USA (MNN) — Every summer, Hutchcraft Ministries’ On Eagles’ Wings program takes a team of young Native American leadership students across the United States.
Over the course of the month, 30 to 40 leadership students will bus across the country, leading outreach events and sharing their testimonies with different Native American tribes.
Weston Francis with Hutchcraft Ministries says, “Not only is it a powerful outreach, but it’s a powerful inreach.”
“At the beginning of the month, you have young people who are shy, scared, not sure if they’re even fit to share Jesus’ message,” Francis says. “But by the end of the month … we have to drag them back on the bus because they’re still out there in the middle of the night, still trying to tell people about Jesus.”
Students experience tremendous growth through the program and often realize they want more time to be intentionally discipled and poured into.
The On Eagles’ Wings Leadership Center was created to do this. The one-year gap program dives into God’s Word and builds a firm foundation in their identity in Christ before going out into the workforce, mission field, or school.
Through the leadership center, students develop their Christian worldviews and prepare for their next steps.
(Photo courtesy of Hutchcraft Ministries)
Students are taught to stand firm and remember what God did for them, sharing the good news with others wherever they end up post-program.
“One thing that I personally try to remind the students is that when they’re done with this training, that doesn’t mean that their walk with Christ is done,” Francis says. “That doesn’t mean that the time for learning is done. That still continues, and what I try to communicate to the young people is that their identity is something that can’t be taken from them, the identity that Christ gives them.”
The biggest challenge students face after the program is finding support, whether that’s financial support or a community with a similar background, so they can find good situations post-program.
“Throughout the year, we help them kind of dissect and find out not only what their desires are, but where they can best fit in after,” Francis says.
Some have gone back to their communities to do ministry, while others have gone overseas to do missions, and others have gone to college or Bible college.
Please pray for these students. Pray for their faith. Pray that they will have patience and courage and that God would use them in ways they never expected.
Photo Provided by Hutchcraft Ministries
