Spiritual Warfare is Nasty

We have arrived safely in Zambia to find our home in good condition with water and electricity. God is good and we are getting things back in order to begin ministry again soon. Many fellow and wise missionaries warned us and reminded us to always be prayerful beginning our second term on the field. They said that it would be a harder term in many respects. One of the things that they mentioned was seeing the depth and reality of the ministry that we were involved in. Coming back to Zambia, Kendall and I have been and still are excited to see the good and the bad things that have transpired in the past 7 months in our absence. Little did we know the depth of the heartache that we would face in the first week. We have had disappointments and amazing reports. Before we left America, we saw the movie "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" the third Narnia movie in the series. In the movie, Lucy is faced with great temptation along with her brother Edmond. Everytime they were faced with temptation there was a green smoke that entered their presence and a haunting moan. After seeing that movie, I was reminded of how many times a day we are tempted to walk in the light or in the darkness.
Last night, we were faced with the most scary and difficult circumstance when Kendall found our night guard attempting to steal from us by opening the window to our home and reaching in with a stick. After a confrontation about the situation, he finally admitted that he was trying to steal from us. We soon found out that he had been opening our windows and attempting to steal from our home while we were away on Stateside. This has been the roughest two days because of the fact that we feel like someone that we trusted, loved, and had invested in fell into immense temptation. When Kendall asked him about it, he replied, "the devil entered my heart".  All of us face temptation each day...and throughout Scripture we see that Jesus was tempted and that Paul admitted that he did what he didn't want to do. But 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to always be on alert because the devil prowls around seeking one to devour. Please pray for Kendall as he has to take immediate action and dismiss our guard from his duties. Pray that our guard may be restored and that he may turn his heart fully to the Lord. This is so hard for both of us but we cannot trust him any longer.
We have also had a report that the first church that God allowed Kendall and several other pastors to plant in Mozambique has died. The man that was leading the church was practicing witchcraft and has killed several people. He has since left the village and said that if anyone attempts to start the church again that he will kill them. Please pray for Kendall as he goes into Mozambique to search out the former church members. Pray for ALL Africans that they would trust the Lord and not fear witchcraft.
PRAISE THE LORD for Samson and Jumbe! Since we have been gone, they have been going to visit each of the zones and churches to encourage them! HALLELUJAH for these two disciples and their love for the LORD!!
Pray for the Nyimba Youth Meeting that will take place this weekend at Nyimba Central Baptist. Pray that it would be a time of worship and teaching for these young people. Pray for the leaders of this meeting to shine the light and love of Jesus to these young people.
Pray for a young man named Martin who is coming to serve alongside us for three weeks! Pray for his safe travel this week and pray for his time here, may he see the Lord in ways that he never has. We are so thankful for his heart to serve and want to come share the love of Jesus with Zambians!
Pray for our hearts that they would remain strong and focused and encouraged. Knowing that we have each of you lifting us to the Father in these times really makes our days so much better and gives us more reason to press on toward the goal. The world we live in is full of darkness, pray for us as we shine the light of Jesus. Pray that in all of our conversations and in our actions we would speak and act in God's wisdom, not our own.
May we never forget that the battle that we are fighting is not against flesh and blood but it is a spiritual battle and souls are being fought after day and night. Pray that around the world souls would be won for THE Light today.