A Foundational Encounter With God
As I made my way through The Singing Feather, I realized just how much I didn’t know about Native American history. In my mind, I had reduced it to arrowheads, basket weaving, and old western movies. But God began to take me on a journey in my heart, back before California became a state, before the gold rush, before it was called Alta California, before Mexico’s ownership, and even before the Spanish missionaries.
One day, while I was in the prayer room, I had an open vision. I heard the voice of the Lord say to me, “Cindy, I want to give you vision. MY vision. I want to give you tunnel vision.” Suddenly I was swept up in what felt like a tunnel, very much like the one in the 1971 movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with images and videos flashing on the walls as I traveled through. The scenes were heartbreaking: symptoms of pain and suffering, drug addiction, alcoholism, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, violence… It was more than I could put into words, and I felt the emotions as deeply as I saw the images. In the midst of it, the Lord spoke again: “Cindy, I want to give you my vision. I don’t want you to minister to the images, to the sin, or to the symptoms of pain. I want you to minister to the heart.”
As soon as He said “heart”, I was suddenly shot out of the tunnel like an arrow and into the northeastern corner of Round Valley. I knew in my spirit that I was there during the same time Jesus was walking the earth in Israel. It was as if I was present among the people, though they could not see me.
In front of me, two Indigenous women were boiling acorns over a fire, smiling and talking. To the left, others were gathering acorns, wild strawberries, blackberries, and potatoes. To the right, in the Eel River, children played joyfully, splashing and laughing, throwing rocks into the water. Further down, a man stood with a spear, catching fish. As I looked forward into the Mendocino National Forest, I saw the trees almost translucent, and within them other men hunting with bows and arrows. They were elbowing one another, laughing, shushing each other as they hunted deer. Their joy and friendship were obvious.
I felt the emotions of God as I watched. His pleasure, His deep affection for them filled the air around me. And I heard Him say, “Cindy, these are my beautiful people. They worshipped me and thanked me for everything. They thanked me for the moon at night and the sun during the day. They thanked me for their children and for their elders. They thanked me for the berries, the deer, the elk, the bear, the steelhead and the salmon in the rivers, the trees, the flowers, the grass, and all the creatures within it. They knew me as their Creator, and had they known my Son, Yeshua from the tribe of Judah, they would have thanked Him and worshipped Him too.”
When I came out of the vision, I knew the Lord had just given me a glimpse of His affections for Native people, His “beautiful people”. Yet I wondered; “Why didn’t they know Jesus? What happened?” And I knew the instruction was clear. Do not minister to the symptoms of pain. Minister to the heart. As they experience the love of their Creator, and grow closer to Him and His Son Jesus, He will take care of their pain. He will heal their wounds. He will be the One who sets them free.
For days I read “The Singing Feather,” and during this time as I gained knowledge, I could feel the Holy Spirit giving me His understanding. My heart broke over and over again. Page after page, I learned about beauty and heartbreak, Round Houses, Grass Games, and Massacres, and Indian Boarding Schools. I was on a journey with God, and I would never be the same again.