On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

The little girl really wanted to hear about Jesus – until a friend came, covered the girl’s eyes and said, “You can’t do this. You’re Indian.”

Whole generations, largely shut out from hearing the Gospel. Children raised to avoid Jesus. Right here in the U.S.A. Right here on the reservation where On Eagles’ Wings has come to proclaim that Jesus is our only hope. This third reservation of the U.S. Summer of Hope is of the same strong centuries-old religion that has kept so many from Jesus for so long.

It was exciting to see attendances each night that represented nearly half of this reservation. Bringing them together was the easy part. Bringing them to Jesus felt almost like “Mission Impossible.” While our crowd was large on night one, there was not one commitment to Christ. That almost never happens with On Eagles’ Wings.

But when their Hope Stories were being presented publicly from the microphone, there was amazing attention from this audience coming from a background entrenched in centuries-old beliefs. There was a cluster of younger children on the grass nearby – and during the heart of the Gospel presentation, they suddenly erupted into noise and mayhem. The next two nights we made sure we were better prepared to head off distractions like that.

Before night one ever began, God decided to display His power and glory for everyone to see. For the hour before our starting time, we had heavy rain. The night before, God had shown His power to our team by sending the storm right around our outreach venue. So once again, the OEW warriors had the opportunity to trust God for another thing only He could do.

Suddenly, the rain stopped and the sun came out – right at starting time for our outreach. Somebody shouted, “Look over there!”

And there, right at the end of our basketball court, was a double rainbow – with the end of the rainbow right in front of us!

I said to our team, “God’s done His part! Let’s roll!” They did – but hearts were very hard. That led to our second special time of prayer in a few days. We knew this battle could only be won in the heavenlies.

I prayed for you – that God would summon you to pray for us on this decisive second night.

What followed was one of the fiercest battles for lives an On Eagles’ Wings team has ever had to fight.

There may have never been a night when more warriors have come to our vehicle to be prayed for. There were times when one was at each window and another one inside. They would report on the intense battle going on in the conversations they were having. They came with tears and broken hearts - something you don’t see much among God’s people these days.

God honored those broken hearts and passionate prayers.

One by one, the tears turned to rejoicing as reports began to come in of breakthroughs. The warrior who had been talking to the little girl who was forbidden to hear any more about Jesus got a chance to talk to her again. And she opened her heart to Jesus! Meanwhile, people were picking up stacks of Bibles and Christian literature from our gift table. The Gospel went home with many people that night.

The veteran Native pastor who was our host was in the van with us as the commitment cards began to come in. Over and over, he would shake his head in amazement at who was trusting Christ!

One of the leaders of the traditional religion told someone, “This is what our kids need!”

But victories like these don’t come cheap. Minutes after our debriefing, one of our warriors was on the floor in the hall in a serious medical crisis. She’s never had an attack like that before. Our nurse urged us to get an ambulance. Just as the ambulance headed out for a nearby hospital, someone shouted, “Something’s wrong with ‘Tanya’!” She was sitting outside the building in serious respiratory crisis. Within minutes, a second ambulance was leaving for another hospital.

Needless to say, the team was troubled, though prayerful, about these attacks that many of them had witnessed. Thankfully, they are both back with the team – no doubt, in answer to your prayers. They are some of the most recent of a rash of injuries and infections that is highly unusual for OEW.

The next night our team went back into battle to harvest more of the seed they had planted in hearts raised to resist Jesus. Again, more came to Christ, including a woman who is a third generation alcoholic.

So many who had once refused to listen to the Gospel, opened their hearts to at least consider Jesus. The seed of the Gospel in a human heart is like an explosion waiting to be detonated – and we know it will ultimately bring more to Jesus over the years. After all, “the Gospel of Christ is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16).

One Christian elder summarized the impact of On Eagles’ Wings on his reservation this year and last year. He reached up from his wheelchair, grabbed my hand and said, “God has used this team to answer 50 years of prayer for my people!”

The Native pastor told us, “What you’re doing in three days, we couldn’t do in 30 years!”

By God’s grace, the name of Jesus and the validity of the Gospel have been significantly elevated among the people of this reservation. Jesus is now a serious option to consider in a place where He’s been largely shut out for centuries.

How can I thank you enough for covering these warriors and these battles with your prayer? You are breaking down walls, opening hearts and enabling breakthroughs. By sending this team to this “hardest of the hard” field, He has trusted a little army of Native young people with one of the great missionary challenges on this continent. And centuries-old walls are cracking and even coming down.

Prayer Bulletin -

One of the toughest parts of this Summer of Hope is the report I received when I was able to call the office. With Team Canada and Team U.S. fully deployed, 30% of the funds we need are still not in! I know God will not allow us to lose on this front when He is giving us victory on so many other hard-fought battlefields.

Thank you for praying and for any part you’ve played in helping us get this far. I’m praying – along with these amazing young warriors I’m with - for a miracle the next time I call!

Ron Hutchcraft for OEW Team USA