The National Day of Prayer

for the Cherokee Nation

April 24 & 25, 2009

Compassion in Action!

Compassion Acts wants to invite you to participate in The National Day of Prayer for the Cherokee Nation. This will be our second year to take part in this event. Again this year we will be involved in the prayer gathering as well providing another shipment of vitamin-fortified rice (Valued at $40,000). This rice makes a nutritionally complete meal and we will deliver it to two different food distribution sites for the Native American's in need.

Last year we had the chance to go to Oklahoma to pray, fellowship, and give a gift of fortified rice meals to our new First Nations friends. We were able to give over 430,000 meals to two different food agencies who distribute to Native American families in need. Even in the times in which we live many First Nations people live well below the poverty line. This is just one small jesture of restitution we want to make as God continues to bring restoration to the Native American people.

We are so excited to go back this year to participate in the Cherokee National Day of Prayer and give another truck load of rice. This year the cooking team, “Holy Smoke”, from Blood N Fire San Antonio will be coming to cook Bar-B-Que for the Community Celebration Dinner on Saturday afternoon. Over 200 people will be served at the dinner and we would love to have you there to serve with us as part of the team. We also need a team to pray on site during the weekend. It is going to be an amazing weekend and we want you to join us as part of this awesome experience.

J. Mark Rodgers, a member of the Encounters Network board, is helping to spearhead this trip and has carried the burden for the First Nations people. Many people are not aware of the history of the Native American people which provides the background and context of this significant event. Below you can read a helpful article written by J. Mark Rodgers concerning the historic tragedy and implications of the Trail of Tears and displacement of the First Nations people..

Ways to Participate:

1. GIVE - Donate to the food distribution!

To do this event with excellence, we need to raise $10,000 for the food distribution. The 430,000 fortified rice meals have already been donated (which has a $40,000 value) but we need to pay for the shipping (trucking), distribution and staffing. We will provide the food for the Community celebration meal we will be sharing with over 200 people on Saturday. Thanks for helping us to bless our First Nations brothers and sisters.

>>Click Here<< to donate online or send a check to Compassion Acts at PO Box 1653, Franklin, TN 37065, and in the Memo field write "Cherokee Outreach".

2. GO - Come and serve with the team!

We will need help on-site with serving meals, food distribution, and prayer. If you will attending this event and would like to help serve, please email us at admin@compassionacts.com.

3. PRAY - On site or in your prayer time!

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Weekend Details: National Day of Prayer for the Cherokee

Event Location: Siloam Springs, Arkansas (just on the Border of Oklahoma)

Dates:  April 24-25, 2009

Hotel Information: Each person is responsible to make their own reservations.

Holiday Inn Express-Siloam Spg - www.hiexpress.com - (479) 524-8080

Hampton Inn Siloam Springs (Siloam Springs, AR)  
2171 Ravenwood Plaza
Siloam Springs, Arkansas, USA, 72761
1-479-215-100
For rates http://hamptoninn1.hilton.com/en_US/hp/index.do

Airports:
Northwest Regional Airport – Arkansas (13 miles away)
Tulsa International Airport ( 85 miles away)

Event Schedule:

Friday Evening – Gathering
Saturday Morning – National Day of Prayer for Cherokee Nation
Saturday Afternoon – Community Meal
Saturday Evening - Gathering

Photos from the 2008 Cherokee National Day of Prayer and Food Outreach.
Mark Rodgers, Michal Ann Goll, Clifton Pettit, and Mark Roye in the food pantry.	Michal Ann Goll, James W. Goll and Ada Winn (relative of Nancy Ward) at the National Day of Prayer for the Cherokee Nation.

Article by J. Mark Rodgers

Much of our American history is spun out of urban myth. We want to believe certain ways and we look for historic fact that will support our theories. These myths have become a source of convenient security. After a few generations these sources of security become dogmatic doctrines that become foundational to our belief in our nations past. Anyone questioning the validity of our so-called written histories often find themselves being labeled. These labels range from the mild annoyance of unpatriotic thinkers to the extreme ends of heresy. The bible teaches that we shall know our fellow kingdom dwellers from the fruit of their lives. What is the fruit of American policy with regard to those we lived with? What was the fruit of kingdom thinking that is evident with regard to the original inhabitants of this land called America? If America was founded on Christian principles what went wrong?

In 1838, one of the darkest chapters in American history unfolded in what has become known as The Trail of Tears. Although primarily associated with the Cherokee Nation, the removal of the indigenous people involved dozens of different people groups. The intent of the removal treaty was to remove all native people groups east of the Mississippi River. The “treaties” which Congress ratified by a majority of one vote were not legally processed through tribal means. The Ridge party signature on the removal treaty was not ratified by known tribal authority at the annual gathering of the Cherokee at Red Clay, in Tennessee. The United States Government had full knowledge of this fact.

During the summer of 1838, the United States military, aided by bands of state militia, forcibly by means of threat of deadly force, herded Indians into government stockades for removal to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. The state militia was no more than armed groups of looters. Original government plans to remove the Indians via river transportation were thwarted by a drought that forced the Tennessee River to low levels. The Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals in Alabama was impassable that summer. The US government kept waiting for rain to raise the River levels but it never came the summer of 1838. The stockades were never meant to be long term holding areas. They lacked shelter, sanitation facilities and above all food. The U.S. government found itself trying to provide for thousands of people in stockades scattered across 4 states. Dysentery and other diseases overtook the populations in the stockades. The young and old died first as people were subjected to conditions of squalor and disease. Wagonloads of dead became a common sight as thousands died.

By late summer, the tribal leadership knew they had to take matters into their own hands. Traveling to Washington, D.C., they received U.S. government approval to move themselves westward. They bought their own wagons, what food was available and moved without oversight of the US military westward. Staying further in the internment camps meant certain death. With self-removal, at least the strong had a chance.

During the fall and winter of 1838-1839, thousands of Indians followed numerous routes westward to the Oklahoma territory. It was a record setting cold winter. The Ohio River froze for the first time in many years trapping one group near Paducah, Kentucky. They found themselves trying to survive under stone outcroppings at Mantle Rock. Thousands more died on this journey of tears from Charleston, Tennessee to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Along these trails are the unmarked graves of a tragedy swept quietly under the rug of American politics. Freedom in America is only as deep as the color of one’s skin.

>>Click Here<< to read the rest of this articel by Dr. J. Mark Rogers. Mark is a long time friend of James W. Goll and serves as Secertary on the Board of Encounters Network. He is a trusted source for ministry concerning First Nations peoples and land.

>>Click Here<< to read an article for Dr. J. Mark Rogers from our 2008 National Day of Prayer for Cherokee Nation.

>>Click Here<< to donate online or send a check to Compassion Acts at PO Box 1653, Franklin, TN 37065, and in the Memo field write "Cherokee Outreach".

Photos from Last Years National Day of Prayer and Food Outreach.