Feast of David Pendleton Oakerhater

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” Luke 10:1-9

David P. Oakerhater (born around 1850) was a warrior and leader of the Cheyenne Indians of Oklahoma, and led a corps of fighters against the United States government in a dispute over Indian land rights. In 1875 he and 27 other military leaders were taken prisoner by the U S Army and sent to a military post in Florida. There, thanks to the efforts of a concerned Army captain, they learned English, were encouraged to earn money by giving art and archery lessons to visitors, and encountered the Christian faith. David and three others were moved to become Christians and to go north to study for the ministry. David was baptized in Syracuse, New York, in 1878, and ordained to the diaconate in 1881. He returned to Oklahoma and there founded schools and missions, and continued to work among his people until his death on 31 August 1931. When he first returned to Oklahoma in 1881, he said: 

You all know me. You remember when I led you out to war I went first, and what I told you was true. Now I have been away to the East and I have learned about another captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is my leader. He goes first, and all He tells me is true. I come back to my people to tell you to go with me now in this new road, a war that makes all for peace.       (biography by James Kiefer)

For me, as a seminarian and newly ordained person, Oakerhater was an icon for me of faithful service in a church which often ignored the needs of our Indigenous people, treated us like decoration, and were rarely willing to honor our leadership. His faithfulness, honesty and humility are always before me as an example of how to serve and a beacon of hope in challenging times.

Wondrous Creator, you painted our world

wrapped us all in your beauty and in diversity

causing us to speak and sing in many tongues

all of us praising the blessings of Our Creator.

We soon found difference to feel like threats

and thought ourselves superior to others

living with hostility and violence every day

none of which you gave from the start.

Wipe away our fears and our anxiety

help us to see your love in the strangers' face

give us serving hearts like David Oakerhater

so that we might turn our warring into your peace. Amen.