Please watch Nick's powerful story, as he shares his heart for his people.
"I wasn't sure anyone would come. It was amazing!"
The team's green On Eagles' Wings shirts say, "He rescued me." With the stirring strains of "Courageous!" - the Warrior Leadership Summit theme song - filling their hearts, they set out to rescue many others in Jesus' Name. Going to hope-starved Native young people who are where they once were.
God has nearly doubled the size of the team from last year - which means twice as many lost ones can have the opportunity to hear about Jesus face-to-face from someone like them. Their first mission: the Bandera* people who as Native people have said, have a centuries-old history of resisting one Gospel effort after another. A challenging first assignment for a team that is nearly half new.
In a sense, it all started with one Native young man.
Curtis was a brand new believer when he came to Warrior Leadership Summit. His walk with Christ took off, and he helped rescue others on several reservations as a three-year On Eagles' Wings team member. After graduating from the OEW Leadership Center, he invited us to bring the team to Bandera to help him reach his people.
But would the Bandera young people show up?
They did! A significant percentage of the youth in the community! One local said, "This is the most people I've ever seen on this basketball court!"
The engagement of the Bandera young people belied much of the Gospel-rejecting history of the tribe. Perhaps because they were hearing it, from a "bunch of rez kids." Or because the Gospel came wrapped, not in sermons, but in stories like their own.
Like Randy's (Ojibwe) life of every kind of abuse, leading to multiple suicide attempts. Until Jesus. Or Marisa (Navajo), living on drugs, alcohol and relationships to "hide my anger, hurt and pain" because of "the trust that was broken at a young age." "If this was all life had to offer," she said, "I didn't want to keep living."
She had everyone listening as she said, "In the pool called 'life,' I was drowning. Jesus saved me. He is my safe space."
That was especially true on the public invitation night. Given the Gospel resistance, would any of these young people take the step of choosing Christ publicly?
|
One out of four people around that basketball court opened their heart to Jesus! |
The first two young women came, brought by Emma, a new team member. Then some big guys. Then others. Standing courageously at center court - in a response that could only be described as a breakthrough.
The day after, I asked a new warrior what he thought about his first rescue experience. He said, "I wasn't sure anyone would come. It was amazing!"
Yes, it was. And yes, it will be. As friends like you pray. And as these warriors board our "bus full of miracles" to carry His hope to many more this summer. Because "He rescued them."
"The Addiction Broke My Heart"
"As He saw the city, He wept over it." Luke 19:41
"What broke my heart the most was the addiction. Like the people passing around the vape, with their little daughter there. This is what she has to live with every day. A guy said this is how it is going to be every single day." - Marty, OEW Team Member, Navajo, July 2024
Our second reservation has broken the hearts of many of our warriors. So much hopelessness. So much dying.
This is Northridge Reservation. Where on a basketball court on a weekend in July, hope broke through the darkness.
On our second reservation, warriors are talking about how their hearts have been broken by what they've seen and heard here. At times, there have been tears at our post-event debriefing. The warriors themselves have been through so much in their relatively short lives. But now, seeing the lostness of precious people here through Jesus' eyes, they are feeling His heart.
Drugs and alcohol define a lot of lives at Northridge. Distribution is bold and relentless. And too many people have decided there is no reason to go on living.
The team drew a crowd each night - and warriors reported meeting one hurting person after another. Over and over, people thanked them for being there. One person called it "festive." Many people called it hope.
As the Gospel was clearly shared from center court and one-on-one, it was good to know that our strong Northridge partners who have invited us, stood ready to intentionally follow-up on any who came to Christ.
After many Gospel conversations and a powerful wrap-up on our second night, there was an opportunity for the people there to pray to begin a personal relationship with Jesus.
Amazingly, one out of four Northridge people around that court indicated they had opened their heart to Jesus!! They were joined the next night by others who responded to the powerful public invitation.
|
Thank you for praying and giving so our "Amy's" can be there rescuing lives. |
In Amy's words: "We both cried a lot. I was able to hold her and hug her. I talked to Jesus with her and about her. She gave her life to Jesus! She was much happier, and she didn't want me to leave. She said I was her best friend. I told her Jesus is her best friend. She carries a little book she writes names in. She wrote my name in her book. 'Amy, my best friend, led me to Jesus.'"
These are the holy moments of this Summer of Hope. Thank you for praying and giving so our "Amy's" can be there rescuing lives.
* Names and locations changed for privacy.