Spiritual Warfare

Hey guys! I just finished up my first week of camp and I can already tell that it is ending too quickly. I have 2 more weeks on the Rez and it breaks my heart that I am going to have to leave.

The other day I mentioned that I am on the Manderson bus route. I’ll tell you a bit about it. We ride an old school bus basically in a big loop. We head south towards Wounded Knee for a while, then make a right turn. We make about 4 stops at set pickup points on this road. We make another right turn then a left turn and we are on the home stretch back to camp. Our trip takes us about an hour and a half. At each pickup point, I stand in the isle with a binder and mark each camper who gets on the bus. As I mark them down, they are able to pass me and take a seat. When we get back to camp, we give the binder to the check in table and they mark each of them down again. After camp ends, we mark each camper as they get back on the bus. This is so we keep up with everyone. The little kids get to wear a colored wristband corresponding to the bus that they get on. Picking up the kids is cool, but my favorite part is the ride to drop them off. It is so much fun to talk to them about their day and what their favorite part was. I’m glad I get to ride the bus. It’s probably one of my favorite parts of the day. Also, a lot of times, we stop at Sharp’s Corner on the way back. There is a truck called Pejuta Sapa (black medicine) that sells coffee and Rez Bombs (smoothies) that are really good.

So you’re probably wondering about the title of this blog. I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Spiritual Warfare is real. I have always believed in spirits, obviously because the Bible speaks of angels and demons. However, I had never experienced any evil spirits, myself. If you know much about Native American culture, you may have heard of something called a Sundance. Put real simply, a Sundance is a gathering that they have to pray to their god. It can last anywhere from 4 days to much longer. They believe that they have sinned and there needs to be atonement for that. They also believe that a person would be hung up on a tree to make that atonement. Sound familiar? Well, they don’t recognize Jesus as that person, so every year, they cut down a tree, stand it back up, and hang someone up there. While he is up there, he is praying for all of the people and all of the people are praying for him. During this time, they are calling on so many spirits which makes the Rez fair game for them. I won’t go into much detail, but within about 30 hours, three of our interns, including me had a spiritual encounter. This happened while 3 Sundance’s were going on close by. So, I ask that you would pray. These Sundances will be going on through July and it stirs up some wicked stuff on the Rez. Pray for everyone involved with Chanku Waste Ranch. Pray for the campers who attend our camp. Pray for the groups coming in to run the camp. The enemy knows what is going on here and he is scared. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” That’s true and that’s what we have to keep in mind. We don’t have to fear evil because the most powerful, almighty God is with us. Jesus died on the cross to make atonement for our sins. We don’t have to call on spirits because Jesus said that He would put His Spirit inside of us. ALL of His promises are YES and AMEN!

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