On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

I'm sitting in my vehicle, overwhelmed. It's our third night on the first reservation of the Summer of Hope 2009. And God chose to answer your prayers with a powerful move of His Holy Spirit that could be a game-changer on a hurting reservation.

We're in "Riondo,"* a remote community on the large "Ft. Sanford" Reservation. It's an area where meth is destroying young lives, children grow up fatherless, and suicide is the choice of far too many. A few weeks ago, the students in a local high school walked into the gym to find a scene they would never forget - a 15-year-old girl who had hung herself. She was only the latest of a growing list of tragic young funerals.

What compounds the tragedy is the inward focus of the churches on this rez. Humanly speaking, the hope of the young people is one lone youth leader with a broken heart - "Rob" (Navajo). He weeps for the kids here. And desperately tries to get the other churches to join him reaching out to them. From pastor after pastor, he's gotten the same answer: "Not interested." And the kids keep on dying. A handful of persecuted young believers in his little youth group feel very alone. Rob invited On Eagles' Wings to come to this rez, even if he had to do it alone. What I just saw tonight showed us why God wanted us to come.

Tonight's victory is magnified by the fact that this is one of the youngest teams we've had in years. We're nearly half rookies. Several of our veteran young leaders couldn't be with us this summer. And we had only half the team we needed when we went to Warrior Leadership Summit last week, in spite of relentless efforts to build the team. But God delights in being the God of the 11th Hour - and He was again this time. He virtually doubled the size of the team in just three days at Warrior Leadership Summit!

As soon as we arrived in Riondo, the young warriors of On Eagles' Wings set out to try to make a personal contact with every home in the area. After three hours in the sun and heat and humidity, they were very weary warriors. But God rewarded their sacrificial effort. There were some 300 people at the park that night! And on their first night of this Summer of Hope - in a challenging venue, after a draining afternoon - this team was all over the place, meeting the people who were there. Night Two, a similar crowd, another great team effort.

On Night Two, "Travis'" (Lakota Sioux) Hope Story was riveting, as he told of how Jesus had delivered him from the drugs and alcohol, the hurting and being hurt of his life. On invitation night at last year's Warrior Leadership Summit, he'd been the first one to come to the Cross - and the last one to leave. Now he's calling other Native young people to trust the Savior who has transformed his life. Just as all these OEW warriors are doing, who are all over this sprawling basketball/skateboard park - out there seeking and saving the lost.

One of the rescuers in the park that night was a young man we would never, under usual circumstances, have even accepted for On Eagles' Wings. "Joey" (Ojibwe) came to this year's Warrior Leadership Summit, very lost. He's been known on his rez as a multiple drug user, a heavy drinker, and a man to go to for drugs. It looks like they'll have to go to someone else from now on. Because Joey surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. Immediately, he resolved to abandon all the junk of his past.

He's so on fire that he filled out an application for On Eagles' Wings. After extensive interviewing and research by his pastor and Brad Hutchcraft, our Team Director, our leadership team felt unanimously that God wanted us to give Joey this chance to change. On his first night as a warrior for Christ, Joey led five Riondo young men to the Jesus he'd met only a week before!

As our basketball players provided the action attraction on the court, our skater-rescuers ran events that attracted the local skaters at the adjacent skate park. We have some warriors who are good with children, and they were, at the same time, sharing Christ with the children at the playground. A three-ring circus with a life-saving mission!

Then came tonight. The final night in Riondo. God had used our program to draw this widely dispersed crowd together around the court. A couple hours before, the team had a tender season of prayer where we fought for the lost hearts of Riondo. The Hope Stories were powerful. "Brandon" (Nez Perce), who came to Christ two years ago at Warrior Leadership Summit, told about growing up in his tribe's traditional religion, abused in an alcoholic home, running to drugs and alcohol for pain relief. He said, "I never felt loved in my life - until I heard that night at WLS about Jesus loving me so much that He went to the cross for me."

And "Greg" (Nez Perce) laid out the Gospel with power and authority. He came to Christ at Warrior Leadership Summit four years ago and was called into full-time ministry to His people after seeing how God used him on the On Eagles' Wings team. Tonight, with 350 people around or near the basketball court, Greg challenged those who had prayed a salvation prayer with him to step out in front of everyone and declare their commitment to Christ publicly.

And they came. From every direction. Basketball players. Skaters, carrying their skateboards. People our warriors had pursued since the first night. Those scores of young people from this reservation, standing together at center court, are one undeniable testimony to a Jesus-breakthrough in Riondo. It was a profoundly moving God-moment that could be a game-changer for the cause of Christ in this area! And a defining, galvanizing moment for this new team of warriors.

And this amazing harvest could not possibly mean more to any of us than Rob, our dear brother whose singular passion for these young people brought us here. He's committed to follow-up with these young people, and seize this momentum to build a new youth ministry in this area. His little core of Christian young people have taken a verbal beating since the team began proclaiming Jesus here. But this night, they're rejoicing with tears of joy. So many of the people they know went forward tonight. As I reminded them, "Never forget you're on the winning side."

As tired as they were, there was no shutting down the after-celebration of our warriors. They poured out their exciting stories of how God used them in Riondo. The most influential skater that our skateboard warrior latched onto the first night - he was in that crowd at center court, skateboard in hand. Ginny (Salish) from Canada led her first person to Christ - and called it "the coolest experience of my life." And Joey. Several Riondo young men know Jesus because of how God used him. He said to the team, "I've never had a bigger heart in my life."

So many victories in so few days. Amid some daunting challenges. It is prayer - prayer like yours - that is winning these victories. We came into this summer weak - which has only made more room for God to show He is "mighty to save" (Zephaniah 3:17 ). He is hearing and answering your prayers. Which we will really need as we head for one of the poorest reservations in the country. We have every reason to expect God to show us His glory there.

*Names and locations changed for privacy