On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

"This team is amazing!"

Joe (Dakota Sioux) is a leader on Team U.S. - and he's right! Your prayers have helped build one of the strongest On Eagles' Wings teams in a long time. They are Navajos and they are Eskimos; they are Nez Perce from Oregon and Seneca from New York; they are Hopis and Apaches from the desert and Lakota Sioux from the plains. And they are rescuers!

We've praised God as we've watched them reach out to virtually every young person at our events. And, man, have they been tested on this first reservation of the U.S. Summer of Hope. We have returned for a full month among a family of nations where last summer the OEW warriors fought some of the most intense battles for hearts we've ever been in.

There's been so much hurt and so much devastation here in the name of Christianity. They have declared the Bible and Christianity as the number one enemy of their people. We come to tell them that the One they consider to be their greatest enemy is really their only hope - as He is for all of us. Among deeply entrenched strongholds, it has been a soul-by-soul battle for each life.

Believers are rare here, young believers almost non-existent. The few believers there come from families that have been believers for generations. For anyone to actually turn to Christ from their religion is very rare. This is much more than a religion, it is an identity. Breaking through to these hearts would be a challenge for the most seasoned of ministry veterans. Christ's chosen vessels for this war for souls is a team of 29 Native young people with a horrific past, a Hope Story and a broken heart for their people.

At Reservation One, there's been excitement about On Eagles' Wings coming back. Last year, people here walked away when a team member mentioned Jesus' name. This year they stay and listen. Last year, "they wouldn't even look us in the eye." This year, they're engaged in deep conversations with our warriors. And while many conversations about Jesus are like chipping away at a rock wall, the attention during the team's Hope Stories and Gospel wrap-ups is amazing - nobody talking, nobody moving. We pray for the peace of Christ to settle over that basketball court, and you can almost watch it happen. Young people steeped in the religion are listening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

They listen to "Shari's" (Yupik Eskimo) story of one death after another among people she loves, too many from the suicide epidemic that ravages her remote village - and the hope she has found in Jesus Christ. As "Brent" (Lakota/Kiowa) shares his story, so many can identify with the accumulated pain of his life. Sexual abuse as a boy, a life of anger and violence and drugs - until the night he was almost shot to death. Ultimately, he brought the shattered pieces of his life to Jesus Christ and found a whole new life. "Rob" (Cherokee/Creek) wrapped up talking about the Trail of Tears - the one his people were forced to endure, the one Native young people walk today, and the trail of tears Jesus walked to rescue us from our sin.

The first big test for Team U.S. was that only a handful of local young people showed up the first night. It was hard for our veterans, harder for our rookies for whom this was their first impression. But it provided the platform for the warriors' first lesson of this summer in desperately depending on God for what only He can do. And He did it! Night two turned out to be the biggest night we've had on this reservation, either this year or last. And everywhere I looked from our Prayer Room, I saw warriors with local young people, around the basketball court and all around the perimeter. This team has obviously come to rescue.

At the end of our final night on this reservation, one-third of those attending made a commitment of their lives to Jesus Christ! One of those was a young man described to us as "one of the toughest guys on this rez - he's one of our fighters." He found in "Andy" (Hopi) someone he would listen to. Because Andy has seen and done it all - drug user, drug dealer, a fighter who hurt whoever he needed to hurt to survive. Until his fear of dying made him start looking into Jesus. Andy's still a fighter. Except now he's fighting for the lives of guys like him. The "divine match-ups" of the Summer of Hope have already begun - rescuers from a reservation across the continent, divinely matched up with a lost Native young person just like them! It is amazing!

We praise the Lord for this victorious start to the Summer of Hope and quickly pack up for Reservation Two - a place in the U.S. of great strongholds. It's a battle for every soul - a battle that is not won or lost on a reservation basketball court but in the Throne Room of Almighty God. Thank you for fighting the "air war" that determines the outcome for the ground troops of On Eagles' Wings. The people we're fighting for this summer have resisted the love of Jesus for many generations. Too many have been lost for too long. It's time for a breakthrough miracle.

Mission Critical Prayer Requests for Team U.S.

• For God to open up a place where OEW can do its outreach events for one of the most closed reservation in the country. After months of effort, we are nine days from our outreaches with no place to hold them.

• For another reservation where it's been a huge battle to secure an outreach location for the end of the month.

• For long-closed hearts to open up to Christ for the first time.

* Names have been changed for privacy.