USA (MNN)—From June 29 to July 4, indigenous young adults from across North America will gather together for five days of learning who Jesus is—and who he isn’t—at the Warrior Leadership Summit (WLS). The event is an annual leadership and discipleship conference for Native American youth.
“A lot of these young people are coming from a place where the churches are small. There are not many people who are taking a stand for Jesus, which is understandable, given the history,” says Brad Hutchcraft of Hutchcraft Ministries. “You look at missions history, there’s just a lot that was done in the name of Jesus that wasn’t Jesus—whether it’s pulling them to boarding schools and saying ‘you’re going to speak our language, you’re going to cut your hair,’ trying to take the Native out of them. All of a sudden they were left wondering, man, is that what God is like? Is that what Jesus is like?
“These young people are discovering that that’s not who Jesus is. That was people doing things, it wasn’t Jesus doing those things. So, they’re able to understand that Jesus is someone who loves them; that he was a tribal man; that he was a Mediterranean Jew; that he looked a lot more like them than they may think; that he wasn’t just a white guy. They realize, man, I can connect with this real version of Jesus, and they get to come together with what we expect will be between five and 600 Native young people from across North America up into Canada.”
Photo from oneagleswings.com.
On top of biblical teaching and worship experiences, the event includes sports tournaments, swimming, inflatables on the lake, mini golf, archery, canoes, obstacle courses, and more.
“We do a high-quality conference for them. We don’t want to cut corners, because we want them to feel like they’re getting the best, not just the leftovers,” says Hutchcraft. “This is an important conference for them, because they are coming from some tough situations. They’re facing the same pressures that young people are facing around the world, but they’re amplified in the communities they’re from—a lot of remote communities, where they are facing the highest levels of suicide, abuse, and violent crime.”
This year’s summit theme is “Made for More,” reminding attendees God has more for them than the challenges they’re facing in their daily lives.
“We want them to know that God has created them for more, that He has a plan for them, that He has something that He wants them to accomplish in life,” says Hutchcraft. “When Native young people realize that their identity is in Christ—when they have this relationship with Jesus and they realize He is the one that gets to define who they are, not the world around them–it changes everything for these young people.”
For additional information, indigenous young adults can learn more and register at oneagleswings.com/warrior-leadership-summit.
“They will leave Warrior Leadership Summit saying, ‘I realized I’m not alone, I’m not alone where I live in standing for Jesus, because I have all these other Native brothers and sisters in Christ who are standing with me.’”
How you can support WLS:
- Pray for the attendees as they seek, choose, and follow Jesus.
- Learn more and partner financially at hopefornativeamerica.com.
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“I see all these statistics for Christian camps, and I know that they take a lot of money to operate,” notes Hutchcraft. “We just can’t charge these Native young people much for the week, because we know where they’re coming from. We know the financial challenges they’re facing. We count on those whom God leads to partner with us financially, so that we can keep those costs low for them.”
Header photo from oneagleswings.com
