Summer of Hope 2023 Front-Lines Report - The Fourth Reservation
"We don't want your Jesus around here."
The Kenati people are some of the most religious people I've met in this country. But the quote above pretty much sums up their attitude toward Jesus.
Summer of Hope 2023 Front-Lines Report - Our Third Reservation
"In the end, it's about one shattered life among the many."
Life on the rez is hard. Life for a rez kid in the city is even harder. So are the hearts.
Summer of Hope 2023 Front-Lines Report - Our Second Reservation
I sit here looking at my computer screen, wondering how I can possibly tell the glory story of these past three nights. I'll try - because we were living the answers to your prayers.
The Miracle on the Court
It started with Night Two on the Bluewater Reservation.
God didn't wait long to pour out His power on this summer's just-launched On Eagles' Wings team.
He was ready and waiting for us on our first reservation.
Hundreds of Native young people, representing dozens of different tribes, came from all over North America to attend the annual On Eagles' Wings Warrior Leadership Summit, the Native youth discipleship conference hosted by Hutchcraft Ministries.
The On Eagles' Wings Leadership Center had its first-ever commencement ceremony. May 13, 2023, was a special day to honor the first class of graduating students from the On Eagles' Wings Leadership Center.
Final Report on the Summer of Hope 2022
God woke me up before sunrise this morning - and I grabbed a pad to take notes on what was filling my heart.
It was literally centuries ago. The light of the Gospel was lit in the hearts of the people here. That was then, this is now. The light has burned very low.
They were some of the first Indigenous people on this continent to hear about Jesus. Now many see anything Christian as an enemy.
Battlefield and Breakthrough
"You will never get this reservation out of your heart."
Ron told the team that in our first briefing. There's something about this reservation. Maybe it is, as one of this summer's OEW team said about her people here, "the spiritual bondage" that is "so dark."
It's hard to describe what a "yes" to Jesus means on this reservation. As local Native believers explain, following Native religion here isn't just what you believe - it's who you are. And you are raised to reject Jesus or else, in essence, lose who you are. The walls of this stronghold extend very high. It is that wall the warriors of On Eagles' Wings 2022 had to surpass in order for their Message of Jesus' Hope to break through.