Joy Lucius
AFA Journal staff writer
April 2019 – Empty streets littered with trash. Abandoned businesses with hand-scrawled “For Rent” signs. Vacant trailers, vinyl siding flapping in the wind. Faces without hope. For generations, poverty and addiction have plagued the Oglala Sioux near Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.
Though rich in Native American history, Pine Ridge was one of America’s most impoverished spots. Despite the reservation’s longstanding alcohol ban, area beer sales exceeded $4 million annually, and 25% of babies were born with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Norma Blacksmith, a respected tribal elder and Christian leader, was no stranger to hardship. But nothing prepared her for the suicide epidemic that swept her Lakota community in December 2014. Blacksmith and others began earnestly praying for God to intervene.
Miraculously, the suicides stopped, and a spiritual transformation began, especially noticeable in Whiteclay, a nearby community notoriously recognized as the area’s alcohol pipeline.
Word spread, and one unique ministry decided to visit South Dakota. Subsequently, over five years, researchers, ministers, and filmmakers of Sentinel Group have built a strong relationship with Blacksmith and other intercessors while documenting the Pine
Ridge revival.
Sentinel has studied many transformations like the one ongoing in Pine Ridge. And what Sentinel discovered there bears witness with other revivals it has documented.
Documenting revival
Larry Lane, COO of Sentinel Group, told AFA Journal that George Otis Jr. founded Sentinel in 1990 as a ministry focused on researching missions in the world’s 10/40 window. But Sentinel’s ministry methods have expanded.
“Sentinel began making documentaries in 1999, almost by accident,” said Lane. “During research, George kept bumping into stories of God transforming entire communities, entire regions, and he wanted to tell those stories via video to encourage others.
“Within six months after the release of their first video, Transformations, Sentinel received over 1,000 emails asking one question: ‘How can this happen in my city?’”
According to Lane, that question drove George Otis to diligently study 200 historic revivals and 800 contemporary cases, traveling to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Fiji, Brazil, Canada, Uganda, and Kentucky’s Appalachian mountains.
Praying for more
During 15 years of research, Otis repeatedly found that when desperate, unified, and sustained prayers went up, God moved mightily to transform hearts, homes, churches, and entire regions.
“George recognized that if certain things were true of every story,” explained Lane, “there would be principles Sentinel could use to make movies to encourage and help others.”
Beyond their role as storytellers, Sentinel serves as a facilitator for communities seeking revival and transformation through workshops called Discovery Weekends.
“We don’t have a magic pill that everyone can take and have revival. Every community has its own journey. We can’t take it for them,” said Lane. “But our Discovery Weekends help facilitate that journey through encouragement, counsel, and provision of materials.”
Sentinel further facilitates the journey by leading mission trips to communities that have experienced and sustained spiritual and economic transformation, places like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Lynch, Kentucky. Also, Sentinel’s ministry conference, Hope at the Crossroads, offers participants a glimpse into real, Christ-centered revival as Otis, Blacksmith, and others share hope-filled stories.
“It’s a gathering of hungry people hearing from people who have been in the trenches,” declared Lane. “And that’s our mission at Sentinel – to tell true stories that create hunger and hope.” 
Go to sentinelgroup.org for information on Sentinel’s Discovery Weekends, upcoming mission trips, and Hope at the Crossroads conference, or to find Sentinel’s award-winning documentaries.
AFA Journal has traveled to two Appalachian towns, documenting their Christ-centered transformations. Go to afajournal.org/past-issues and read those stories (July/August 2011; November 2017).
