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Have you talked to a group of Mormon students recently? If you're like most college students, probably not. How about meeting with a Native American student? No? You're not alone. Growing up through the school system in Minnesota, I had studied Native American history and read about the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). But it wasn't until later that I actually met both Native Americans and Mormons. John was one such person. We had a lot in common, and soon became good friends. We enjoyed being together. It wasnuntil about a year later that I found out John was a member of the Lakota tribe. It threw me a little; we always had so much in common that I'd always thought we were the same. In many ways, we were the same--only different.

I felt that odd "same-yet-different" sensation again last month when I was with a Native American on campus. I was sitting with my Navajo friend as she described her faith struggle, and I was reminded of what I like and dislike about our majority American culture. I was reminded of the strong biblical values reflected in Native American culture: harmony, beauty, creation, connection and community. I empathized with the clash of cultures she was experiencing, even with American evangelical Christianity. I long to see more harmony and community in my own church.

As she described her family's expectations of her, I remembered my own father's expectations of me and the struggle that has been. As we talked, I tried to help her sort out the differences between who Jesus really is and his portrayal in our 90s culture. In time, I'm hoping I can learn from her Native American experience, while helping her encounter a real, risen Christ.

A colleague of mine at Boise State University in western Idaho, David Brown, has been involved in a similar process with Mormon students. The question he is asking himself is, "What do we, the body of Christ on campus, have to offer Mormon students? What have Mormons not already heard, seen and embraced?"

As the Boise I-V chapter ponders this, the students have realized that they don't want to just offer a different brand of Mormonism's assumed strengths. Doctrine, discipleship, family values: Their Mormon friends have heard it all. Spirituality, worship, Scripture: Again, "No thanks, we're fine."

"But then it struck me," says David, "as big and as bold as the cross of Christ itself. I have the Good News. To a Mormon their good news is only misleading at best. What do I believe that they cannot? That I am forgiven; that I am saved; it is finished. We can offer peace, grace, and hope-the good news of the Gospel. After being battered with the responsibility of individual sin since turning the age of accountability, a Mormon student needs to hear the truth, the same simple truth that we all need to hear over and over again: 'You are forgiven; by grace you have been saved.'"
 

Maybe the Lord has already introduced you to some Native American or Mormon students. Maybe you're among many I-V students who would like to learn more--how to pray for them and how to serve them. If so, we'd like to hear from you. Several of us want to set up an electronic network (through simple e-mail at first) for students interested in ministry to these people. The network would be a means to share information, encouragement, training and prayer. We are planning a Native American ministry conference and a Mormon ministry conference for next year. We will use those conferences to put faces with names on the network and to facilitate relationships among network participants.

If you're interested in being a part of the Native American ministry network, contact me, Joel Olson, at ibNAnet@aol.com. If you'd like to join the Mormon ministry network, contact me at LDSgroup@aol.com.