War

     Spiritual warfare.  It comes in many forms for believers.  For some it appears in strained relationships.  For others it presents itself with infirmities that often cannot be explained.  And for some it comes in the repetitive daily problems that seem so little on their own, but when combined they can easily overwhelm even the most optimistic person.

 

     We have served as missionaries on the foreign field before and are not strangers to the attacks of Satan.  I remember while we were living in Costa Rica during language school, Ken began having episodic bouts with severe pain in the lower abdomen.  This is not something that can easily be ignored, but it isn’t really discussed with everyone either.  He went to the doctor who examined him and ran multiple tests to try and figure out what was the cause of his pain.  Everything was ruled out and no cause for the pain could be found.  Of course we had prayed for God to remove the pain, but relief did not come immediately, and so Ken lived with the pain for several weeks before it left as mysteriously as it had appeared.  Even today we see this happen over and over with our missionary friends.  It is difficult enough when you have the world’s best healthcare at your disposal, but it can be even more frightening when you are receiving your health care in a third world country. 

     Strained relationships are often the cause for families to leave the foreign field and Ken and I admit that our first time on the field we took out a lot of our stress and frustration on each other.  Although we never left the mission field ultimately for this reason, we could certainly sympathize with those that we knew who did.  There is always that feeling that assails us in the form of impotence over our situation, that in our own sense of failure we wonder if the other person sees us as a failure as well, even when the fault is not due to anything we did or didn’t do correctly.  Just yesterday I tried to console my husband about this as he lamented the fact he is not an electrician, a plumber, or a mechanic, all of which we have required in the last 3 days.

     And so we come to our current situation and the form of warfare with which Satan has chosen to buffet us.  This weekend we have had our car breakdown in the middle of the night on a road in the middle of nowhere, have had our water heater break for the third time, had our electricity turned off multiple times because of difficulty fixing the faulty grounding wires and poor cables connected to the house (we have been shocked multiple times from using said electricity), and now this morning a pipe burst in our master bath flooding the bathroom and bedroom.  Our small group from our church got to experience a bit of this first hand when they came to work with us for a week when our transformer blew and Ken had to put it out with a fire extinguisher.  Of course this happened when we were getting ready to take all of them to church. 

     In all of this I can say I am not really surprised.  Ken and I are preparing to spend the next 3 months with more time apart as a family doing ministry than together, so it does not shock me to know that the arrows are starting early.  In fact, as our car tried to kill us going down the mountain our first day in Honduras when the brakes went out, I realized quickly that we were persona non grata as far as the devil was concerned.  I have seen my fellow missionaries going through very similar experiences with their cars, homes, family, sickness, you name it. 

     There is an article I read recently that delved into the effects on missionary marriages from living this life overseas in the midst of spiritual warfare.  The article (here) resonated with me so much as I think it recognized that our biggest battle to sharing the gospel and to doing the work God has called us to is not with other people, but rather as Paul says, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) After 20 years of marriage we are still learning this fact in our daily struggles, and I am grateful for the godly man that serves with me and recognizes who the real enemy is, but we are still human and appreciate your prayers as we work together in this battle.

     This all being said, we are in need of some help from our brothers and sisters in Christ in this spiritual war.  Believe me when I say that it was the prayers of everyone that got us down the mountain safely our first day here.  There have also been other times I have sensed that people are lifting us up before the Lord and helping us fight the good fight.  Thank you for this and please know that your prayers are of vital importance, so please continue!  Secondly, we are in need of financial help.  It has become apparent that my vehicle must be sold (unfortunately at a loss) in order to get more reliable transportation for me and the kids while Ken is gone, and of course when I have to be on the road alone between here and the hospital, which is over 2 hours away.  We realize now that purchasing a 16-year-old vehicle, although much more affordable for us, was not really very practical from a functionality aspect.  We drive on dirt and gravel roads every day in order to get to our places of ministry, and this means that our cars take quite a beating, making a 16-year-old car run more like a 30-year-old car.  Although ideally we would love to get something new without the need for repairs and replacements right away, budget dictates we trade my car for something closer to 8-10 years old.  This will translate to an additional $12,000-$15,000 in funds needed to make this happen, something we do not have as giving has dropped dismally since we arrived in country and we are living right now on about 60% of our monthly budget.  If you feel like the Lord is leading you to help in some way with this we ask that you either email us or contact our mission with the information to the right on this blog.

     Before we left Dothan I had the privilege of being a part of the Armor of God study by Priscilla Shirer with some friends from church.  Since my God is not a God of chance, I know why it was necessary that I memorized the rest of the passage I quoted above, ” Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”  And so, here we stand and ask you to stand with us and to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” ….and “Pray also for me, that wherever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”