Son Tree Native Path
English

Son Tree Native Path was founded upon a vision that God could reach out to Native people, through Native people, with the gospel of Jesus Christ; and that He would do this through the culture which He gave us, including our music and dances. This vision began back in December of 1974. From the beginning the goal was simply to share the gospel with our Native people in the pow wows and through cultural presentations as the Lord directed. Today Son Tree Native Path has grown as we travel to pow wows, reservations, and Native communities; and to churches, schools and universities throughout America and the world.

My name is Robert Soto. I am from the Konitsa Band which means "the People of the Great 
(or Big) Water" because we made our home north and south of the Rio Grande, which borders Texas and Mexico. History knows us as the Lipan Apache people of Texas. I am a Native American dancer. I have been dancing since I was eight years old, and have been a Feather Dancer since fourteen. Indian dancing is my way of expressing who I am as a Native American, and is vital to the preservation of our culture.


The mission of Son Tree Native Path is to reach the peoples of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through what we do best: dance. We use our dances and songs to go into a community and share what Christ our Creator has done and continues to do in our lives. We set up our drum and we dance - not just to educate the people as to who we are as Indian people - but first and foremost, to share with them what Christ has done in our lives through His precious salvation that we receive through faith in Him. It is God’s way of communicating the gospel through us.






Son Tree Native Path is a faith ministry. Since God called me to this ministry in 1974, I felt the leading of God not to ‘put a price on the gospel’. Therefore, we do not charge a set fee for our presentations, but depend on the provision of God through love gifts from faithful supporters of this ministry, and through whatever honorarium, if any, the requesting church/organization is able to give. Each ministry opportunity is placed before the Lord in prayer; and according to His direction, we answer the call then trust the Lord to provide the funding that is needed to accomplish our common vision of reaching the people of the area for Jesus Christ.

 


What do we believe? Many years ago when the first Europeans came to America to "Christianize" our people, many came with their religious bias and not with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their gospel message was based on the premise that there must be a cultural – or outward – change before a person could come to the Father in Heaven. The results were - and continue to be – devastating, as very few of our Indian people have come to Christ. In contrast, our message is simply that God loves you just as He created you. He loves me, as a Lipan Apache man, and does not require that I change my culture before I can receive the free gift of His salvation through Jesus Christ. Our message, based on the gospel of Jesus Christ, does not demand a change of culture, but a change of heart through the receiving of Christ’s forgiveness and the work of the Holy Spirit. So we focus not on our denominational differences but on our similarities.

We believe that God the Father sent God the Son (Jesus) to die on the cross for our sins; that He rose from the dead on the third day, and that He offers us eternal life and a home in heaven with Him, when we put our faith and trust in Him. We believe that God the Holy Spirit comes into the hearts of believers to guide them in life and change their hearts within. We believe that we are co-partners with the church or organization that has invited us. We share the gospel, and depend on the church to follow-up and disciple those who respond to the gospel message.

 

 

 

 

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