CASS LAKE, Minn. (AP) — Gazing across the former campus of Mokahum Indian Bible School, James Moses recalled with sentiment many memories of his time as a student there.
"I came here 40 years ago," Moses said. "I was only 20 years old when I came here."
Moses, who is Cree, traveled from his hometown of Moose Factory, Ontario, about 450 miles north of Toronto, to the campus in Cass Lake.
Now closed for 30 years, the school will soon reopen as Mokahum Ministry Center. The center will be an outreach of Oak Hills Fellowship's Center for Indian Ministries.
Bible and leadership studies
Mokahum will provide mentoring, biblical education and training in both ministry and life skills with the goal of preparing American Indian Christians to be leaders in their churches and communities. The school will be open to around 10-15 residential students once renovations are complete and staff members are in place possibly in late fall.
"It definitely thrills me and brings joy into my life to know that we're going to have a place like this to train our native people to become leaders in their community," said Moses, now the pastor of Chippewa Bible Chapel in Cass Lake.
Oak Hills Fellowship recently named the Rev. Zane Williams of Glendale as the new director of the Center for Indian Ministries and Mokahum Ministry Center. Williams is the son of Herman Williams, a Navajo who is a former principal of Mokahum Indian Bible School.
Moses learned about Mokahum Indian Bible School from a former student. He said he decided to attend the school because, as "a young man in the Lord," he wanted to do the Lord's work and be trained.
Most of the school's students didn't have an income, so they worked around campus to help pay for their tuition, he said.
"We came by faith to trust in God to put us through," Moses said of the students who attended the school from tribes throughout the United States.
A long connection to the school
Moses met his wife, Karen, at Mokahum, and after graduating in 1972, the couple moved to Moses' hometown where he became the pastor of his home church, Cree Gospel Chapel.
Moses later returned to school, graduating with majors in pastoral/religious education and missions from Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Saskatchewan, Canada.
He and his wife moved back to Cass Lake in 1999. Two years later, Moses became the pastor of Chippewa Bible Chapel.
Since Mokahum Indian Bible School closed in 1978, the property has stood vacant. In December 2006, the national Christian and Missionary Alliance board agreed to give the property to the Center for Indian Ministries on the condition that it continues to be used for American Indian ministry.
Under the direction of a predominantly American Indian advisory council, the Center for Indian Ministries is overseeing the renovation of the school's original facilities and making plans to reopen the school.
‘A new beginning, a new day'
Moses, the chairman of the advisory council, said reviving the school has been on his heart since he heard it closed.
After moving back to Cass Lake, Moses visited the campus from time to time.
"I would actually pray and look around and say, 'Hey, I'd like to see this place come alive again,'" he said.
Paul Straubel, acting director of the Center for Indian Ministries, said American Indians around the United States have been praying for 30 years for the school to reopen.
"It's really their hearts' cry that God's answering in His timing," he said. "'Mokahum' means in Ojibwe 'the sun is rising, a new beginning, a new day.' We're ready for this new day. We're just excited that the sun is rising again here at Mokahum and we're going to reopen it."