Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Missions has always been at the forefront of my Christian life. I thank God for our sending church that places a focus and importance on the heartbeat of God - sharing salvation through Christ with the world!
We loved missions conferences in our home church! I'll never forget the conference that followed, by a mere week, Scott's surrender to serve God full-time as a missionary. Having the missionaries into our home was thrilling and we soaked up all they had to share with us.
When we moved to Bible college we were able to experience two missions conferences every fall; one at the college and one at our church. Every missionary presentation was an opportunity to pray and ask God if that was the country and the people He would have us to go and minister.
Then we were appointed missionaries with Baptist World Mission and suddenly became the missionaries. The Lord blessed us with the opportunity to present the need for the Gospel of Christ to be shared here in Uruguay in over 100 churches. Each church was a special blessing to our family. And it was clear that missions was more than a concept it was what made the church. It became clear that if the churches focus was on missions that church was a thriving vivacious work.
I never take lightly the sacrifice of money and time on our behalf, personally, and on the lives of countless other missionaries that had already passed through the doors of each church. However, I never understood, until now, the battle that rages around a missions conference.
As soon as we began planning for this conference we have had to duck and cover. We are being bombarded!
Sadly, friendly fire along with the expected fiery darts of our natural enemy have hit their marks. Even so, you all are praying and our battle gear is in place so those fiery darts have not quite had their full intended effect. (Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.)
For the past few weeks we have had one thing or another happen to us our the kids. Since this past Saturday it has been literally non-stop. Simeon dropped a huge rock on his pinky finger leaving it swollen and black and blue. Later that day Silas and Brandon came down with something respiratory. Brandon was barely able to stand on Sunday morning and he was scheduled to preach that night. We encouraged him to plan to preach. God intervened and gave Brandon the strength and ability. By the time we got home Sunday night Silas was in a major asthma attack and we had to put him on steroids before the day began on Monday.
Tuesday morning Simeon got his finger caught in between a bike chain and the sprocket. And that afternoon Silas fell and cut his chin open.
Wednesday during school the window above Isabel's desk fell and the glass shattered where she would have been sitting. Thank God she had already finished school and was not at her desk. Later our guest missionaries arrived to our house for lunch and their oldest daughter was bit by our dog. Yesterday their son had a bad allergic reaction. And Silas touched the hot tail pipe of the moto.
This morning Adeline woke up in a severe asthma attack. Yesterday she ran out of her miracle asthma medicine, my fault, I miscalculated. I don't know if the crisis was a result of not having her meds last night or not.
I praise God for His protection in all of these incidents. Clearly many of them have been life threatening. Yet God in His grace has not allowed them to go beyond the superficial and the almost. God is on the throne! And we will continue to share God's heart for worldwide missions with the Uruguayans!!!
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