Native Christians Ministry has three programs to give hope to children and strengthen their faith as they learn of Jesus' Love. These programs are designed to help children grow spiritually through the Word of God. Please explore this page and discover the opportunities within our Native Christian Ministry for your children and the children you love.
We operate two Lutheran schools, Our Savior's Lutheran K-8 and East Fork Lutheran K-12. Our Savior's Lutheran is located on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and East Fork Lutheran is located on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Our schools allow us to share the gospel with students creating confident leaders in our communities and congregations! We are excited to embrace the opportunities these schools provide, and we hope to grow these schools in the coming years.
Empowerment Scholarships are available for new students entering our schools. Click here for information.
Each of our congregations takes great care to assist parents in the spiritual training of their children per our Lord’s directive in Deuteronomy 6:
"These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life …. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
To accomplish this, we hold weekly Bible Story and Life Application Sunday school classes at each congregation. These are led by Native American teachers equipped to teach through Bible study and ACTS (Apache Christian Training School) classes and workshops.
The Sunday schools also work in conjunction with the local congregation on their themes, curriculum and in putting on special services, singing in church and programs.
Our Community Gardens are designed to bring people into our churches, and allow us to teach God’s Word in an informal way. Through these gardens, we are also able to host a great family activity, teach good nutrition, bring back traditional heirloom Apache gardening, and provide a positive activity for children and adults as we build relationships to carry the Gospel. Our gardens are planted on our East Fork campus, the Lutheran Church of the Open Bible campus, and Our Savior's campus. We plant sugar cane, the “Three Sisters” Apache planting technique of corn, beans, and squash together in a square space in a grid garden, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, peppers and tomatoes. We plant in Fall, Winter and do Monsoon (July) gardens. Garden Clubs include gardening, a Bible lesson, sometimes snacks, and lots of relationship building.