Is South Dakota's suicide spike related to a spiritual battle?
Christians are being called to battle in the U.S. A spiritual battle, that is.
Between December and March, more than 200 teenagers on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota either committed suicide, or tried to.
"This is beyond anything we've ever seen; it's almost like 'serial suicides,'" states Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries (RHM). "This is not just a
psychological issue: this is a spiritual battle with spiritual forces.
"The thief —speaking of the devil—'comes to steal, kill, and destroy,' and this is the result. You've got 12-year-
old girls hanging themselves. You can't imagine a 12- year-old deciding to die; they haven't even lived yet!"
The Darkness Surrounding Pine
Ridge Home to the Oglala Lakota tribe, Pine Ridge is no stranger to bloodshed. The Oglala are "the people of
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull," Hutchcraft explains.
"Pine Ridge was the site of the Wounded Knee massacre back at the end of the Indian era."
On Dec. 29, 1890, a misunderstanding over arms led to the slaughter of between 200 and 300 Lakota tribes- people by U.S. cavalrymen. On Jan. 3, 1891, 146
Lakotas were buried in a single mass grave.
"There was a woman with an infant in her arms who was killed as she almost touched the flag of truce ... a
mother was shot down with her infant; the child, not knowing that its mother was dead, was still nursing,"
recalled Oglala Lakota chief American Horse in an early 1900s interview.
Bodies were allegedly found as far as three miles outside the Pine Ridge camp.
Following this dark moment in history came generations of oppression: boarding schools, substance abuse,
extreme poverty, domestic abuse, the list goes on and on.
According to Hutchcraft, a deep darkness still grips Pine Ridge today.
Infant mortality is 300 times the national average. Nearly everyone—97 percent of the Pine Ridge
population—is living below the national poverty line.
According to current USDA Rural Development documents, the Lakota have the lowest life expectancy of any group in America.
At least 60 percent of the homes on the Pine
Ridge Reservation are infested with Black Mold. This is the devastation facing Pine Ridge residents every
day. Teen suicide is nothing new here: Pine Ridge's suicide rate is 150 times the national average, but its
frequency has started to grab national attention.
Bringing Hope to Pine Ridge
RHM is sending a team of 20 Native young people to Pine Ridge to share the hope of Christ. It's an
unplanned and early start to their annual "Summer of Hope" outreach. " We really need the prayer of God's
people for this, because this is not just a psychological issue: this is a spiritual battle with spiritual forces.
There's not going to be any way to win this battle on- the-ground, unless it is first won in the heavenlies," says Hutchcraft.
Christians are being called to battle in the U.S. A spiritual battle, that is.
Between December and March, more than 200 teenagers on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota either committed suicide, or tried to.
"This is beyond anything we've ever seen; it's almost like 'serial suicides,'" states Ron Hutchcraft of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries (RHM). "This is not just a
psychological issue: this is a spiritual battle with spiritual forces.
"The thief —speaking of the devil—'comes to steal, kill, and destroy,' and this is the result. You've got 12-year-
old girls hanging themselves. You can't imagine a 12- year-old deciding to die; they haven't even lived yet!"
The Darkness Surrounding Pine
Ridge Home to the Oglala Lakota tribe, Pine Ridge is no stranger to bloodshed. The Oglala are "the people of
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull," Hutchcraft explains.
"Pine Ridge was the site of the Wounded Knee massacre back at the end of the Indian era."
On Dec. 29, 1890, a misunderstanding over arms led to the slaughter of between 200 and 300 Lakota tribes- people by U.S. cavalrymen. On Jan. 3, 1891, 146
Lakotas were buried in a single mass grave.
"There was a woman with an infant in her arms who was killed as she almost touched the flag of truce ... a
mother was shot down with her infant; the child, not knowing that its mother was dead, was still nursing,"
recalled Oglala Lakota chief American Horse in an early 1900s interview.
Bodies were allegedly found as far as three miles outside the Pine Ridge camp.
Following this dark moment in history came generations of oppression: boarding schools, substance abuse,
extreme poverty, domestic abuse, the list goes on and on.
According to Hutchcraft, a deep darkness still grips Pine Ridge today.
Infant mortality is 300 times the national average. Nearly everyone—97 percent of the Pine Ridge
population—is living below the national poverty line.
According to current USDA Rural Development documents, the Lakota have the lowest life expectancy of any group in America.
At least 60 percent of the homes on the Pine
Ridge Reservation are infested with Black Mold. This is the devastation facing Pine Ridge residents every
day. Teen suicide is nothing new here: Pine Ridge's suicide rate is 150 times the national average, but its
frequency has started to grab national attention.
Bringing Hope to Pine Ridge
RHM is sending a team of 20 Native young people to Pine Ridge to share the hope of Christ. It's an
unplanned and early start to their annual "Summer of Hope" outreach. " We really need the prayer of God's
people for this, because this is not just a psychological issue: this is a spiritual battle with spiritual forces.
There's not going to be any way to win this battle on- the-ground, unless it is first won in the heavenlies," says Hutchcraft.
Na wah ohh, signs of the end times really
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