Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of theology in the raw. My guest today is the one and only Terry W. Wildman Terry is the Lee

Translator general editor and project manager of the first nation's version of the Bible. He serves as the director of spiritual growth and leadership development for native

interversities also the founder of rain ministries and has previously previously served as a pastor of worship leader and he and his wife Darley and leave an Arizona. I invited Terry to come on the show because as I often like to do I love to get

less popular perspectives on various events that happen throughout our calendar year. And so the 4th of July is tomorrow and many of us want to me think twice about

eating homemade ice cream watching fireworks and celebrating the good old red white and blue. It's a time of a lot of patriotic fervor and I think most Christians won't even think twice about just

celebrating the great things about the founding of of American independence that many of us have had. But how do Native Americans think of the 4th of July?

That's the question we're going to wrestle with on this podcast. Terry Wildman is Native American, otherwise known as part of the first nations or indigenous people who were here before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And I'm always interested in getting just different perspectives that are outside the mainstream view on various issues including how Native Americans feel about the 4th of July. So please welcome to the show for the first time the one or no Terry Wildman.

Terry, thanks so much for being on the all general on the eve of July 4th. I want to get into your thoughts on the 4th of July and America as a whole. But first want to just tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?

Well, first of all, just say thanks for having me on on your program here and say Bujou. Hello to all your listeners out there and I'm glad you're giving a place for Native voices to speak. It's a voice that's been not out there as much as other voices. And so appreciate that very much. So I'll give you an introduction in Ojibwe, the language of my ancestry, which I don't speak the language. But this is a introduction. I was given in.

Todd by a nation of a friend who does speak Ojibwe from Minnesota. So Bujou, Niji, Marazig, Gitschia, Nimi, Kim and Nomash, Kiki, Manidu, Indigo, Terry Wildman, Indition, Akaz, Nminu, Ayah, Gaye, Nmin, Wanda, Muma, Ayah, Nungungum. So what I said was hello, my friends, who share this life together with me. My Indian name given to me by my mentors is Gitschia, Nimi, Kim and Nomash, Kiki, Manidu, which

translates as voice of great thunder with a good medicine spirit. And I'm also known as Terry Wildman. So that one's

easier to live up to, but I speak that name that's been given to me and I carry that name to honor my

people. I said, it feels good to be here today with you in this space, this kind of digital space that

are there in today, kind of digital smoke signals or something. So I'm glad we can communicate with each

other. So I was born and raised in Michigan. My ancestry includes Ojibwe from Ontario, Canada, Yaki from

Sonora, Mexico, as well as English, German and Spaniard. So I'm married to darling Wildman. I have five

children, eight grandchildren, three great grandchildren. My wife and I currently live in Maricopa,

Arizona, on the traditional lands of the Pima and the Tahanaatham. So it does feel good to be with

everyone here today. That's a little bit about me. I also founded years ago, about 20 years ago,

I founded Rain Ministries. That's our nonprofit. And I've worked with over the years with many different

organizations in partnership. Currently, I work with native intervarsity. Intervarsity Christian

Fellowship is works with students, college students on college campuses. And so now they have a

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