One longtime ministry to elderly Native Americans has expanded into a food relief endeavor that now reaches both Native and non-Native people alike across South Carolina, all in the name of Jesus.
For years, South Carolina United Methodists have helped supply Native American older adults with what is called “elder baskets.” Elder baskets are plastic clothes baskets filled with nonperishable items and given to older people in need—many of whom live well below the poverty line—to help them through trying times. The baskets contain canned food as well as items such as laundry soap, paper towels, toilet paper and other toiletries that cannot be purchased with food stamps.
But since the pandemic, and with the rise of even more food deserts in the state, the elder basket ministry has exploded into a full-blown hunger-relief project bringing the ten state and federally recognized Native tribes together with United Methodist and other Christian relief ministries. And today, it’s a massive project feeding an incredible number of people.
For participant Cathy Nelson, who is part of the Keepers of the Word Grandmother Drum group in the Lowcountry, the Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM) and a member of Cottageville Community Methodist Church in Cottageville, it’s all about stepping up to alleviate hunger in the name of Jesus.
Your gifts on Native American Ministries Sunday helps support the ministries of the Committee on Native American Ministries in their annual conferences. This offering serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society.
The Native American Committee had been assembling and distributing elder baskets to older adults in the Catawba tribe, plus the nine state-recognized tribes, as well as other small tribal community groups.
Lee Anne Lamar, of the Keepers of the Word Turtle Drum group in Chapin, says the project was a natural extension of what they were already doing, just on a much larger scale.
Before COVID, the elder baskets were already in great demand, and the problem of food deserts was worsening in South Carolina, especially in rural and poverty-stricken communities, where residents might not be able to drive and have drastically limited access to affordable, nutritious food.
In 2019, the South Carolina Annual Conference issued a call to every charge in the state to assemble and bring one elder basket to the June gathering of Annual Conference, as well as encouraged people to purchase gift cards to help the Conference Committee on Native American Ministries get extra supplies for people in need.
There were so many people connecting that tribal status didn’t really matter, she said. They fed Native and non-Native people—whoever was in need.
‘Our divine appointment’
Now, Nelson, tribal leaders, Christian organizations and others gather frequently in that central location, giving out the food to the tribes and organizations, who then get it into the hands of the people directly.
Nelson said what was especially beautiful to her was that Keepers of the Word was invited to do drumming and prayer during the distribution—singing Native, sacred, Christ-centered prayer songs—and often they do the drumming while they are serving.
Nelson and Lamar said they, Keepers of the Word, the Native American Committee and others involved have no intention of stopping what they’ve started
“We have big plans,” Lamar said.
They just want to keep serving people in need whatever way they can for as long as they can.
excerpt from a story by Jessica Brodie, South Carolina Advocate
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, Native American Ministries Sunday serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society. The special offering supports Native American outreach within annual conferences and across the United States and provides seminary scholarships for Native Americans.
When you give generously on Native American Ministries Sunday, you equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate Native American culture in their ministries. You empower congregations to find fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with Christ’s love. Give now.
