Bob GreyEagle always dreamed of being a superhero. This memory intrigues Bob today because he was not raised a Christian. He’d only heard briefly of Christ in a few Catholic classes his mom made him attend.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, his mother moved Bob’s family to Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota after a neighbor was shot. They moved to escape violence, but the chaos followed them. After the move, police arrested Bob’s father on abuse charges, and his mother began drinking heavily. She’d disappear for long periods, leaving the children with family.

When Bob was 11, his mother became sober and earned a degree. But now Bob headed down a familiar dark path. On his 16th birthday, angry that he had no alcohol, he realized he was an alcoholic. Bob fell in love at 17 with a girl named Tanya, and their son Levi arrived the following August.

By then, Bob wanted to be an adult and start anew. But four years later, Bob found himself in a jail cell. He and Tanya got into an argument that escalated to physical blows. While they fought, Bob caught a glimpse of Levi, horrified. I’m everything my mother told me not to be, he thought. Still, after returning from jail, only drinking numbed his shame.

One day, Bob picked up Power for Living, a book he had spontaneously ordered years before. In the book, he read about God. In Native American tradition, he knew Him as Creator, coming in the form of Jesus and wanting a friendship with Bob.

He says God instantly lifted the urge to drink from him and changed his life. “Peace and grace came into that building and changed a convicted felon, a wife-beater, and an absent father into the man I am now, an associate pastor and a missionary to all people,” Bob says humbly.

Bob became a missionary with Nations, Cru’s Native American ministry, in November 2016. Bob’s Native American name, Ehanna Wotakuyepi kin, means “He brings his family with him.” He intends to bring his whole community, the Native Americans of North and South Dakota, with him to Christ. He and Tanya have been married for 25 years, and she also loves Christ. He has witnessed extensive healing in their family and hopes for more in the community he calls home.

Robin and I are very thankful for your prayers and partnership in our ministry with Cru.

Yours in Christ,

Steve & Robin