Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2013 | Page 21

Photo courtesy of NAIIts

In June 2012, the biblical and theological
studies department co-sponsored the
2012 NAIITS Symposium, where members
joined the circle on the Quad. Vincent Yellow
Old Woman, a Blackfoot elder, moved the
assembly with stories of the abuse he
endured at a boarding school for First Nations
youth, and of the way Jesus had come to
him in the midst of pain.

In his book Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous
Vision (Eerdmans, 2012), Dr. Randy Woodley (Cherokee) examines
the correspondences between the biblical concept of shalom and
the Native American Harmony Way. “They both require specific
action when harmony or shalom is broken,” he writes. The harmony

between Natives and non-Natives was ruptured through centuries
of violence and cultural suppression. But at this moment, Wheaton
College students and faculty are seeking redemptive roads of
healing by welcoming and serving. The circle was broken, but we
are joyfully joining hands as we follow the Jesus Way together.

Equipping nativE Youth
Intertribal teams of Native young people have been bringing the Gospel to reservations for
20 years through a ministry led by a family of Wheaton alumni. by Katherine Halberstadt Anderson ’90

a

fter graduating from Wheaton, Brad Hutchcraft
’96 moved out to the Hopi Reservation in Arizona
to join his brother Doug ’94, who had started a
ministry for and with Native young people there.
That local ministry has always been closely tied
with the international On Eagles’ Wings ministry,
which began in 1992 and has now sent ministry
teams to almost 100 Native American and First
Nation reservations across the United States,
Canada, and South America. (Just a beginning,
notes Brad, since there are more than 500
reservations in the United States alone.)
Brad knew he had found his calling after visiting
a reservation and learning about the challenges
many Native Americans face—including high rates
of suicide, abuse, alcohol abuse, and violent crime.
“We are seeing the difference Jesus can make
when these incredible Native young people share
their stories of hope,” says Brad, director of Native
ministry for Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
Each summer, On Eagles’ Wings hosts a Warrior
Leadership Summit that has grown exponentially,

drawing more than 600 Native young people
from 100 different tribes in 2012. “Many of these
teens have had a hard time finding others who are
walking with the Lord—it’s amazing to see their
eyes light up as they share their stories with others,”
says Brad, who has directed the ministry for the
last four years.
By the end of June, the ministry forms two
intertribal teams of about 30 Native youth, who
travel to reservations throughout the month of July,
spreading the Good News through a mix of “Hoops,
Hip Hop, and Hope Stories.”
By using a youth culture “package,” Brad says
these teams of Native young people are “able to
share the gospel without involving aspects of Native
culture that have been historically used to summon
the spirit world.” This past summer, Brad and his
wife, Sara Johnson Hutchcraft ’97, traveled more
than 4,000 miles to 17 communities, and saw about
850 young people make commitments to Christ.
Focusing on raising up young leaders within each
community, On Eagles’ Wings offers scholarships

to team members to attend Bible colleges. Several
team members have gone on to begin an outreach
program, ministry, or even pastor a church.
“The greatest thing for us has been to see what
Jesus can do—the hope he brings to places where
hope has been hard to find,” says Brad.

Pictured below with members of the On Eagles’ Wings
team, Brad ’96 (front row, left) says he’s been fortunate
enough to work closely over the years with his brother
and sister, Doug Hutchcraft ’94 and Lisa Hutchcraft
Whitmer ’91, as well as their spouses, Anna Hutchcraft
(Navajo) and Rick Whitmer ’91—who have all served on
the ministry’s leadership team.

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