A Summer of Hope in a Season of Hurt
"We're baaaack!"
That's how we greeted the excited Native young people at Warrior Leadership Summit 2021. And that's why we may have been even more excited than they were.
God is moving powerfully at Warrior Leadership Summit, the On Eagles' Wings discipleship conference for hundreds of Native youth.
They were big and tough - and scared. Local Native believers said they were scared...of some of their centuries-old beliefs.
There's a lot of fear of dark forces that makes it very difficult for Rocky Creek young people to choose Jesus. Even the big guys.
But these guys listened to Darren, a big guy himself - and his story of being disowned by his family for choosing Jesus. And of a family transformed because of one son who brought Jesus into their lives. His challenge to those guys, as he has mentioned many other places: "It's time to come home to Jesus."
When the President sent Federal law enforcement assistance to four of the highest crime reservations, Arrowhead was one of them.
When a Senate committee was investigating the "suicide epidemic" on reservations, they asked Arrowhead young people to testify. Because there had been so many there.
And this was God's choice to be the fourth community for Hope to be brought to this summer!
Driving into the reservation town of Antelope Valley brought tears to my eyes. Because of what God did here 27 years ago.
This is where God broke my heart for Native American young people. It's where He called me to devote a chunk of the rest of my life to reaching and discipling them.
"The most depressing, most dangerous place to live."
That's how a national magazine described High Creek, our first reservation in this Summer of Hope.
For most of us, a community with 80% unemployment, with two-thirds of the people living beneath the poverty level, is unimaginable. For the embattled Native Americans of High Creek, it has been a breeding ground for heartless meth gangs and unspeakable violence. The kind the local emergency room sees day-after-day. Violence one nurse described as "unbelievably brutal." It's a place where too many are dying too young. Where girls disappear into trafficking all too often.
"This has been a room of miracles this week!" Brad Hutchcraft, director of On Eagles' Wings, was so encouraged by the impact of this annual Native youth discipleship conference.
The theme this past week has been "Live free," and Native American young people were set free in so many ways.
This week, hundreds of Native people have gathered together for this one-of-a-kind youth discipleship conference called "Warrior Leadership Summit."
Young people arrived from all across North America, representing numerous U.S. states and dozens of Native American tribes. And this year, Canadian "First Nations" young people have the largest representation ever at a WLS.
Years ago, one of the ladies who cooked for the team summarized what she witnessed in three never-forgotten words...
Chasing God's Glory!
Again this summer, that's exactly what we were doing for five supernatural weeks. And the work God began continues - as we get reports back from the follow-up events put on by our local reservation partners.
It's just like God. To save the most broken, most heart-wrenching reservation for last. When our full team is together. When every warrior is supremely battle-tested and battle-taught. And when, because we are at end of our strength, we will have to totally depend on His.
West End Reservation. Our final battle of this unforgettable Summer of Hope. The one where I heard more warriors talk about their heart being broken than any other.