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. 

“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.

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.

“When you go to Easter morning, you see at that empty tomb three life changers,” Hutchcraft says. “One is the proof. Some people think Easter is just a historical event, but it’s much more than that.”

Resurrection Sunday holds deep personal meaning for those who follow Christ. Thomas, one of Christ’s disciples, was forever changed by the proof Jesus offered Him in John 20.

(Photo courtesy of Sixteen Miles Out/Unsplash)

“The ultimate significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that it’s a deeply personal event. It was only after Jesus rose from the dead that Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God,’” Hutchcraft says.

“He’d heard every sermon, he’d seen every miracle, but it was only after the resurrection that Thomas said, ‘He’s my Lord now. He’s my God now.’”

Christ’s resurrection also proved His divinity and His authorship of salvation.

“The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate proof that there’s only one way to get to heaven. To give eternal life, you have to have it, and the only one who ever proved He had it is the Man who conquered death,” Hutchcraft says.

“Out of the billions of people who lived on this planet, one man walked out of his grave under His own power, and that’s Jesus.”

Historical evidence and personal conviction of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection lead to transformation. “The second life changer is the hope. The hope that that tomb represents is one of the most powerful forces on the planet,” Hutchcraft says.

“This is not hope, the sentiment; this is a death-crushing Person who is a living hope.”

With the hope of a risen Savior, Christ-followers have a new life mission. “If you’ve come and seen and have a hope like this, go and tell. It’s all there in Matthew 28,” Hutchcraft says.

One look at our broken world provides the reason for the season. “People are starved for peace and hope. We have it. They need it. It’s time to deliver it.”

Request your rescue resource for Resurrection Sunday.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash.

“Where I live, I can tell that it’s spring because the pond is singing and the daffodils are blooming,” Ron Hutchcraft of Hutchcraft Ministries says.

“On a spiritual basis, there seems to be a blooming of a spiritual spring. God is on the move and accelerating His work.”

David Kinnaman with the Barna Research Group recently presented the results of an extensive survey done for the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. “Over the last couple of years, they have noticed that there’s a growing turn toward the spiritual for answers,” Hutchcraft says.

“It’s not so much about church-going and the institutional side, but a spiritual curiosity and openness is growing.”

This “spiritual spring” creates a Gospel opportunity for believers. “The number one thing people are looking for is peace,” Hutchcraft says.

“We’ve been through a huge recession [and] confusing political turmoil; a pandemic turned everything upside down. The mental health statistics are frightening.”

Do you know how to share your hope story? Resources from Hutchcraft Ministries can help.

Hutchcraft says, “We who know Christ have experienced the peace that comes from the One who speaks to a storm and says, ‘Peace be still.’”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Andréas BRUN/Unsplash.