“In some ways, we judge the story by the storyteller.” Colonialism corrupted the beautiful message of the Gospel when it forced Christianity on Indigenous people. The First Nations Version of the New Testament (FNV) seeks to remove those colonial barriers and present the beauty of Jesus’ story. Terry Wildman, lead translator and project manager of FNV, talks with Amy Julia about how this translation is a gift from Native people to Native people, as well as to the dominant culture and the Church as a whole.

SHOW NOTES (go to amyjuliabecker.com/terry-wildman/ for complete show notes and for BOOK GIVEAWAY info)

Guest Bio:

“Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe and Yaqui) is the lead translator, general editor, and project manager of the First Nations Version. He serves as the director of spiritual growth and leadership development for Native InterVarsity. He is also the founder of Rain Ministries.”

Connect Online:

• Website: firstnationsversion.com
• Instagram: @fnv.nt
• Facebook: @FirstNationsVersion
• Twitter: @TerryMWildman

On the Podcast:

• First Nations Version
• More books by Terry Wildman: Birth of the Chosen One, When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us
• The Song of Bitter Tears (Luke 1:46–55, Magnificat)
• Translation process

Interview Quotes

“…Christianity was brought to our Native people and forced on us, technically. In some sense, we didn’t make our own decision from reading the Bible or from hearing the gospel. We didn’t make our own decision. We were told this is what we have to do. And so to me faith comes out of a willing heart that hears...the story of the gospel.”

“Even the word ‘church’ can bring up barriers because of those [colonial] experiences. So we intentionally used other words so that those barriers don’t immediately go up. We’re not trying to deceive anyone or any of our Native people. We’re just trying to present the Scriptures in a way so that the barriers that the colonial experiment on our people produced aren’t in the way."

“This [translation] is not only a gift from Native people to other Native people, but it’s also a gift from a group of Native people to the dominant culture…it opens up new ways of seeing God.”

“When you take something as beautiful as the gospel—and I believe the gospel is a wonderful, beautiful story when it’s understood—and when you force that on somebody, in oppressive ways, you destroy the message of it because Native people, traditionally, we don’t just listen to the story. We evaluate the storyteller. And if the storyteller isn’t consistent with the story, then we don’t believe the story.”

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Season 5 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my newest book, To Be Made Well, releasing Spring 2022...you can pre-order

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