On Eagles Wings - Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

It was a first in all my years with On Eagles' Wings - an outreach where almost no one came.

We hit a wall when we got to the Gospel-resistant Bandera Reservation, our final battlefield in the Summer of Hope 2010. Unlike all the other reservations we've gone to this summer, Bandera is in the heart of a major city. Tackling a Native population that's diffused through an urban patchwork is much more challenging geographically than the concentrated population of a reservation. The challenge was intensified by the fact that we had divided our team into two teams to reach two nearby reservations in these final days.

Our host was once a gang leader on the tough streets of Bandera - until Jesus captured his heart and called him to pastor a small church plant in his old neighborhood. For years, he says he's been "fighting for the lives of my tribe." The victories have been hard to come by. Every time he's tried to get a place for anything Christian, he ends up getting a runaround that ultimately sinks the project.

Duke explained why "everything is so hard here" - "a lot of strongholds." He explained how the worship here involves centuries-old rituals that culminate in being taken over by certain spirits. People who do not want to be a part of it are forcibly removed, and then taken to a specific location until they submit. It feels as if every effort to break through is thwarted by one closed door after another.

On our Night One at Bandera, we experienced a little of the frustration that Duke has battled for years. Represented by a closed gate. It followed an afternoon of unusually challenging canvassing in Native neighborhoods scattered across a large urban area. It's all reservation, but it's not all Native. Many ethnic neighborhoods separate the host population into disconnected enclaves. But we got it done. Unfortunately, when our bus rolled up to the school that our local hosts booked for three nights of outreach, the gate was closed. Like it has been all over Bandera.

Once we got the gate open, we began to learn why the court was virtually empty on this first night of our final rescue mission. First, the open gym that normally draws young people to the remotely located school wasn't open for some reason. Secondly, the per capita checks that each tribal member receives from casino profits had come out that day - three days earlier than scheduled (we were told it's unheard of for them to come out early). We were told everyone disappears into a days-long spending binge after they get those checks. A place people weren't coming to. A time when people weren't there to come. Another closed door for the Bandera people to have a Jesus-moment?

Most of Day Two was consumed with seeking God and pursuing a Plan B that might work. Finally, about four hours before "game time," we confirmed a basketball court in a small Indian housing area. It wasn't ideal, but at least there were a few people there. We wouldn't normally be glad for 20 people at an event, but our lonely Night One made us grateful to at least be able to do a modest outreach. And one community leader gave his heart to Christ that night, reminding us of the lengths the Shepherd goes to for the rescue of one lost sheep.

Night Three would be our last outreach of the Summer of Hope 2010. We've seen so many dramatic victories. But Bandera was really hard. Before we left, we prayed boldly for a spiritual breakthrough among this people who have not really seen one. Night Three began like a replay of Night Two - about 20 people. That's when it got interesting. Tribal leaders decided to have a community picnic for the folks in this little housing complex. "Coincidentally" on the same night we'd be wrapping up there. The small group of locals there honored us with a welcome circle. Among them were some of the tribal leaders who had put on the picnic. They accepted our invitation to stay for our program.

One problem. Basketball was our main feature, and no basketball players had shown up. But we kept being told they were coming. We stalled and stretched, wondering when to present our Hope Stories and Gospel wrap-up. Finally, Jon (Apache) came on the bus, expressing his frustration over whether to proceed with the Gospel for the modest group there or wait longer for the mystery basketball players.

At 9:05 (the time we'd usually start closing out our event), Jon and I prayed that if He wanted us to reach more people, especially the influential basketball players, He'd send them in the next five minutes. As Jon got off the bus, two vehicles arrived - with guys ready to play basketball. Then, out of nowhere, more people started coming. Our audience tripled in ten minutes - to what may have been a record crowd in Bandera for anything Gospel!

So we started the challenge basketball game between the locals and OEW. After three abbreviated quarters, Jon gathered everybody together and laid out the Gospel for them. Only two people responded to the public invitation. But the first one was a pacesetting tribal leader. Duke, our embattled host, could hardly believe a leader like that would respond publicly. That must have given others "permission" to consider Christ. All around the court and the housing complex, the OEW warriors were busily engaged in Gospel conversations.

One basketball player who came to Christ had literally been chased down on the street by one of our team members who saw him walking by. Chandra ended up talking to a girl who hated everything Christian because of what "a minister did to me." Amazingly, Chandra knows all about that kind of betrayal - and was able to tell of the Savior who gave her the ability to forgive and be restored. For the first time, that girl is open to Jesus. Jimmy (Navajo) shared Jesus with a guy who showed up because he heard the word "tournament" from a mile away and decided to come over.

By the time the night ended, 16 of those people had come to Jesus - in one of the longest OEW outreaches ever! Later, while talking with our team, Duke summed up in one word what that meant on the Bandera Reservation - "breakthrough." The breakthrough that has been so long in coming for his people. Because those tribal leaders "happened to" be there that night, they said what Duke thought he'd never hear - "Any time you want to use our facilities for events like this, just give us a call. We'll even pick up the kids and bring them here." Suddenly, the doors closed for so long have flung open. Duke is planning a follow-up event next week on the same "Breakthrough Court."

These were outcomes that were unimaginable after the discouragement of Night One, but God showed up in all His wall-busting, mountain-moving glory. He handed a gang-leader-turned-pastor the opportunity he's battled and prayed for so long - through His OEW warrior band. It was the kind of hard-fought - and unlikely - victory that gives you a ringside seat on the power and glory of God.

It's been a summer of breakthroughs from Branch River's despair on a dead-end road to suicide-ravaged Elk Valley...from the killing ground of Stoneridge to the "drug store" of Buffalo Creek...to the unyielding ground of Bandera.

Thank you for being with us every step of this miracle way!

In a few days, we'll send you a closing report - with a big picture summary of this amazing Summer of Hope. God has done so, so much that only He could do.

In the meantime, would you pray about one final gift to help complete this work of God? A gift toward the one final miracle we need - the $63,000 that will lift the financial burden of this life-saving summer. Thank you!

* Names and locations changed for privacy.