November is Native American Heritage Month, and you may not realize that Native Americans were the first mission field in North America. However, “as far as missions are concerned, we’re doing better all over the world than right here with the First People of our land,” Ron Hutchcraft of Hutchcraft Ministries says.

“After 400 years of missions, only four percent are estimated to have a relationship with Christ.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

Native communities don’t connect with Jesus

Many Native people see Jesus as “the white man’s God,” especially when so much loss – land, language, culture, and lives – was carried out in the name of Christianity. Yet Jesus is deeply relevant to the Native experience. “Jesus was not a blonde-haired, blue-eyed guy like we see in some paintings. He was a tribal man,” Hutchcraft says.

“If you asked Him, He’d say, ‘I’m from the tribe of Judah.’ Our Native Americans would say, ‘I’m Apache, I’m Sioux, I’m Cherokee, I’m Choctaw,’ or ‘I’m Seneca.”

Along with tribal heritage, “He lived on land occupied by others – the Romans. He was from a place that people thought, ‘Nothing good comes from there.’ Some people may say that about Native communities,” Hutchcraft says.

“Jesus was also a victim of gross injustice, as many Native Americans have been.”

A rising movement

These connections are transforming Native young people through Hutchcraft Ministries’ On Eagles’ Wings outreach. More about that here.

Summer of Hope 2025
(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

“I have had the privilege of watching Native young people who are not only survivors, but more than conquerors, as they have told their hope story on that reservation basketball court. They have shown a boldness that would shame many of us,” Hutchcraft says.

“With a deep spirituality that the Creator has built into them, an understanding of suffering and injustice and abuse, and with the warrior spirit – when all of that comes under the Lordship of Christ, fasten your seat belt. They are a force,” he adds.

“They are hope with skin on.”

Hutchcraft Ministries’ Warrior Leadership Summit and On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center focus on discipling Native young people to become pastors, missionaries, and youth leaders for their own communities. Here’s how you can help.

Header image depicts a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, c.1912-1915, titled The First Thanksgiving, 1621. (Wikimedia Commons)

Churches have noticed a surge of newcomers at weekend services. Even mainstream media has toyed with the word “revival.”

“Historically, moments of national trauma and searching have made a way for a large turning to God. Some have called them revivals, awakenings,” Ron Hutchcraft with Hutchcraft Ministries says.

“We see it individually, even, that someone’s death [can end up] bringing life to a lot of other people.”

(Photo courtesy of Turning Point USA)

Violence and a searching generation

In a generation exposed continually to violence, few find solace in religion. More than 11,000 Americans ages 11 to 26 died from gun injuries in 2023, and gun violence contributed to Gen Z mental-health concerns the following year.

Simultaneously, today’s young people are unlikely to find comfort for their fears within the walls of a church. According to a Pew study, less than half of America’s Gen Z identifies as Christian, though many young people still consider themselves “spiritual.”

However, Kirk’s death appears to be changing the tide, and opportunity follows on its heels.

Opportunity for discipleship

Don’t miss the questions about eternity that young people in your life may be asking. Hutchcraft says making yourself approachable can open the way for discipleship if you are a Christian adult.

“If we live that way, that says to a young person, ‘You matter, and I want to hear what you have to say,’” Hutchcraft says.

“[When] we speak with conviction and Holy Spirit boldness, and we seem to have something solid to offer, I think we can be hope for a young person we know.”

Consider the opportunities God may place before you to model Christ for the Next Generation. Find inspiration here.

“Let’s learn from this [moment in time] that young people are truly looking for leadership, for shepherding, and we can be that for them,” Hutchcraft says.

Header image depicts young people mourning Charlie Kirk’s passing. Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries.

Hutchcraft has been in cross-cultural youth ministry for decades. He sees several reasons Kirk’s death has been so traumatic for Gen Z.

“Many of them — not all, but many of them — saw in [Kirk] someone they could trust. And trust comes hard to this younger generation. Then suddenly he was gone, violently, publicly. That has left them seeking. They really are.”

Hutchcraft recalls how America searched for answers in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks as well.

“[Something] I think God sees is a nation without answers. We are groping to [find out] ‘What’s wrong with us, what’s wrong with this world, what’s wrong with this culture?’” he says. “The public nature of what happened, the violent nature of what happened, the heart-wrenching way it happened, has reached all the way from college campuses to the Capitol.”

This time of national grief, debate, and clamor is causing people to look to God.

Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. (Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)

“The response as you look at social media has been many, many saying, ‘I’m going to church for the first time in my life.’ [Or] ‘I’m going back to church for the first time in many, many years,’” Hutchcraft says.

“There is a lot of God-seeking because, setting aside the political agenda of what Charlie Kirk may have had, he was a bold voice for his personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the fact that all of us need that relationship.” 

If you haven’t noticed spiritual openness among the people in your life yet, be on the lookout for it. Be on the lookout for them and their questions, even as you ask your own questions. Remember the hope Jesus offers every person who comes to Him, and share it. 

Hutchcraft points to Hebrews 6:19. “There is in the resurrected Christ — the conqueror of death — the end of our search. [That search] may very well be started by trauma, by losing some ‘earth hope’ that some may have placed their hope in.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Joshua Hanks via Unsplash.

On Eagles’ Wings is a division of Hutchcraft Ministries that equips Native American believers to reach their peers for Jesus. The team saw the power of God again and again during their Summer of Hope outreaches this past year.

In one urban Native community, a homicide had taken place just days before their visit. Ron Hutchcraft said local Native believers spoke about the obvious despair at the first night’s gathering. “There was a confusion and a chaotic feel in the audience that usually is not there.”

One team member shared their hope story of how Jesus had changed their life. But then a mysterious bang went off, scattering the crowd. It was followed by a severe thunderstorm that finished the night.

David, the Native host for the On Eagles’ Wings team, told them privately: “There’s a blanket of darkness over this community.  Life here is traumatizing.”  

The On Eagles’ Wings team immediately sent out a request for prayer. 

The darkness did not deter them — it made these Native young people more determined to share the hope and freedom Jesus offers. Then prayer was answered with the darkness kicked out, and hope and victory entering the park! 

People listened to different Native young people speak about Christ. When the invitation came to publicly accept Christ, key men from the community stepped forward.

“In fact, the response was all [men] that night. I don’t remember ever seeing that,” Hutchcraft remarked.

Find your place in the story through continued prayer. It’s been more than a month since the summer outreaches ended, but follow-up ministry plans were already in place with local Native leaders. Pray for discipleship to be effective with new believers.

Pray for the young people whose lives were changed by the summer yet who face tough daily realities back home.

Pray for the applicants to the leadership development program with On Eagles’ Wings. Hutchcraft says, “We’re praying that they will be exactly the people that God wants, and that they will be transformed by this year of intensive discipleship.” (Read about the 2025 graduating class of leaders here!)

2025 team photo (Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries)

Header photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries. 

The “three open” prayer is inspired by Paul’s request to God in Colossians 4:3-4:

“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

There are three doors that can be opened before a person receives the good news of Jesus Christ:

1. Lord, open a door of opportunity. “That’s a natural opportunity for me to bring up my relationship with Jesus,” explains Hutchcraft. “So, Lord, open the door. He’ll do that.”
2. Open their heart. “If You’re putting them on my heart to talk to them, would You get their heart ready for when I do? Open their heart.”
3. Open my mouth. “Give me the courage. Give me the words when it’s the time. Give me the tone.”

Open door (photo courtesy of Harrison Haines via Pexels)

When those three doors open, it is a time to share your testimony with honesty and vulnerability. Authenticity is key, as it helps to break down defenses and opens hearts.

If you doubt whether your testimony is interesting enough, Hutchcraft recommends writing a few thoughts on this subject: If it weren’t for Jesus, _____.

“Tell me about your lonely times, with no Jesus. Tell me about your depressing times, and there’s no Jesus. Your world’s falling apart, a relationship is broken. Tell me about bad news from the doctor, and there’s no Jesus, and there’s how about the funeral, and there’s no Jesus,” he says.

“Just begin to think: If it weren’t for Jesus, what difference is He making in your everyday life? That’s your story. That is your hope story!”

Once you’ve shared your testimony, you’re leading your friend or family to the One who changed you — Jesus! It’s His love in dying for your sins and His power in rising from the grave to transform your life.

But what if they aren’t moved? Hutchcraft says it’s not your burden to persuade, but to pray and share truth. God alone leads the rescue from beginning to end. Hutchcraft compares our teamwork with God to a glove:

“You are just the glove. He is the hand! Gloves can’t do anything unless they have a hand in them, and He will put His hand into the glove of your life, and your relationship, and your personality and deliver the good news of Jesus through you!”

To learn more about reaching out to others, visit Hutchcraft Ministries.

Girl holding an “Open” sign (Photo courtesy od Ketut Subiyanto via Pexels)

A division of Hutchcraft Ministries, On Eagles’ Wings equips Native American Christians to reach their peers for Jesus. More about that here.

Hutchcraft Ministries founder Ron Hutchcraft says, “There were 36 Native American and First Nations people on the team, and they represented about 20 different Indian nations.”

(Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries)

Native American youth at each reservation share similar experiences and trials, from substance abuse to violence and suicide. They also share a similar mistrust of Jesus, often calling Him “the white man’s God.”

“They don’t know anybody who is young, Native, and Christian, so He doesn’t even seem to be an option for them.”

Local Christians invite the On Eagles’ Wings team to their community to spark change.

Previous efforts to introduce the Gospel go unheeded until one summer day, Hutchcraft says, “Here comes a busload of young, Native Christians from 20 different tribes who have life stories like their own, except they have hope, and they all found it when they found Jesus.”

Read individual impact reports here. Below, Hutchcraft shares three reasons why hearts change during the Summer of Hope.

“Breakthroughs happen on each reservation, and there’s an unprecedented interest in Jesus,” Hutchcraft says.

3 Drivers of Change

Transformation begins when Native youth hear something they can relate to. “People are most likely to listen to a Gospel messenger with a shared life experience,” Hutchcraft says.

Because On Eagles’ Wings team members “bring the Gospel wrapped in their own hope story,” Native young people can relate to “how it was before Jesus,” Hutchcraft says.

“Those are sad stories. There has been a lot of abuse and family violence, addiction, depression, self-harm, and, all too often, thoughts of suicide. As they tell that story, the young people on the reservation are going, ‘Well, that’s my story, too.’”

(Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries)

Noise fades as all attention turns to the Native Gospel worker in the middle of a basketball court.

“What was perhaps a rowdy and loud situation when we got there becomes strangely quiet,” Hutchcraft shares, “as these young men and women talk about what Jesus has done for them and they share the Gospel, the message that changed everything.”

Prayer is a second factor influencing heart change. “Before they go, there’s a time when they each hold their (written) hope story up to the Lord and I ask them to pray out loud [that it would be] something God would use to bring hope to people who are where they used to be,” Hutchcraft says.

“It’s powerful to hear them all praying simultaneously for God to use that hope story, and the rest of the month is God answering that prayer.”

Finally, Native youth experience the peace of Jesus through On Eagles’ Wings team members and Summer of Hope activities, opening hearts to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

“They’re feeling the presence of Jesus without knowing it initially because there’s joy and safety in those events,” Hutchcraft says.

Keep praying for the On Eagles’ Wings team. “They don’t just need it in the summer, they need it all year long,” Hutchcraft says. Ask the Lord to help them live in continued supernatural boldness.

Header and story images courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries/On Eagles’ Wings. 

God is at work in Native communities! Every summer, On Eagles’ Wings — a division of Hutchcraft Ministries — organizes Summer of Hope outreaches to reservations.

Doug Hutchcraft from Hutchcraft Ministries shares, “There have been six [outreaches] this summer. Like the other communities we visited, this is a community screaming for hope, [there’s] the hope crisis.”

On Eagles’ Wings equips Native American believers to bring the hope of Christ to their communities.
(Screenshot)

The On Eagles’ Wings team, dressed in green shirts declaring “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul” (Hebrews 6:19), aims to bring that hope.

Outreaches bring powerful testimonies! One new Native believer, Carrie, had just given her heart to Christ.

“She immediately, when she’s done praying, goes and runs to her group of friends a few yards away, saying, ‘You need this too. You need this Jesus.’” Like the biblical account of the Samaritan woman at the well, Carrie became a rescuer of her people within moments of giving her life to Jesus.

The ministry goes by invitation. “Once we get invited, we will go physically meet with the people there that are the inviters. [We] make sure that there is sufficient follow-up and people to disciple and bring these new believers into the faith in a responsible way,” says Hutchcraft. They continue serving alongside Native young people throughout the year.

Hutchcraft adds, “[There are] just amazing things that God is doing. He is such an amazing God. These things don’t happen without the power of the Holy Spirit filling the lives, the hearts of these young heroes on this team.”

The On Eagles’ Wings team faithfully follows the Great Commission among Native communities, but they need your prayers and support.

“We do need God’s people to come alongside to pray and be the fuel that makes this possible,” he adds.

If the Lord is moving you to pray, to give, or to participate in any way, visit Hutchcraft Ministries!

Header photo: the Summer of Hope team (courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries).

This year, around 700 Native young people came to the Warrior Leadership Summit with On Eagles’ Wings. They came to this evangelism and discipleship conference to be equipped as leaders for Christ.

Photo of Warrior Leadership Summit 2025 courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries via Facebook.

“To have 700 Native young people praising Jesus together, seeking to be leaders in their communities, is a real miracle, something only God could do,” said Doug Hutchcraft with Hutchcraft Ministries. 

People who come to the leadership summit aren’t called campers but warriors. Hutchcraft said they hear a common response to the gathering:

“‘I’m not alone. I realized I’m here seeing how many brothers and sisters I have in Christ that really love Jesus and want to do what I want to do.’”

Following Christ hasn’t always been shared well with Native communities, Hutchcraft said. Yet today, more and more young people realize Jesus is about relationship, not religion. 

“When they (Native young people) share with their people that Jesus was a brown-skinned man, from a tribe, [who] was persecuted, [who] had issues with the government, all those things, they say, ‘I’ve always heard that Jesus is a white man’s God. But you’re saying He is for everybody.’”

It then opens the way for Native young people to share their own stories of how Jesus changed their lives. During the 2025 Warrior Leadership Summit, 43 people chose to be baptized.

Hutchcraft said that in many Native tribes, to be baptized isn’t just a thing done at church on a Sunday morning. It means publicly stating “I’m a follower of Jesus. He is everything to me now.”

Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries

“These are bold warriors who are saying, ‘I want to make this public declaration of my love for Jesus,’” said Hutchcraft.

Picture the scene: a lake with hundreds of Native young people sitting at the edges. Then shoulder-deep in the lake, “a Native young person coming out of the water, arms raised, shouting for joy. It’s so amazing,” said Hutchcraft. 

In the Warrior Leadership Summit last year, over 100 tribes were represented. Pray Native young people from this year’s gathering will boldly bring the hope of Jesus to their people!

“We are 100% dependent on God’s people praying about this,” said Hutchcraft. 

Header photo of Warrior Leadership Summit 2025 courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries via Facebook. 

Brad Hutchcraft with Hutchcraft Ministries says, “These are young people who remember what it’s like to be lost, to remember what it’s like to not have Jesus part of their lives. And they want their peers, they want other Native people to find the hope of Jesus they have.”

The 2025 Summer of Hope will begin with the Warrior Leadership Summit for youth. The team expects 500 warriors to attend, representing dozens of tribes. The youth will spend five days learning from God’s word, hearing from great Native Bible teachers, participating in amazing worship, and learn how to live for God on a daily basis.

These conference leaders will then spend the month of July visiting tribes and proclaiming the gospel to their peers and Native American youth. 

Hutchcraft says, “It’s important for these local young people to learn that there is hope, there are answers, and there is healing that can take place. For that message to come from someone that looks like them and who has walked a similar road as they have is just an amazing time where walls come down and people are set free.” 

Many of the issues rural communities face are magnified in Native America. These messengers of hope, however, can touch hopelessness with their own stories and can say, “We were in the same place. We’ve been the abuse victims, we’ve been the suicide attempts. We’ve been the gang members, the drug dealers. We’ve been these things, but we found hope, and his name is Jesus.”

These Native leaders reach youth with the truth– that Jesus is for everyone. They can paint the picture of a Jesus who is more like these Native young people than they ever realized.

After 400 years of mission history with Native Americans, only 4% know Jesus. Hutchcraft believes this is changing and walls are coming down. 

Please pray that God’s hand will be in the logistics and for provision for the team. Pray for ready churches and ministries who will continue to pour into youth after the team has left. 

Pray also for the “three opens.” Open doors, so that there will be open doors to receive the team. Open hearts, so that people come to these events to be ready to hear about the hope of Jesus. Open mouths, so team members will boldly share how their life has changed and how to have a relationship with Jesus. 

Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries

“Certainly, it is disturbing and troubling, all of these things we have had over the last several years — many moments of national anger and issues between people,” says Ron Hutchcraft with Hutchcraft Ministries. “The extreme feelings are the ones that seem to rule on all sides.”

No matter how this unfolds or what future history accounts say about current headlines, we may be overlooking a “Kingdom of God” perspective. 

“The question to ask ourselves [as followers of Christ] is, ‘Am I taking my cue as to how I’m going to feel and act from the headlines, from events, from comments on social media … or am I going to go with the Holy Spirit?’” Hutchcraft says.

If Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior, you have a clear calling from 2 Corinthians 5:20. “It says we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his appeal through us: be reconciled to God,” Hutchcraft quotes. “What an incredible honor we carry!” 

Living as representatives of Christ in times like these

Here are five questions Hutchcraft has asked himself:

1. Am I praying for our country and for our leaders as Scripture commands? (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

“Don’t underestimate when you go to the throne room of Almighty God who rules the universe and billions of galaxies,” Hutchcraft says. “When you go to Him in prayer, you are impacting whatever you are praying for. There is no doubt about that.”

2. Am I basing my relationships with people in my world on anything other than the unconditional love of Christ? (Ephesians 4:31)

“[When] you step into that [chaotic world] with the love of Christ that says, ‘I’m not going to decide my love for you based on how much we agree, or how agreeable you are, or how you treat me. I’m going to treat you like Jesus treated me,’ you are part of the answer at that point, and so am I,” says Hutchcraft.

3. Do I see people as a category, or do I see them as valuable individual creations of God, created in His image?

4. Am I doing or saying anything that does not represent my Jesus? (Colossians 3:17)

5. Have I let any cause other than Jesus’ rescue orders become more important to me? Or am I defined by any cause other than the mission of Jesus? (1 Corinthians 9:12)

(Image courtesy of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries)

“Jesus said He had come to seek and save the lost. He said, ‘Go and take the gospel to everyone in creation.’ I wonder if the things that we are bombarded with by news media and on social media have taken over more of our heart[s], time, and passions than the very cause for which Christ gave His life. Because when all of this is over, what will be left is people in eternity, forever in one of two places,” Hutchcraft says.

If other things have crowded God’s call out of focus for you, would you ask Him for a course correction? Hutchcraft encourages a simple prayer for realignment: “I’m sorry, God. I have allowed some of the magnets of our time to pull me away from things that matter the most, and I want you to bring me back.”

Believers have a powerful opportunity to bring hope as the news gets darker.

“Let’s not miss this opportunity, and let’s make that our passion: to let people see the hope of Jesus in us, instead of the despair and anxiety of a culture around us,” he says.

The header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Lara Jameson via Pexels.