“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . .” –Revelation 7:9

The Revelation 7:9 vision realized in Mescalero, New Mexico

On Sunday, August 10, 2025, we looked, and there were over sixty people, representing six different nations and eleven different states, speaking four different languages, standing together to worship the Lamb.

We were gathered in New Mexico, on the land of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, from twenty-five different churches as far away as Seattle, Washington; New York City; and even Medellín, Colombia. We’d spent the past few days fellowshipping, learning, and eating together and now, in a powerful moment of unity, we were singing Apache hymns and English worship songs as we prepared to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. It was a tiny glimpse of what the biblical author was trying to describe in Revelation 7:9.

Related: Diversity and belonging: A Revelation 7:9 vision for today and the future

This was the She Is Called Mescalero Sankofa Journey. It was a beautiful time of making new friendships and strengthening old ones, of learning some unsettling truths and finding a new kind of peace in looking at them together, of celebrating how far we have come and acknowledging how very far we still have to go.

Elder June Denny (pictured right) cast the vision for a Sankofa journey to Mescalero during a 2022 She Is Called trip to the Holy Land and a dream was born. The Mescalero Sankofa Journey group is pictured above (left).

“I felt so grateful and deeply healed during this experience. Spending five days surrounded by such a beautiful mix of cultures and Native American friends was so encouraging,” said one participant. “Being with people who love Jesus brought me so much joy, I even found myself crying happy tears during prayers, conversations, and worship. I made wonderful memories with lovely people, and my heart felt truly warm and full. It was an experience I deeply enjoyed.”

What is a Sankofa journey?

Sankofa is an Akan word from Ghana that symbolizes the idea of looking back to move forward. It is a powerful concept that emphasizes the importance of understanding our past to navigate our future. In line with this ethos, the Reformed Church in America’s Revelation 7:9 ministry team is creating transformative Sankofa journeys that explore historical narratives, foster racial reconciliation, build authentic multicultural, multiethnic community, and inspire heart transformation leading to meaningful action. On these Sankofa journeys, an intentionally diverse group of people come together to learn about a particular piece of shared history that still impacts people today. Participants look to the past for wisdom but don’t stay in the past. Through times of fellowship and sharing stories on the journey, the Holy Spirit is invited to transform hearts, minds, and relationships so that people can move forward in a better, more unified way as the body of Christ. Participants honor the past by receiving stories and wisdom that can transform the present and help them live courageously into the future. 

Related: Confronting racism and its ugly past to change the future

Sankofa is all about unity. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16). “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).

Related: Discerning how to be the family of God

Why Sankofa journeys?

A Sankofa journey increases one’s awareness, understanding, and sensitivity for past struggles, victories, and continuing racist oppression that exists. The journey explores how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. Together, participants consider how they might better address racial righteousness as the church, in local contexts, and in the world. A Sankofa journey seeks to be an experience of both personal and corporate change. It is a journey of spiritual transformation.

Related: Working toward racial reconciliation, part 1: A journey that takes time

As the Belhar Confession states, “unity is … both a gift and an obligation for the church of Jesus Christ,” and “a refusal earnestly to pursue this visible unity as a priceless gift is sin.” Sankofa journeys are a practical and tangible way that we can pursue visible unity by lovingly attending to some areas where Christ’s body has been wounded and divided.

Related: Belhar Confession worship resources

Having adopted the Belhar Confession as one of its four standards of unity (statements of belief) in 2009, the Reformed Church in America continues to take steps toward living into this unity and pursuing a Revelation 7:9 reality. The denomination has committed to a “multicultural, multiracial, and multigenerational future engaging all of God’s people locally and globally in mission and ministry free from the sins of racism, sexism and ableism.” As one way to accomplish this, the General Synod, the Reformed Church in America’s highest assembly, adopted a recommendation in 2025 from the denomination’s Commission on Race and Ethnicity “to provide up to three Sankofa journeys per year for the next three years.”

A transformative, rich Sankofa journey with the Mescalero Apache Tribe

The She Is Called Mescalero Sankofa Journey, co-hosted by the Reformed Church in America’s women’s transformation and leadership ministry and the Native American Indigenous Ministries Council, accomplished what trip planners intended for the trip: that participants explore historical narratives, foster racial reconciliation, build authentic multicultural, multiethnic community, and inspire heart transformation leading to meaningful action. Further, the multicultural, multilingual group of travelers was blessed by the lavish hospitality of Mescalero Reformed Church and the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and honored to hear and learn from the stories that were shared there.

“The diversity of our Sankofa group was all by itself an experience,” reflected one participant. “Meeting people from all over the U.S. and of all shades and ethnicities was, by itself, so rich and gave me much to take in. The deep spirituality of the Mescalero Apache Tribe was also deeply touching. Their great love of Jesus and all of us as Jesus’s followers was evident and genuine.”

For centuries, the Mescalero, Chiricahua, and Lipan Apache People made their home in what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. By 1876, the United States government had taken control of most of the Apache land and all of the Apache Bands were either forced onto reservations or imprisoned. One group of Chiricahua Apache, led by Geronimo, fled the reservation and were hunted by the US Army for ten years before they voluntarily surrendered (Koopman, Taking the Jesus Road, 103). They were then forcibly imprisoned in St. Augustine, Florida, and later moved to Fort Marion, Alabama, and then moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for a total of 27 years. When they were finally released in 1913, some remained in Oklahoma, but approximately 180 Chiricahua were taken to the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico, where many of their descendants still live. Trip participants were honored to hear this story directly from Velma Kanseah, a matriarch in the Mescalero community and the granddaughter of Lucy and Jasper Kanseah, and from Kimberly Enjady. Lucy and Jasper were Chiricahua Apache Prisoners of War survivors. Many other members of Mescalero Reformed Church are also direct descendants of the Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war released from Fort Sill.

Today, Mescalero Reformed Church is a thriving body of believers who love Jesus, each other and their community in real and tangible ways. We experienced that love as we shared meals together in the church, shared stories with each other, and shared our hearts together in pursuit of deeper unity. We got to experience the beauty of the mountainous Mescalero landscape, see the fish hatchery that is being restored after significant flood damage earlier this year, and stay in the gorgeous Inn of the Mountain Gods owned and run by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. We were welcomed as guests at a feast and ceremony celebrating a young girl’s entrance into womanhood. But the highlight was our time of worship, as we each brought our own unique, broken, beautiful selves and gathered around Christ’s table together as one body, honestly acknowledging the places where our unity is not perfect, and trusting the grace and power of Jesus to continue binding our hearts together and building us together in love.

Pictured above: Members of Mescalero Reformed Church lead the Sankofa group in song. During the trip, the group of travelers practiced Apache hymns so that everyone could sing them during the closing worship service. There is a communal vision among the denomination’s Native members for wider use of Apache hymns.

Two presidents: Clara Rice, president of the Native American Indigenous Ministries Council, with Rev. Sarah Palsma, RCA General Synod 2026 president.

Two historians: Kimberly Enjady, educator for the Mescalero Apache Tribe Historic Preservation Office, and Dr. Elizabeth Pallitto, archivist for the Reformed Church in America.

Angel shares her tribal treasures following her ceremony.

What’s Next?

In Ephesians 4:16 we read, “From [Jesus] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (emphasis added). Our growth into more perfect love and unity does not happen automatically; it happens as each part does its work, and a Sankofa journey is a call into meaningful action. At the end of the Mescalero Sankofa journey, we each made a personal commitment, identifying one way that we can take a faithful next step in the good but hard work of pursuing visible unity. For some, that step was sharing what they learned with their home communities, or continuing to learn more themselves. For others, it will mean intentionally fostering genuine relationships across cultural differences, or making tangible changes within their churches. One of my own personal commitments is to supplement my children’s historical education with materials that center Indigenous perspectives. What would yours be?

Reading list for growing in knowledge and understanding of Native American and Indigenous history and experience

1. Unsettling Truths by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah 
   • This book critically examines the “Doctrine of Discovery” and its role in justifying the colonization and spiritual subjugation of Indigenous peoples. Charles and Rah argue that this doctrine has perpetuated systemic injustice and call for a national reckoning and reconciliation process that acknowledges historical wrongs.
2. Taking the Jesus Road by LeRoy Koopman
   • “The story of the Reformed Church’s relationship to Native Americans is one of persistence and optimism in the face of overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, it’s also a story that reflects all too well the sad record of U.S. dealings with America’s first inhabitants. In this frank, well-balanced account of the Reformed Church’s Native American missions and churches, LeRoy Koopman outlines how government and church often cooperated with each other in implementing shifting policies that allowed the native peoples little or no voice in their own destiny. Koopman does not hesitate to point out how early missionaries often equated the Christian faith with white culture but also gives credit for their tireless efforts to seek a better life for the people they were serving.” (description from Amazon)
3. Mescalero Apache Stories
   • This video presents narratives from the Mescalero Apache community, offering insights into their spiritual beliefs, cultural practices, and historical experiences. It serves as a valuable resource for understanding the lived realities of Indigenous spirituality and resilience. 
4. Geronimo and the Apache Resistance
   • This hour-long documentary tells the story of the Chiricahua Apaches, many of whom ultimately settled in Mescalero. It features two members of the RCA church: Mildred Cleghorn and Berle Kanseach.
5. One Church, Many Tribes: Following Jesus the Way God Made You by Richard Twiss
   • A member of the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux Tribe, Richard Twiss offers valuable insights into theology and history from an Indigenous perspective, and a powerful description of the unique gifts, strengths and wisdom that Indigenous churches have to offer to the body of Christ.
6. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer
   • Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, blends scientific knowledge with Indigenous wisdom to advocate for a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. Her essays emphasize the spiritual significance of plants and the environment, offering a model for sustainable living rooted in Indigenous traditions. This is a gentle read and very accessible.
7. A Different Mirror for Young People by Ronald Takaki
   • A short, readable history of the United States of America told from the perspective of Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and other voices that are not always heard in history textbooks.

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