Renee Begay (Zuni)
Indigenous people are fully capable of understanding the gospel, but HOW MINISTRY iS been done has been traumatic, dehumanizing, and spiritually abusive.
Missionaries and their ministry methodologies keep trying to re-imagine evangelization, but a new way to share the gospel is not what is needed. What is needed is for those who share the gospel to actually live out the gospel in their presence!
Hello, my name is Renee Begay. Keshhi ho’ Renee Begay le’shina. Ho K’o:lotda:kwe deyan K’yak’yali:kwe a:wan cha’le. So I belong to my mother’s clan, which is the Sandhill Crane clan, and then I’m a child of my father’s clan, which is the Eagle Clan. And so that’s how we find out who’s related to who, who’s auntie of who or whatever. But that’s how I introduce myself.
I am from the Pueblo of Zuni in Southwest New Mexico. I am a mother to three daughters and married to my high school “fren” Donnie Begay. I think in introducing myself and then also sharing where I’m from, and then for those that are from Zuni, knowing where my family’s located, that brings a theme of actual responsibility when I actually do introduce myself in that way, because there is a responsibility I have to take within my identity, that it’s not just a haphazard way of saying like, you know, this is who I am, but it’s like, it’s actually, a theme of belonging, who I belong to, but then also the responsibility that I have to the rest of my family, and then my community.
I recently left Cru (a large evangelical Christian organization) after almost two decades. I am excited to see what I will do next, the places I’ll go, and who I will meet. My heart’s desire has always been to work with not only my people and community but also young people from any and all nations. Working with Indigenous college students down in Las Cruces at NMSU gave me so much joy, hope, and life. Any chance I get to hang out with college students is a blessing and feeds my soul. I love listening to them talk about their identity, their home, their community, and their hopes for the future.
