On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

Liberation Time - Update From Ron Hutchcraft

The most common response of the Native Christian adults who are here at Warrior Leadership Summit is that they are overwhelmed. They have lived their whole lives knowing only a handful, at best, of Native young people who had any allegiance to Jesus Christ. They know how very, very rare it is for a Native young person to love and serve Jesus Christ. To be in a room with over six hundred Native young people from seventy-six nations who are lifting their voices in praise to God, and are responding so visibly to the Word of God, and to the call of Christ on their lives, is absolutely overwhelming.

In fact, I keep the handkerchief handy myself because there are many very moving moments here. These Native Christian adults tell us the significance by their tears and by their inability to find words to express their joy and excitement. They are the ones who tell us how significant and how historic this gathering is because they have lived on the reservation; they know there’s nothing like this. We thank God for this singular gathering of nations, and the gathering of the next generation of so many nations.

We’ve continued with our Breaking Free theme—breaking free of addictions, sins that have haunted us, other gods or idols that are what we go to instead of Jesus in our tough times, and breaking free of other loves and other allegiances. It is symbolized by the bracelets that the warriors are wearing with chains pictured on them. As the week has continued, we have seen the stage beginning to get more and more crowded with broken chains as grudges and bondages are being broken.

It was my privilege to present, through the story of the prodigal son, how to break free from the mistakes of a lifetime and the mistakes that have haunted us. When you get on the road away from God, sin always keeps you longer than you ever thought you’d stay, takes you farther than you ever thought you’d go, and costs you more than you ever thought you would pay. I was looking in the eyes of these young people and it was so evident that so many have dealt with the price tag of sin.

A different kind of invitation was given - there wasn’t any music and no one was asked to come forward. This was the time to decide to break a lifelong bondage with something that they have had for years. It was time to decide to get rid of all sin props, go home, and announce the new person they were. We simply had a time of silence for those who wanted to stay in the presence of God until they could declare their freedom from these bondages and complete their repentance. I asked those who needed to stay to stay behind, and we dismissed the meeting.

There was a stunning response because between a third to a half of the young people here stayed behind. They stayed in their seats and battled to a point of freedom and liberation from some of these bondages. There are many exciting stories of the specific deliverances. One woman here who has two children said that she had already called home and said, “When I get home, you’ll have a new mother.” I believe that Jesus is making all things new for many.

Our Battle Councils have been reflective of the issues of Native American youth and First Nations young people. You can tell by which Battle Councils are the most populated. For example, when we did the one on meth and meth addiction, the room was full. What does that tell you? The Battle Council that focused on standing alone where you are, since that’s the story of most of the young people here, we could expect a full room. The session on sexual abuse, so epidemic and tragically common among Native American young men and women and so scarring to their lives, was a full room, too.

This is declaration of freedom time, and again I thank you for the decisive nature of your prayers. It has been evident to us that our enemy is displeased with the fact that he’s losing prisoners. We have reports of a number of things that we think would be directly related in dreams and manifestations and battles that are going on to distract, but I’ll tell you he is losing big time because the Bible says when someone stronger comes along, he overpowers the strong man and he takes his possessions away from him. The darkness is losing many of its prisoners this week. Thank you for your prayers, because they are deciding outcomes and we get to live them right here.

There’s a sense of the Holy Spirit being stronger probably at this Warrior Leadership Summit in His work, in His presence, in the worship, and in the responses, than we have ever seen since it began. Someone said who has been to many conferences, “This must be a prayer saturated event because there’s something different at this one from all the others.” Well, I think you’re part of that equation. The victory can be directly attributed to what Jesus announced in John 8:36, “If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.” It’s liberation time!