USA (MNN) — A ‘Summer of Hope’ kicks off in the United States.
The 2013 OEW team, loaded up and ready to roll! (Image, caption courtesy On Eagles’ Wings Facebook page)
It’s Ron Hutchcraft Ministries’ annual outreach to Native American youth, and an On Eagles’ Wings (OEW) team of 53 Native American young people from 30 different tribes have one week under their belts.
The first reservation they visited is full of death and self-destruction. Last month, one Native family planted a tree in honor of their four-year old loved one. The little boy’s disappearance in June 2012 led to a massive community search effort.
According to local papers, the little boy’s remains were found eight days after his disappearance under a home occupied by the boy’s mother and her boyfriend.
According to an OEM report, the reservation’s casino brings a great amount of revenue to the tribe. Nevertheless, it’s a place where life after life is wrecked by alcohol and drugs.
But, as Native team members shared about Christ, the mood shifted.
Dubbed “Hope Stories”, the OEW team members’ testimonies resonate powerfully with their peers. On the second night of outreach, Jonathan’s (Ojibwe) Hope Story commanded the attention of every person there – on the court, around the edges, in the cars.
His family’s home was riddled by 22 bullets from a drive-by shooting. Like some of his peers in the audience, Jonathan chose the same life that sent his brothers to prison: doing and dealing drugs. He shared about the murder of his lifelong best friend for $800-worth of cocaine, and his ultimate, desperate surrender to Jesus.
Read more OEW Hope Stories here.
On the last night of outreach, the Gospel was presented and a public invitation was given. Nearly half of the outreach attendants came forward to ask Jesus into their hearts.
Praise God for this harvest. Pray for the spiritual growth of these new believers.
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