nationwide petition that advocates for the retraction of an apology that was made five years ago by the U.S. government to American Indians but was buried in a Department of Defense appropriations bill and never publicized, announced or read by the Congress or the White House.

In Monday’s chapel service, Charles will speak on the theme of repentance and forgiveness in relation to reconciliation in the U.S. On Tuesday, he will educate attendees on the Doctrine of Discovery, a series of papal bulls written in the 1400s that resulted in the oppression of indigenous peoples and cultures. Charles will discuss how the Christian church and the U.S. government continue to exercise tenets of the Doctrine of Discovery today.

Charles will speak as part of the Ronald R. Nelson Scholars and Artists in Residence Program, which seeks to inspire students with scholarship that reflects a vision of peace and justice. The program is named in honor of Ron Nelson, a history professor who served at Northwestern College from 1974 until his death in 1985.