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)

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. 

Every new grad, whether finishing college or high school, is closing one chapter and starting a new one. However, the story looks slightly different at the On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center.

Hutchcraft Ministries’ Ron Hutchcraft says, “Graduation Day is ‘launch day’ here, and we call this a launching pad for leaders.”

This year’s graduates completed 245 hours of coursework in a nine-month gap year program. “They represent 10 major tribes in North America, everything from Apache to Lakota, Sioux, Mohawk, Ojibwe, Hopi, and others,” Hutchcraft says.

“They have just completed a very intensive year of discipling and equipping for ministry and living for Christ in difficult circumstances.”

From new believer to leader

Graduation is the latest step in a longer journey. “This launch day is a celebration of a journey that begins for Native American young people in something we call the Warrior Leadership Summit,” Hutchcraft says.

“It is a Native discipleship conference, although I will say that often a quarter to one-third of the young people who attend there begin a relationship with Christ.”

Following the conference, an On Eagles’ Wings team will bring the Gospel to several Native American communities during the Summer of Hope.

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings via Facebook)

“This team is usually made up of about 30 to 40 young Native Americans, maybe 20 tribes represented. When they go to the reservation, they see young people coming to Christ. That has usually never happened before on that reservation in anybody’s memory,” Hutchcraft says.

“When the messengers are young, Native, and their message begins with their hope story, it’s very hard to argue with the Jesus that they will tell you has become their hope.”

The Summer of Hope leads to a new class of students at the On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center.

“Out of those team members come young men and women who aspire to be leaders for their people and to be strengthened in their faith. They are considered to be students here at the Leadership Center,” Hutchcraft says.

A new season

According to recent studies, many college alumnae work in fields unrelated to their major. Will the same be true for these Gospel grads?

“This has Great Commission implications because every one of them is now planning on ministry life,” Hutchcraft says.

“They will be messengers and models of hope planted in a Native community, in a Native ministry.”

Follow the On Eagles’ Wings page on Facebook for more updates.

“We appreciate the prayers of Mission Network News listeners for these young men and women. They are God’s warriors and the enemy’s target,” Hutchcraft says.

“Every warrior in Christ’s army is another proof of His power to save and His victory over death and hell.”

Header and story images courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings.

Ethan Joe first connected with On Eagles Wings, a division of Hutchcraft Ministries, in 2018 as a student. Then, “coming out of high school last year, I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’” Joe says.

Friends at OEW encouraged Joe to check out the Leadership Center and its nine-month gap year program. He hesitated at first, with family responsibilities heavy on his mind.

“I was scared for my mom; I didn’t want her and my family to be alone because they relied so much on me,” Joe says. “But then Seth [my mentor] told me, ‘When you go somewhere, God doesn’t forget about your family.’”

MNN’s Ruth Kramer and Ethan Joe pose for a photo at the On Eagles Wings Leadership Center.
(Photo courtesy MNN/Ruth Kramer)

Joe submitted his application and was accepted. “When I got accepted, I was dancing everywhere [and my] mom was laughing and seeing how happy I was. I was just so overjoyed to see that the Lord had provided this,” he says.

Joe completed the Leadership Center program this spring and now has a new direction and purpose for his life. “It’s taught me to understand the role of leadership, where I’m meant to be, and how I’m supposed to act as a man of God and as an adult,” he says.

“It’s also revealed a lot of baggage that I’m still chipping away at and a lot of things that I still need to work on.”

Joe is attending the On Eagles Wings Warrior Leadership Summit this week in preparation for Summer of Hope 2024. More about that here. The week-long youth conference serves as a launchpad for “hope teams” sharing their testimonies during a month of outreach events.

“We have hardly any Native men who are willing to stand up and take that role of leadership,” Joe says.

“I want to teach the young generation that looks up to me what it truly means to seek God with your whole heart and put Him first over anything else, and not seek after the pleasures of the world.”

Support from people like you helps Native young people like Joe discover God’s purpose for their lives at the OEW Leadership Center or Warrior Leadership Summit.

Pray for continued growth and focus as young believers attend this week’s events and share their hope stories throughout the summer. “[Pray] for peace of mind, to stay focused on the task and be consistent, and, above all, to keep seeking God first,” Joe requests.

“I feel like nothing can satisfy me except for God. Nothing pleases me more than being in His presence and doing His will.”

Header image depicts the 2024 graduating class of the On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center; Ethan Joe in the center with a blue shirt. (Photo courtesy MNN/Ruth Kramer)

On Eagles Wings, the Native outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, is dedicating its brand-new Leadership Center to the Lord on Friday.

“We are about to have a dedication weekend, not so much about a building but a God who built the building,” Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries says.

“It truly is a miracle in the Ozarks. It is so much more than a building.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles Wings/RHM)

The center is a literal dream come true.

“What has been in our hearts for 30 years is to have a discipleship center where we can intensively disciple them (Native believers) in a gap year program, and prepare them for a lifetime of living for Jesus among their people,” Hutchcraft says.

This ministry resource couldn’t have come at a better time.

Native American “people are living with tremendous loss, youth suicide and addiction, missing and murdered women 10 times that of any other women in America, a lot of pain, a lot of grieving. And nobody knows that it’s there” because Native tragedies are rarely in the news, Hutchcraft notes.

“This (building) is a statement that God has never forgotten the first people of this land. They are seen by God; they are loved by God.”

The first of its kind, On Eagles Wings’ Leadership Center is a training hub for Native American Christian youth. More about that here.

“It’s a beautiful facility. It is a place to build community with an incredible huge fireplace in the center room, different kinds of classrooms, plus a workout room, game room, and creative room where they can do Native beadwork, practice instruments, [or] do artwork,” Hutchcraft says.

A nine-month gap-year program equips Native young people to bring the hope of Jesus to their communities. If you’re a Native young person looking to make a difference for Christ, learn more and submit an application here.

“This dedication weekend is a celebration of Jesus opening a new era for the First People of our land,” Hutchcraft says.

“Pray that the young people being launched from here as leaders for their people might be part of the spark for that great move of God.”

Your help makes it all possible. Help empower young Native leaders to bring hope to Native America!

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

“God is making a move amongst Native America, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” says Wes Francis, a member of the Navajo tribe.

Francis works for On Eagles’ Wings, a division of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries. He’s part of a small but growing team bringing the hope of Jesus to Native communities across the U.S. and Canada.

“A lot of people out there don’t know much about Native America, or, you know, it’s just a community they drive through,” Francis says.

“The Church, for a long time, has been blinded to Native America. In the same way, Native America has been blind to Jesus.”

One 2020 poll found that Native American evangelical Christians – believers who actively share their faith – comprise less than one percent of the total U.S. religious population. Although six in ten Native American Christians who responded to the survey identified as Protestant believers, only 28 percent were evangelical.

In other words, very few Native Americans have a relationship with Christ, and those who do are not actively sharing their faith with the broader community. However, Francis’s experience with the Lord and the promises of Scripture motivates him to action.

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles Wings/Ron Hutchcraft Ministries)

“When I go onto some of these reservations, and I share my story, one thing that pains me the most is my story is not rare,” Francis says.

“When it comes to Native America, there are young people all across the United States who know what it’s like to grow up with no father, or [who] grew up with a father who doesn’t know how to be one,” he continues.

“There’s something so beautiful about [how] God’s Word communicates that He’s the perfect father and no one is exempt [or] too far from His love. It means everyone in this world, every tribe, and every nation.”

Spreading hope

Every summer, the On Eagles Wings team shares the hope of Christ with their peers. More about that here. The team’s arrival is a shock at first. Usually, a charter bus signifies a new flood of tourists.

“Normally, they would see other (white) people get off the bus. Instead, they see people that look just like them,” Francis says.

“They’re surprised, and it gives them hope. We grew up in communities just like them.”

As Wes and his teammates share their hope stories, Native communities listen. “We can communicate, ‘Hey, we’re just like you, [and] we found hope and change in a man named Jesus.’ You get an opportunity to peel blinders away from eyes and [dismiss] lies that have been told to us for years” about how Jesus is ‘the white man’s God,’ Francis says.

“This Jesus, man, He’s for everyone. He’s also for Native America.”

Your help makes this work possible. Along with giving, consider praying for the On Eagles Wings team.

“Not only do we do outreach in communities, we also do ‘in-reach’ (discipleship),” Francis says.

“A lot of team members have things they are currently growing in and dealing with. Pray for them as well.”

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

“Native American young people largely are immune to all kinds of mission efforts.”

(Photo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings/Ron Hutchcraft Ministries)

Members of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries’ On Eagles Wings team make progress where other Gospel workers cannot.

“It’s because the messengers are from the same tribe as the people they’re reaching,” Hutchcraft says.

“It’s Native young people telling Native young people.”

In a similar way, you can break spiritual ground in places where some believers can’t go. You don’t even have to pack up the family and move.

“Tribes are not just about Native Americans. We’re all in a tribe. In fact, we’re probably in several. There are political tribes, sports tribes, and music tribes,” Hutchcraft says.

“Why is that significant in terms of the witness of Christ in the world? Because we listen to people from our tribe. We have shared life experiences.”

You might be the only Christian who can reach your “tribe.” Think of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

“He doesn’t ride right in and have a crusade in the Samaritan village. He reaches one Samaritan woman and sends her to her people,” Hutchcraft says.

“The Bible says, ‘Many [Samaritans] believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony.’ What validated Jesus to Samaritans was someone from their tribe.”

Pray for courage to be Christ’s ambassador and start Gospel conversations. Look for helpful tools from Ron Hutchcraft Ministries in the coming weeks!

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Bruno Millennial/Pexels.

“This year, we have a smaller team. But through this small team, God is showing us how mighty He is,” team leader Wes Francis, Navajo, says.

“God doesn’t need huge numbers. He only needs people who are willing to go, people who are faithful.”

During the Summer of Hope, Native Christians like Wes share their hope stories on reservations throughout the U.S. This year, “we’ve seen people on these reservations break free from generational trauma and alcohol abuse, suicidal attempts,” Francis says.

Read the Summer of Hope “frontlines” reports here.

(Photo courtesy of OEW)

Many Native people think Jesus is “the white man’s God.” The On Eagles Wings team shows them this isn’t true. “We also run into resentment because of things that took place long ago,” Francis adds.

“When the Europeans first came over to the United States, unfortunately, the Bible was used to enslave [people] and [commit] mass genocide. A lot of Native America has generational trauma and closed hearts to the Gospel and Jesus because of what people did.”

The team needs your prayers as they visit the final reservation. Francis requests a “three opens” type of prayer.

“Pray God opens up the hearts of the people we’re going to meet on these reservations,” he says.

“[Pray] that God would open a door for us to share what Jesus did for them on the cross. Pray that we’d have the courage to open our mouths to tell them.”

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

“I grew up in a very broken home, and I grew up very empty. I was tired of carrying so many things and constantly having to protect myself,” Francis says.

The cross and empty tomb offered no hope. “A lot of people like to call it ‘the white man’s Gospel,’” Francis says.

“Growing up, I didn’t think Jesus was for me because I thought Jesus was only for white people.”

That all changed when he learned the truth about Jesus through On Eagles’ Wings, a division of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries. Now, Francis spends his summers reaching reservations like the one he grew up in.

“It hurts me to know that people don’t know who Jesus of the Bible is,” Francis says.

”One of my greatest privileges is getting to paint a picture of who Jesus is biblically – a brown-skinned man from a tribe called Judah who didn’t speak English but had his own language, a form of Aramaic.”

(Photo courtesy of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries/On Eagles’ Wings)

The On Eagles’ Wings team connects with Native youth as no other Gospel workers can. “We know what it’s like to grow up in broken homes; to be slaves to drugs, to alcohol; to have broken relationships and trauma in our lives,” Francis says.

Pray for open hearts as the Summer of Hope continues. See the latest update here.

“God is definitely doing something through this team. It’s hard to say that I’ve been a part of a summer where God has moved quite like this one,” Francis says.

Pray that team members will have the courage to share their hope stories. “Pray that these people we are meeting stay alive until we get there,” Francis says.

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

Today, a handful of Native American believers follow a similar path. The inaugural term is now underway at the On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center in Arkansas.

(Logo courtesy of On Eagles’ Wings)

“We believe God handpicked this first class,” Brad Hutchcraft says. Hutchcraft oversees On Eagles’ Wings, a division of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries.

“These young leaders are rising above and saying, ‘We want more for our people.’ They want to be messengers of hope and to know how to stand for Jesus.”

Transforming the future

Six Native young people began the nine-month term in October. A class of six students may sound underwhelming, but “even one standing firm for Jesus can make a huge difference in Native America and beyond,” Hutchcraft says.

The term began by addressing identity. “The core goal of our year is to help [students establish] their identity in whom God created them to be and what that looks like, not whatever they were told before now,” Hutchcraft says.

“When we know who we are in Christ, we can live for Him and be more like He wants us to be.”

The process involves the application and demonstration of biblical truths about identity. For example, in one room, “you walk in and see these ripped-up name tags at the foot of a cross in the room,” Hutchcraft says.

“Those ripped-up name tags said ‘rejected,’ ‘unwanted,’ ‘mistake,’ ‘unloved.’ Students were wearing new name tags that said, ‘Child of the Most High God.’”

From this firm foundation, classes will expand to cover the essentials of life and ministry. “In the months ahead, we’re going to cover a lot of topics; everything from basic theological topics to practical things like finances and relationships with others,” Hutchcraft says.

Eventually, students will test their knowledge in the field as interns working alongside Native missions groups and ministries. Learn how you can sponsor a leader here.

Most importantly, pray. “Pray for the students over these next few months; that God would move in their hearts and they would soak up all that is taking place as we’re training them and equipping them,” Hutchcraft requests.

“Pray for all the teachers involved here. It goes beyond our staff to some incredible Native leaders serving on reservations and Native communities around the country.”

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