On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

By Ron Hutchcraft

It's a killing ground. Where Life has triumphed.

Kids don't go out at night in Stoneridge. The streets belong to the gangs, the drug dealers and others who deal death to their people. The park with the basketball court is more like a battleground some nights. But not the past three nights. On Eagles' Wings was there, dealing life to their people.

Stoneridge is the most notorious community on the poor and often violent Lanapi Reservation. So notorious that it's been the subject of national network news stories. The tribe's Child Protective Services agency reports that 80% of the referrals from their reservation come from Stoneridge. The Lanapi Reservation is reeling with a suicide rate even higher than the rest of Native America. Nationally, Native young people have a suicide rate four times that of the rest of America's young people. For the Lanapi, it's seven times higher!

Knowing the increased danger on this reservation, we asked a Native brother with a background in law enforcement to come along to provide extra security. The local young people are quick to tell our team members about the senseless killings that have taken place in or around the park where our events are taking place. Extra precautions are in place - we'll streamline our program to finish by dark...our guys will be extra vigilant watching out for our female warriors...we'll order our girls to the bus if there are signs of trouble...we'll depend on the eyes and instincts of our security assistant and savvy local leaders.

And we'll pray for the peace of Christ. Over and over, I've seen God answer our prayer for the peace of Christ to take over otherwise embattled ground. He did it again in Stoneridge.

There was good news and bad news from Night One. Good news: We had a strong first night turnout, and there was almost total attention as Hope Stories and a Gospel presentation boomed out from that basketball court. Bad news: hearts were hard. Sensing the struggle the team was having, I asked at debriefing how many had a hard time turning the corner to Jesus in their conversations. Almost every hand went up. So many walking away. So much resistance to talking about Jesus.

Moments like these are time for defiant prayer. We stormed the Throne of Grace, imploring God to tear down the walls and open those hearts. Wow, what a change in the atmosphere on Night Two! Our turnout nearly doubled from our strong Night One. And before the night was over, the OEW rescuers had helped 51 Lanapi young people come to Jesus Christ!

Amazingly, the colors of Stoneridge's two most powerful gangs were very visible there that night. Normally, that would be a recipe for trouble. Locals told team members they were just waiting for something to happen. It never did. The peace of Christ was more powerful than any violence or hate.

We're really feeling good about the partners who've invited us here. Ministries and concerned believers who have pretty much worked separate of each other have been brought together by On Eagles' Wings coming here. As we met with them, we could almost feel a youth rescue coalition being born. Following the plan in our follow-up manual, they already have "3 Summer Nites" set up on the Stoneridge basketball court over the next three weeks.

We went into Night Three, feeling the weight of what was at stake. On the bus, I told the team, "There's been enough dying in this place. It's Jesus' time in Stoneridge. Let's pray that life will win on that basketball court tonight." It was one of those nights when we knew your prayer would be decisive.

Night Three brought us one of our largest crowds of this Summer of Hope. But as the night's basketball competitions got under way, one team leader described the atmosphere in the park as "tense." More gang guys were there, and, in addition, the play on the court was pretty brutal. The prayer on the bus for the victory of the peace of Christ intensified. Warriors would later testify it was at that point when things settled down in the park.

Softspoken Brittany commanded everyone's attention with her moving Hope Story of how "the devil turned the sweetest girl into a complete opposite person that no one knew." Drugs caused her to "lose myself." Then she was raped on her 16th birthday. Everyone was listening as she described how Jesus has replaced her tears with His joy, forgiven her sin, and enabled her to forgive those who've hurt her.

Then the Gospel was presented as passionately and boldly as I've heard in a Summer of Hope, followed by the public invitation. "If you're going to come, come now." No one did. The battle was fierce. Then, two people started to walk to center court. Then the dam broke. People started streaming forward from all directions. Again, a sweeping work of the Holy Spirit.

In that move of God were some thrilling victories. Brittany led to Christ a young rape victim like herself. Brandon had been approached the night before by a Stoneridge gang member and drug dealer who'd been affected by Brandon's Hope Story of turning from dealer to disciple. On Night Two, he tried to sell cocaine to him. On Night Three, he prayed with Brandon to begin a relationship with Jesus - and disposed of a large bag of cocaine.

Maria (Navajo) was first runner-up in a recent pageant for Native young women. Much to her surprise, two contestants she knew from the Lanapi Reservation showed up in the park that night. One is Miss Lanapi Nation. Maria knew them to be deeply into their tribe's traditional beliefs. But somewhere during this amazing night, God changed their hearts. Maria helped them give their hearts to Jesus at center court!

Jarrod (Sioux) faced off two dangerous guys who were trying to physically force two gang guys Jarrod was counseling to leave. The two intruders responded with hostility when Jarrod challenged them to consider Christ. They were defiant. The confrontation was a visual embodiment of the spiritual battle that had been raging here for three nights. Jarrod continued to confront those guys with Jesus. The power was too great. They just walked away quietly, and the two young men Jarrod had been sharing Jesus with gave their hearts to Him.

No one will soon forget the sight of so many Lanapi young people publicly proclaiming a commitment to Christ, right on the ground where so many lives have been wrecked or ended. The thief has had his way in Stoneridge long enough, stealing, killing and destroying lives (John 10:10 ). The One who came "that they may have life...to the full" has won a great victory here. This is a victory that will be extended as we hand off the ground gained here to a highly motivated team of local leaders.

Watching the flood of Lanapi young people coming to Christ was a dear lady in her 80s. Sixty-two years ago, she and her husband had started the mission where our team stayed. I asked her how this miracle response compared with what she'd seen in all her many years of serving the Lanapi Nation. She responded simply, "Never in 62 years. There's never been a response like this."

Praise God, life has won where death has won for so long. Through a little army of broken vessels through whom His light shines so brightly.

* All names and locations changed for privacy.