On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

The road to the "Branch River" reservation dead ends at the rez. Like so many of the young lives who call it home. It's an easy place to forget because you can live a few miles from there and never go there.

We saw white cross after white cross on that road - silent testimony to so much dying, often so young. The local guys told us that the crosses are there for people who died drunk, drugged, or by their own hand. Sadly, Branch River is a reservation without a church. At least until now.

The "face of Jesus" here is a handful of believers who weep for this place - a missionary, a young Native couple who grew up here, a non-Native couple who live an hour away. It is their prayer and their investment in these people that has brought us here.

We arrived at Warrior Leadership Summit with only 26 warriors committed for this summer - very short on guys and well below the full strength team we need. God moved in a mighty way at the Summit, and we arrived in Branch River with a team of 49 warriors, nearly half guys! You have prayed for this team, and "the Lord of the harvest" has "thrust them out into the harvest." And in the words of the lone missionary on this rez, they are "amazing!"

Half of our warriors have never done this - or anything close to this - in their lives. We know that usually means taking some time building the confidence to move out and meet the local young people. But not this bunch! On our very first night of the Summer of Hope, one of our team leaders came to me and said, "I can't find any girls to talk to! This team's got everyone covered! And the guys are connecting with the local guys!"

Frankly, I don't think I've ever seen a team hit the ground running like these young warriors! Lime green shirts (our Summer of Hope "uniform") everywhere! Native young people, listening to broken kids pouring out their pain...then sharing their Hope Story of the Savior who has forgiven their sin and carried their pain.

That first night, Chandra (Crow) spent a lot of time connecting with one hurting local girl. When I told Chandra that girl would be back the second night because she'd made her feel more important, Chandra said, "Then that would make me her only friend." That young woman later confided that she thought her only value was giving pleasure and making babies. But on our final night, Night Three, she responded to the public invitation to begin her personal relationship with Jesus Christ. HE thought she was worth dying for.

Many of the guys who came to play our men in basketball bore fresh scars on their arms and shoulders. We have been told by Native people that those are the marks of having been "pierced" with sharp pieces of bone and tethered from those to a tree for hours on end. They say, it is, in essence, self-imposed suffering to be cleansed for sin. Our team has come to proclaim the only suffering that can cleanse us and make us right with the Creator - the death of God's Son, Jesus. "He was pierced for our transgressions...the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5-6 ).

On Night Two, Annie (Nez Perce) hammered home the Gospel from center court, declaring that in Jesus, she had found "the love my mother never gave me and the protection my father never gave me." Then, she challenged young people who have never considered Jesus even an option to "look around at how desperate and without hope our people are. If what we have was enough, we wouldn't be dying like we are!"

On Night Three, Jon (Apache) clearly spelled out the Relationship that had rescued and changed 49 Native young men and women from 22 tribes - a brown-skinned, tribal man named Jesus. Then Jon invited them to publicly give their lives to the Man who died publicly for them. In this unchurched community on the dead-end road, God broke through - with some of their big guys leading the way to center court.

But it wasn't just the guys. One local girl broke Katie's (Hopi) heart. Katie broke down with the team as she described the scars all over that girl's arms - the marks of a girl who had often wanted to die. But when the call was given to declare your personal commitment to Jesus, she grabbed Katie's hand, taking her with her as she stepped to center court. As she shared this victory with the team, she melted down in tears of joy.

The local leaders are so excited! A dream is being birthed to follow-up immediately with some locally-led youth events (we help provide ideas, etc.) that will sustain the powerful momentum of God's On Eagles' Wings victories. Their hope is that all those Branch River young people who just met Christ could become the seed of a youth ministry on this rez - and possibly some day the seed of Branch River's first real church.

Many of these precious warriors have just had the thrill of leading their first person ever to faith in Christ. And they're flying! As one of our OEW team members said to our whole team: "This is what I want to do forever!"

With a start like this, we could be on the verge of a truly amazing Summer of Hope. And your prayer is making the decisive difference. On our end, we're asking the Lord to prompt you often, and at critical times, to go to Him on the team's behalf. This Summer of Hope is a true spiritual partnership between those who pray and those who are fighting on the front-lines. Thank you for being on the team!

Cover us now as we move to a reservation that has recently had the most alarming suicide outbreak we've ever encountered. Hope is on the way!

* All names changed for privacy.