Walking the Good Road: The Gospels and Acts with Ephesians - First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

Walking the Good Road: The Gospels and Acts with Ephesians is authored by Terry M. Wildman with input from the First Nations Version Translation Council. The First Nations Version was first envisioned by the author Terry M. Wildman and with the help of OneBook.ca and Wycliffe Associates has expanded into a collaborative effort that includes First Nations/Native Americans from over 25 tribes. This book is the introductory publication of the First Nations Version of the New Testament. A translation in English by First Nations/Native Americans, for First Nations/Native Americans. This project was birthed out of a desire to provide an English Bible that connects, in a culturally sensitive way, the traditional heart languages of the over six million English-speaking First Nations people of North America. The First Nations Version Translation Council has been selected from a cross-section of Native North Americans-elders, pastors, young adults and men and women from differing tribes and diverse geographic locations. This council also represents a diversity of church and denominational traditions to minimize bias.

Genres: Theology

366 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2017

About the author

Terry Wildman was born and raised in lower Michigan. He is of Ojibwe (Chippewa) and Yaqui ancestry. Terry is a published author, recording artist, songwriter, storyteller, and public speaker.

He is the "Chief" of Rain Ministries, a nonprofit organization based in Arizona. Since the year 2000 as "RainSong", he and his wife Darlene have invested their lives in sharing the message of Jesus with Native Americans.

Terry is the author and project manager of the First Nations Version: New Testament published by InterVarsity Press.

He is also the Director of Spiritual Growth and Leadership Development for Native InterVarsity.

RainSong has produced four music CD's: Sacred Warrior, Rising Sun, Rise Up and Dance and Hoop of Life. Their music style is a folk-rock blend with Native American instruments and melodies.

In 2004 RainSong was nominated for a Grammy award and two Nammy awards. In 2005 they won the "American Christian Music Award" for the category of "Favorite Band/Duo-Breakout." In 2008 they were nominated for two Nammy Awards, one for "Best Song of the Year," All Colors Together, and for "Best Gospel Recording" for their CD Rise Up and Dance. Terry and Darlene were presenters that year at the awards ceremony held in Niagara Falls, New York.

As RainSong Terry and Darlene have also produced a storytelling CD with a musical background called The Great Story from the Sacred Book. This CD won the Nammy (Native American Music Award) for "Best Spoken Word" in 2009. Soon after they released a booklet to complement the CD through Indian Life Ministries based in Manitoba, Canada, (indianlife.org).

Reviews

[Angela Ebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this version of the gospels, Acts and Ephesians. Particularly the gospels. A different version is almost always refreshing to read, but this one resonated with me deeply in the language and images used. Even the First Nations version of the different names for Jesus highlighted different aspects of Who He - Wisdomkeeper, Creator’s Son, Honored One, the True Human Being, the Chosen One… and the most-frequent - and for me most dear - Creator Sets Free.
I highly encourage you to consider reading this version through at least once, reading the preface first so you understand how it is translated. Refreshing!

[Nathan Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be difficult to over-estimate the value of this translation. While, like The Message, it is primarily the effort of one man (though Terry involved a significant number of reviewers and editors) the direct, vibrant life that this translation/paraphrase gives the text is incomparable. I am perpetually familiar with the Scriptures and yet this reading causes them to spring to renewed life. The experience is visceral; I find myself responding emotionally as I read. There is a directness, a concreteness to the text that I think approximates the experience of the original readers like nothing else I have ever read.

Which is sort of strange when you think about it; there being very little correspondence between ancient Israelites and Native Americans in one sense. But, in another sense, there is a lot of similarity; they both had a very pre-Enlightenment worldview that refused to separate the material from the spiritual; there was a concreteness to experience and to understanding that reveals the essentially non-theological substrata of the text.

I think this is remarkably healthy for Western readers. It forces us to reckon with the fact that theological perception is an extension of the text--not an illegitimate one, but one that must remain connected to the non-theological, primary nature of the original text itself, at least as perceived by the original audience. This is turning into a small essay, so I'm going to stop, but my point is this: get this book!

One final comment: while likely not intended for in-depth exegetical study, though perhaps surprisingly it frequently bears up to that sort of analysis, I highly recommend this book for devotional bible reading.

[Brandi Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to encounter the Bible through a new lens.