Life on the Gila River Indian Reservation

A stop sign covered in graffiti in Blackwater. Photograph: Steve Craft for the Guardian

In the Native American community of Blackwater, Arizona, gambling money flows from nearby casinos but personal incomes remain among the lowest in the US. Chris McGreal visits for the last in his series on America’s poorest towns

Read more about the Blackwater community, where LIM's Kevin Maulson serves his Native brothers and sisters.

Kevin also asks for your prayers:

The community [of Blackwater] is going through spiritual warfare, obviously, I'm not the only one who sees it. 

Thank you Lord for this challenge, I know that I cannot do this without You. Give me strength, Lord, and courage to take this on and not be overwhelmed. I look to you, Lord, for these blessings of strength, courage, clarity, and understanding. 

I ask you to pray for me and those I serve here in Arizona.