Churches Invited to Prayer Breakfast
On Wednesday, December 11, Comanche Nation hosted its Prayer Breakfast for Comanche churches to receive donations at Watchetaker Hall.
Comanche Nation Chairman Forrest Tahdooahnippah said the event was an open invitation and celebrated the Christmas season.
“Anyone could come, but it was specifically for the churches that are receiving donations to come and pick up their donations and then to celebrate the tribe's support,” he said. “Every year, the Tribal Council approves donations that go to churches, and so we come up with an eligible list that is based on membership with the tribe, like, you know, churches that serve tribal members, and so that's both kind of your traditional Comanche Christian churches but then also chapters of our Comanche Native American church.”
Tahdooahnippah said the Prayer Breakfast celebrates those churches.
“That, you know, do so much for our community as far as being a spiritual backbone for our community,” he said. “Giving their time and effort to our community members and then; also, one thing that I touched on in my speech today was just the way that they help preserve our culture. Because so much of our language and culture is embedded within the church hymns that are sung by these churches and then in the peyote songs that are sung by the Native American church chapters.”
Tahdooahnippah said it was nice to be a part of the festivities, which included the Lord’s Prayer, signed by Comanche Nation Princess Bluesky Tosee and Jr. Princess Arlene Schonchin, who also signed Amazing Grace; Christmas Carols by Prevention and Recovery; and meal served by Indiahoma High School and Walters Service Club Jr. Princess Tiana McClung. Comanche Academy Brave and Princess sang Comanche Hymns. Pastor Kenneth Laurenzana delivered the sermon. A family remembrance slide show was also played.
“It's nice to be able to take a pause out of kind of the paperwork and issues that you deal with on a day-to-day basis and just take a little bit of time out, just spend a morning fellowship with friends and family, hearing the sermon, celebrating you know our culture, our traditions and each other, and so yeah it really felt good,” he said.
Tahdooahnippah said this year was the highest monetized amount of donations to the churches.
Comanche Business Committee Members Alice Kassanavoid, Robert Tippeconnie, and Vice Chairman Diana Gail Sovo were also in attendance.
