Richard Twiss is 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 is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Reservation. He is President of Wiconi (Lakota - Life) International (since 1997) and is committed to pursuing a life of peace, justice and wholeness, inviting others in a journey to walk in meaningful relationship with Creator, creation and all others - in the Spirit of Jesus.

Richard is a widely traveled and popular speaker, activist, educator, author and networker among innovative thinkers within the Native North American and Indigenous community internationally. Born in 1954, Richard is completing a doctoral inter-disciplinary degree (cultural anthropology, primal and folk religions and the history of Christian mission) "Missiology" from the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary.

He has been a national conference speaker for numerous government, educational and religious organizations as well as lecturer in dozens of colleges/universities/seminaries. His audiences include 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. He was Sr. Pastor of New Discovery Community Church (1982-95) and served as national Director of Native American Ministries for the International Bible Society (1995-96). He consults with denominational and para-church leaders, government organizations and educational institutions and dozens of local churches to raise awareness for Native American people. He has spoken in or led Native American performing arts teams to fifteen countries as ambassadors of hope and reconciliation with remarkable results. In addition, he is a professional consultant, conducting diversity awareness seminars in the business community.

He has been featured on local, regional and national television/radio programs and in media publications. Richard addresses a broad range of topics including missions history in relationship to Native American people and how it shaped the American church and U.S. history; postmodern thought and culture with a special emphasis on the influence of worldview in shaping theology, political ideologies, leadership, global mission, spiritual formation and social justice.

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! (32,000 in print).

He has contributed chapters/essays in The Justice Project (Baker Books, 2009), Holy Bible:Mosaic (Tyndale, 2009), Coming Together in the 21^st Century by Curtiss Paul DeYoung (Judson Press, 2009) as well as magazines and scholarly journals. He is a Contributing Editor of Cultural Encounters - A Journal for the Theology of Culture: New Wine New Wineskins (Multnomah Biblical Seminary). He is a former writer for Charisma Magazine of a bi-monthly column entitled Smoke Signals (2001-02).

He is a member of the Board of Regents for Bakke Graduate University, a founding member and Vice-chair of the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies, Adjunct Faculty at Sioux Falls and George Fox Seminaries, Portland Indian Leadership Roundtable, Executive Team, Missions ConneXion Northwest, and serves as the U.S. representative for the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People Movement.

In 1972, Richard was a participant in the forced occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building, in Washington, D.C., with the radical political group, the American Indian Movement or "AIM." He has a unique view of some of the internal cultural, social and spiritual struggles of Native American people today.

He and Katherine have been married since 1976, and they live in Vancouver, Washington where they raised four sons.

As a Native American, or First Nations leader, Richard brings a fresh and unique worldview perspective about what if means to "be human and follow Jesus" to help his listeners learn to value and appreciate those who are different from themselves. Richard's engaging humor disarms audiences, opening their hearts and minds to embrace a Biblical challenge to become radically committed to "loving your neighbor as yourself."