USA (MNN) — The past and the present are both full of challenges for Native Americans. Their history is marked with trauma and deep tragedy at the hands of others. But God is bringing hope and a future to the people who have seen much evil.
Weston Francis with Ron Hutchcraft Ministries is a follower of Christ and a member of the Navajo tribe. He says there is spiritual warfare behind the mistreatment his people have suffered.
“I personally believe that the enemy knows that Native America has a voice because of our pasts. In a way, you would see that the enemy would want to take out the best of the best,” Francis says.
(Photo courtesy of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries)
“A big part of that I believe was the enemy trying to get Native America to hate who Jesus really was, by using people who didn’t know who Jesus was. Because if they knew who He really was like, and they knew His teachings — when He talks about to have love, to have mercy to have grace — that should have been more evident than what we see now.”
Instead, the things we see now include genocide, sexual assault and other evil acts, which Francis says the enemy would love Native people to dwell on.
Today, Native men and women are more than two times as likely as white men and women are to be victims of violence in their lifetimes. (See more statistics like this in a 2023 document from the U. S. Department of Justice.)
But in the midst of the brokenness and the very real cries for justice, Francis remembers that God said that judgment belongs to Him (Romans 12:19).
“That’s (what) my hopes rely on, to know that people are going to answer for the things that they did — in the same way that you and I are going to (answer) for the things that we do,” Francis says.
Francis is part of a growing team of young Native Americans helping to bring the understanding of who Jesus really is into their communities. On Eagles’ Wings is a program that offers intensive discipleship and leadership development to young Native Americans, equipping them to reach out with the “hope stories” to young people just like them who desperately need Christ.
(Photo courtesy of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries via Facebook)
Learn more about the mission of On Eagles’ Wings here, but first and foremost join them in prayer.
“Pray that young Native Americans would rise up to the calling that God has called them to be. Pray for the leaders that are spearheading this, because we are going to be held accountable and responsible for what we are doing,” Francis says.
He says there is much lament and forgiveness that needs to take place.
“God says in Ephesians 4 to have compassion and be tender hearted, and to ‘forgive as I have forgiven you.’ It’s real easy to ask God for forgiveness. But it’s so hard for us to give that same mercy and that same grace to people.
“When we choose to forgive, when we choose to love and have mercy, that’s when we’re most like Jesus.”
Header photo courtesy of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries.
