"Heartbreaking" Prayer Alert: Teen Suicides and Attempted Suicides Increase Dramatically in 4 Months, on South Dakota Reservations

Katey Hearth : Apr 24, 2015
Charisma News

Cries such as, "Yahweh, help us!" are increasingly being heard on the Pine Ridge Reservation as suicide rates skyrocket. At 150 times the national average, the unacceptable tragedy is beginning to gain national attention.

(Pine Ridge, SD)—Christians are being called to battle in the US. 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 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."

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.

The laments on Facebook would "break your heart," Hutchcraft says.

"A 13-year-old sixth grader has taken her own life. My heart is breaking already, and the day has just begun."

"This knife feels so good against my wrist. Ain't nobody care anyway, my life will be better gone as it is."

"We just lost another child to suicide. Yahweh, help us!"