By Jim Uttley, Native American News correspondent

Special to ASSIST News Service

VANCOUVER, WA (ANS) — On Saturday, February 9, 2013, Dr. Richard Leo Twiss, Lakota, co-founder and President of Wiconi International (www.wiconi.com, succumbed to a major heart attack while on a ministry trip to Washington, D.C.

Richard Twiss

In the late morning hours, he stepped from this life into the presence of his Creator and Savior whom he loved.

Richard Twiss began his walk with Jesus on “the good road” in 1974. Now he is walking and dancing with Him, the “Greatest of all Chiefs”.

In the final hours of Richard’s journey on this side, he was surrounded by his wife Katherine, four sons, Andrew, Phillip, Ian and Daniel, along with close friends who sang, prayed, laughed and reminisced together about his impact in life among them, and within the wider kingdom of his Creator.

Dr. Twiss was a member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. His mother is Sicangu Lakota from Rosebud and his father was Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Richard & Katherine Twiss, Co-Founders of Wiconi International

In 1972, Twiss participated in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building, in Washington, D.C., with the radical political group, the American Indian Movement or “AIM.” This experience gave him a unique view of some of the cultural, social and spiritual struggles of Native American people.

Following his involvement in the occupation, Twiss found himself in Hawaii where he was searching for truth.

“I was a beach bum, did drugs, partied, slept on the beach, chased girls, lived off of food stamps, and started over the next day,” Twiss said. One day while hitchhiking, two evangelicals picked him up and began sharing the gospel. Twiss didn’t want anything to do with their “white man’s religion”, and said, “I swore at them and told them to let me out.”

Not long after that, during a drug overdose, the words of those two Christians came back. “I screamed out, ‘Jesus if you are real, would you forgive me, would you come into my life?'”

Twiss says he had a peace that he had never known before come over him. He was never the same again as his life was transformed.

Richard Twiss baptizing his son Daniel in the Jordan River

Shortly after that he moved to Alaska where he met Katherine and they were married in 1976. Years later they moved to Vancouver, Washington, where they raised four sons.

Twiss served as senior pastor of the New Discovery Community Church (1982-95) and was also National Director of Native American Ministries for the International Bible Society (1995-96).

He was a widely traveled and popular speaker, activist, educator, author and networker among innovative thinkers within the Native North American and Indigenous community internationally. He was committed to “Creating opportunities for the betterment of our Native People and Communities through advancing education, culture, family and spirituality-in the Spirit of Jesus.”

Richard Twiss worshipping the Lord in Jerusalem

A couple years before his death, he completed a doctorate in inter-cultural studies from Asbury Theological Seminary.

He has been a national conference speaker for numerous government, educational and religious organizations as well as a lecturer in dozens of colleges, universities and seminaries. His audiences included the United Tribes Tribal College, North Dakota Governor’s Prayer Breakfast, City of Buffalo Reconciliation Task Force, U.S. Immigration of Naturalization National Headquarters, City of Portland Mayoral Staff, Promise Keepers, State of Oregon Department of Forestry, in addition to hundreds of local churches and events.

Wiconi International, which he and Katherine founded in 1998, sponsored the “Many Nations, One Voice” conferences across North America. Twiss and his wife led Native American performing arts teams to fifteen countries as ambassadors of hope and reconciliation with remarkable results.

Richard’s book “One Church Many Tribes-Serving Jesus the Way God Made You” (Regal Books, 2000) articulates a vision for Native/indigenous people being embraced as co-equals in the life of the dominant culture church, as significant contributors in shaping peoples understanding of Creator, creation and community, not marginalized as a needy mission field.

Twiss was a co-founder of the Native American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) and served as board member and chairman for several years.

At the annual Living Waters Family Camp & Powwow, the family dancing in a circle

Twiss was also a member of the Board of Directors for the Native American Youth and Family Center in Portland, OR, the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), the Board of Regents for Bakke Graduate University and a founding member and Vice-chair of the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies.

He served as an adjunct professor at Portland State University, Warner Pacific College and Sioux Falls and George Fox Seminaries. He was also a member of the Portland Indian Leadership Roundtable and served as the U.S. representative for the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People Movement.

As a Native American or First Nations leader, Richard brought a fresh and unique worldview perspective about what it means to “be human and follow Jesus” to help his listeners learn to value and appreciate those who are different from themselves. His humor was truly unique and engaging, disarming audiences, opening their hearts and minds to embrace an invitation and challenge to become radically committed to “loving your neighbor as yourself.”

Memorial arrangements will be released at a later date.

By ANS

Categories: Christianity in the news