The house we are living in has no power, so they are the clearest I have ever seen them.

It’s nighttime and most of my team is already asleep.

Trying to unwind, I decide to wash my feet.

As I take the wash bucket, I begin to clean off layer after layer of street dirt.

Dirt as red as Georgia clay.

It is a peaceful night and I am at rest after a very hard day of ministry.

No sleep.  Fear.  Power.  Healings.  Demons.  Muslims.  Opposition.  Freedom.  Salvations.

This month has been the hardest yet, but also the most rewarding.

As I look at the dust I begin to wonder.  Maybe the dust is not simply dust at all.  Maybe it is so much more…

As I study my feet I begin to think of all of the steps I have taken on the journe

y so far.

Step one – Ireland.  Back to Dublin.

Leaving home. Surfing.  No turning back.  Kids ministry.  Healing on the street. Danielle’s leg growing.  My team.

Step two – Romania.  Living with the Gypsies.  Painting Pape’s House.  Alex.  The Mud Village.  Caroling for Christ.  Catching a vision.  Apple Picking.  Swimming in the lake.  The Funeral.

Step three – Croatia.  Back to Hungary. Painting the church.  Prophecy over the youth.  Tasha.  ATL with Danielle and Lauren.  Train rides.  Preaching for the first time.  Communion on top of a mountain.

Step four – Turkey.  The 10/40 widow.  God calling me to the Muslim world.  Least evangelized country.  Dancing.  Ephesus.  Roof top worship.  Tea and Jesus movie.  The carpet shop.  Aydin.  Greece.  Olive grove mountain.  No one worships Artemis anymore.  Photography.

Step five – Israel.  Back for the third time.  Tirza and her beautiful children.  Desert.  Shabbat.  Hanukkah.  Leading tours.  Jerusalem.  Christmas away from home.  Petra.  The pyramids.  God growing a vision for ministry in the Middle East.  Abandonment.

Step six – Kenya.  Africa for the first time.  New Years.  Orphanage.  The street boys.  Bishop Emmanuel.  The poverty.  The children. Leading Muslims to Jesus.  The Hospital visits.  Melissa.  Worshipping on top of the mountain.  Door to door evangelism.  The VBS.  Bibles. Preaching for the first time.

The Simple Life.

Step seven – Uganda.  Intense spiritual warfare. The dark house.

Witchdoctor.  Sleepless nights.  Crusades.  Miraculous healings.  Leading.  The Bush.  Hours of hut evangelism.  Teaching in schools.  Preaching.  Deliverance.  Over 500 salvations.

And now…Four more steps.

Four more steps for God to be preached to the nations.

Four more steps until this trip is complete.

Four more steps until the next leg of my journey.

Four more steps for my feet to be covered in dust.

Four more steps for my feet to be like one man, whose feet were so covered in dust, that a woman knelt down and washed them with her tears and her hair.

The dust will be long washed off my feet, and the memories will grow dim at times, yet the impact will remain.

For I am forever covered in the dust of my Rabbi.

It was the end of a very long week for us.  I had been leading a team of 12 in the bush and our ministry lasted about 13 hours a day.  It was our last night before a day off and we were all exhausted.  “Just a few more hours” I thought to myself.  We turned the Jesus Film on and expected to have a few hours of rest until prayer time at the end.  However, within moments of sitting down for the first time that day, Pastor Godfrey came and said that there was a woman who wanted prayer.  She had what looked like a growth on her abdomen that was causing her a lot of pain.  We asked if she was a Christian and she said the only way she would accept Jesus was if he healed her right then.  “Ok, here we go” us prayer warriors thought.

So we began praying for healing and expecting God to heal her instantly.  It seemed perfectly appropriate.  After the prayer, she said her pain had gone down, but since it was not a complete healing she would not accept Jesus.  Slightly dejected, we watched her get up and go on her way.  Not thinking much after that moment, I went about packing up my stuff and loading the van.

About an hour later, Pastor found me and said that I must pray for someone else.  He said there was a woman who wanted to become a Christian.  (See, here in Africa, people just walk up to us on the streets and confess their sins.  It really is quick inexplicable).  When he brought me to the woman, it turns out it was the same woman from our prayer hours before!  Even though she was not totally healed, she decided to give her life to Jesus.  I led her in the prayer to commit her life to Jesus, with Pastor Godfrey translating.  When we finished praying, the other women present started breaking out in yells and cheers.  I was filled with joy as well, but this celebration was deeper than normal salvations.  I asked the pastor what was going on and he said that the woman was his sister!  His sister had just accepted Christ and her whole family was surrounding me celebrating!

Martha heard the commotion and joined us as we began dancing in the backyard and the old African mama’s began yelling “Iasou Mulungi! Iasou Mulungi!”  “God is good! God is good!”  It was such a beautiful celebration.  I could see Jesus joining with the angels as his one lost sheep came home.

When the commotion started, Abraham, the pastor’s 12-year-old son came running around the corner and jumped into his Aunt’s arms. He had a smile so big it took up his entire face.  His father told us that for the past few days Abraham had been trying to get his aunt to come speak with us because he knew that if she just came, she would accept Jesus.  She had continually told the boy that she would not go speak with the white people, however today God had different plans!!  It was the faith of this precious 12-year-old that planted the seed in his aunt, which God watered right in front of our eyes!!

I praise the Lord to be part of his wonderful celebration as the lost come home!!

God is SO good!

Iasou Mulungi!

They met for the first time in the Atlanta, Georgia airport back in May 2009. Matt Patch, Austin Anglea and Dan Snyder: instant brothers with much in common. After training camp the three of them had dreams and visions of the Lord using them together. Even though they’d talked about it with each other, none really knew what it could possibly look like.

In November 2009, Matt, Dan and Austin were baptized together in the Jordan River by their brother, Aaron Bruner.  As they prepared for the baptisms, they reminisced about the dreams and visions the Lord had given them and how He was going to use the three of them in His Kingdom to do huge things (read Aaron’s blog about it here).

It’s now Feb. 26, 2010, and the three have gathered in Jinja, Uganda.

Austin was in town purchasing bus tickets for his team as Dan and Matt took a boda boda, or a motorcycle taxi, into town to do some work on the Internet.

Little did they know that God was about to use these three transformed men–one a former teacher/coach, another a former realtor, and the other a former cop–in a mighty way. Just one to three years ago they were living for themselves, living the American Dream, the party life. Today they were living for the Kingdom.

As Matt and Dan rode towards the town of Jinja on the back of the boda bodas, they saw a man surrounded by a group of people, laying on the ground to the left of the road.  As the bodas slowed, the man, who was covered in blood, came to his feet. He’d obviously been hit by a car or thrown off of a boda, but seemed OK. The drivers kept moving.

As the boda bodas came around a slight bend in the road, Matt and Dan noticed a motorcycle laying there. Its pieces were strewn across the road. As the bodas slowed, a young girl of about 7 years old came into view. She was wearing a pink dress and her face and arms were covered in blood, but she at least was standing.

But just past her, a group of about 15 people were surrounding something else on the road. The boda bodas stopped in front of the group and a small boy, also about 7 years old, came into view. His body was laying in the middle of the road.

He was lifeless.

“He’s dead,” they thought.

A man shaked the boy, trying to bring him back to life, but he lay limp.

Dan and Matt pushed through the crowd to get to the boy who had a four inch bleeding bulge on his forehead. His mouth and ear was spilling blood.

Matt prayed as Dan looked around for a ride to get the boy to the hospital.

It was then that Austin arrived on another boda boda that was coming from the other direction. Austin jumped off of the motorcycle and immediately ran to the boy.

“The kid’s dead,” Dan told him.

Dan told Austin that someone in the crowd was willing to take the boy to the hospital. The two of them and another man carried the lifeless boy’s body to the car.

“Do you feel a pulse or see him breathing?” Dan asked Austin.

Austin stopped his prayer mid-sentence, looked up, and simply responded, “No.”

As they lay the boy in the backseat of the car, Austin pulled his sweatshirt off and put it under the boy’s head. As he did this, the boy’s chest started to rise and fall.

He was breathing.

The prayers for the boy continued as Dan, Matt and Austin climbed back on boda bodas. Matt and Dan rode to the hospital to pray over the boy again. The doctor on duty said the hospital didn’t have the necessary medicine to stop the bleeding and swelling in the boy’s head.

Matt and Dan decided they’d have to buy the medicine. They ran across the street and bought some, ran back, and gave it to the doctor.

They prayed again.

Meanwhile, Austin hopped back on his boda boda along with the boy’s friend and the driver on a mission to find the boy’s parents. They drove along back roads, through clothes hanging on lines, and finally arrived in the boy’s village. His parents weren’t home, but they managed to find neighbors who agreed to tell the boy’s parents about the emergency.

A few hours later, Dan and Matt were at the hospital again to pray for the boy once more. They found him, his mother, and his close family friend there. They were told the boy, Trevor, and his sister, Precious, were both hit by a boda boda.

And they both survived.

The family is Christian and the family friend who was there is a pastor. Dan and Matt explained what had happened, that Trevor hadn’t been breathing when they’d first arrived, but that his breathing came back after they started praying for him.

As they prayed for him again, Trevor began to move his fingers and his eyes started to flutter. His mother, Sarah, thanked God and thanked them for praying for her son.

They promised to keep Trevor and Precious in their prayers, and walked away knowing they’d experienced the miraculous ability of the Lord and prayer.

Austin:
I remember becoming irritated as it was taking a ridiculous amount of time to buy the tickets for the team. But it was no accident for it was the Lord delaying me for what was soon to happen!  After my time spent in town I headed back on the motorcycle taxi.  I looked ahead and saw a crowd of people and as soon as we pulled up close I saw Dan in the middle taking charge of the situation, and by the look on his face I knew something was wrong. I tapped my driver and told him to stop, I needed off!  I remember seeing the boy laying in the middle of the road saturated in blood, Dan looked at me and said, “he’s dead.”  Going up to the boy he was lifeless, as his eyes were open but glazed over, he surely looked dead. There was a man there trying to massage his chest trying to get his heart working. Not knowing what else to do, I put a hand on the boy and began to pray in the Spirit as Dan figured out a car to put the kid in…….we carried Trevor to the car while all three of us continued to pray and then the car pulled off to take the boy to the hospital. As quick as that, it was done…..riding back home on the taxi after we went and told the people in the boy’s village, I began to cry thinking about the whole situation, but then I began to think how God aligned the three of us in order to be there for that boy, and I began to rejoice!  God has a plan for that boy and he wanted him to live, and how grateful the three of us are to be a part of what God wanted done that day.

Matt:
Once we pulled up I was scared, shocked, and felt useless. I was looking at a lifeless child. A million things started to create a wall in my mind. Then God busted through all of the feelings and said, “hold on, I’m bigger than that… pray.” So, I did. I walked away from today realizing that being in God’s will is just that… being. I can’t do anything. However, in Christ I can do everything. All I have to do is “be”. Did I raise the dead today? No. I witnessed the beautiful gift of life that was being stolen given back. Glory be to God. How wonderful and amazing He is to let us be a part of His plan, His miracles… His son Trevor’s life.

Dan:
once we pulled up and i saw trevor i thought without a doubt that he was dead…just the way he was laying on the pavement, i could tell.  as i got closer and saw his forehead, the blood coming from his ear and mouth and his half opened, glazed over eyes…i just knew he was dead.  in retrospect though, i have no idea if he was dead.  to be honest, i thought about praying but quickly replaced that thought with, “i’ve gotta get him to the hospital” and started working to find a driver to get him there.  i looked over at matty and saw him praying on the side of the road…and then out of nowhere austy showed up…to think of all the different variables that went into the three of us being there at that exact moment…it’s unbelievable.  anyways, i didn’t think about praying again until i heard austin praying as we carried trevor to the car.  i immediately started praying and a few seconds later, after all three of us were praying, trevor started breathing.  i didn’t realize it as it was happening but god put the three of us in this situation for a purpose…he had aligned it…it blows my mind…three different guys…all doing different things amongst the chaos to help this boy…trusting our god…praying with all that we had…and trevor lived.  i know we didn’t act any differently then most people would’ve but the lord put the three of us there for a purpose…to experience his miracles and the indescribable power of prayer…and trevor lived…that’s the kind of god i am willing to give my life to.

Feb. 28

Because both Matt and Austin are now traveling to Tanzania, Dan goes to the hospital alone. As he walked through the courtyard of the hospital, he spots Joshua, Sarah and Trevor laying on a mat in the grass.

Trevor is doing a lot better and is expected to be released in only a couple of days. He’d been able to walk outside all by himself, but was still in a lot of pain. And although he’s been able to eat and drink, the doctors think there may be something wrong with his jaw since he’s only able to open it a little.

Joshua said that the man he had seen up the street on the day of the accident was the driver of the motorcycle. The crowd had found Trevor dead, so they’d begun beating the driver so he had run away. The man was later arrested and caned by the police for killing Trevor.

When the police started asking where Trevor’s body was, the crowd told them they didn’t know because some Mzungus (white people) had taken him away in a car. They found Trevor at the hospital.

Alive.

Dan found out that Trevor’s sister, Precious, had been the only one the locals had decided to take to the hospital since Trevor was dead.

She and her brother had been walking hand in hand from school when they were hit by the motorcycle. She’s been released from the hospital and is resting at home.

As Dan is talking to Joshua, Trevor wakes up and sits up on his own strength, but doesn’t respond to Dan– only drools.

Dan prays for Trevor once again and tells Joshua that he’ll be back in the morning, before he leaves for Tanzania.

Does God punish children for the sins for their fathers?

Does this Deuteronomy passage speak only to the Israelites of the Old Testament?  Or is there some string of truth for the world today?

While we were going evangelizing a few days ago, a 10-year-old girl named Flo approached me.  She asked me to pray for her baby brother.  Thinking she simply wanted me to pray blessings over him, I easily agreed.  However, I was not prepared for what I experienced next.  Flo brought me to her one-year-old brother who was completely covered in open soars.  Our translator said that the child was afflicted by an advanced case of AIDS.  With tears filling my eyes, I laid hands on this precious life and prayed my hardest for an instant healing for the boy.  I knew he did not have long to live.  After praying, Flo asked me to go pray for her house.

When we arrived at the hut, Flo’s mother was sitting under a rundown hut, smoking a pipe and cutting vegetables.  When I saw her it was like I ran into a brick wall.  I knew instantly that the spirit of witchcraft had a huge hold over this household.  I began speaking to Flo’s mother with my normal evangelism opening. “Hi, we are from the States, we believe in Jesus and that is why we are hear.”  She instantly interrupted me and said she did not want to hear anything about Jesus, but we could pray for her kinds, that was all.  Ignoring that remark, I told the woman that we would pray in the name of Jesus for healing and explained that He is the only true power on Heaven and Earth.  I told her that Jesus loved her so much and wanted to set her free.  She quickly responded that she was demon possessed and that she worshiped demons.  She said she did not want to be free and she certainly didn’t want Jesus.  Then she told us again to pray for her kids.

I watched as hopeful little Flo placed her hands on her baby brother and joined us for praying for his healing.  I could feel the desperation in the girl.  She was desperate for an act of God.  Even though we were filled with faith, the Lord chose not to heal instantly in that moment.  I prayed for Flo and told her that she was completely loved by God.  I encouraged her to keep faith in Jesus, despite having two parents who worshipped demons.  I left the house wondering if I could have done more to encourage Flo and heal the little boy.

As I prayed I felt the Lord reveal to me that this poor child’s affliction was directly related to his mother’s practices in witchcraft.  I don’t know if she placed a curse on him, or if it was simply tied in the spiritual, but I did feel like the boy would only be healed once his mother had left her demonization practices.  This caused great distress in my mind.  Could a little baby boy really be punished for the sins of his parents?  Isn’t God merciful?  Doesn’t God want all of his children to be free?

Later that night, we showed the Jesus Film in the middle of the town.  As I sat down to pray, a small girl came up to me and asked if I would teach her songs about the love of Jesus.  Even though it was dark, I was able to recognize Flo’s hopeful eyes.  I sat and sang with her for hours as I encouraged and prayed for this powerful Christian warrior.  Even though I did not see her whole family set free, I know that Flo is going to be a powerful witness to her parents.  I am standing on faith that her little brother will be healed, and both of her parents will be set free.  I believe God is in the business of freeing people, and it is his desire to have all people come to him.

Even though I don’t have a theology worked out for a demon-possessed mother, and a baby boy dying of AIDS – I do know that God is good, he is just and he is loving – and it is in that truth that I put my trust.

In the town of Bungoma, Kenya, there are many churches.

In those churches there are many pews.

In those pews there are many Christians.

In those Christians there are very passionate hearts.

But in those hands, there are no Bibles.

The church in Bungoma is alive and well, but unfortunately, they lack resources to get Bibles into the very eager hands.  When we were doing house-to-house evangelism, I asked the pastor if there was any way we could get Bibles to the people that just accepted Christ.  One of my biggest fears is leading someone to the Lord, and then leaving them with a serious lack of discipleship.  In the much quoted Great Commission, Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations – not just converts.  So we set out to undertake the Bibles for Bungoma project.  Our contact knew of a Bible distributor in the area and told us that each Bible would cost around $8.  For two cups of Starbucks, we could make an eternal impact in the lives of Christians around the world.  So we began to rally our resources.  I am still amazed at the way the Lord moved so quickly and greatly.  In a matter of four days, three girls had raised almost $2,000!  That money bought over 190 Bibles and discipleship manuals for the wonderful people of Bungoma!!  The Lord never ceases to amaze me.

The wonderful part about this whole story is that all we did was simply put ourselves in a place of asking questions and letting the Lord respond.  I asked if Bibles were available, and God found a way to get them to Kenya.  We asked our friends, families and supporters if they wanted to invest in God’s Kingdom, and the Lord moved mightily!!  He is just so good!!  I will never forget the joy on the faces of the people who got to hold their very own Bible, in their own language.  They truly were in love with the Living Word.  I want to thank many of you who contributed to this project and rejoice that in a matter of a week, almost two thousand dollars were raised and the Bibles were distributed into the hands that desperately needed them.

Thank you for sewing into the Kingdom, and helping us disciple the nations.

** As quickly as the Bibles got to Bungoma, they were gone almost as quickly.  There is still a great need there, as well as all over Kenya and Eastern Africa, for Bibles.  If you are interested in investing $10 for the Kingdom, please contact me at JenniferLeeMitchell@gmail.com and we can get a Bible into the hands of those who need it!!  Thank you so much!

We walked up to the school and I opted to teach the older students for an hour.  We began by singing some praise songs in English, and then the students sang to us in Ugandan.  It was then that an older girl, about my size, in the front row started stepping out…I thought she was going to dance…when she suddenly collapsed on the ground…right in front of me.  Thinking she had fainted, I quickly ran to her and tried to lift her into a sitting position.  It was then that the headmaster said over my shoulder, “Pray for her, she needs deliverance.”  “What?!” I thought in my head… “We are in the middle of a school, in the middle of the day, in the middle of me being exhausted…what the heck are we going to deliver?!”  I allowed those thoughts to go through my head for about half a second before I lifted this beautiful 110-pound girl in my arms.  Martha, Lauren Williamson and I took the girl, Kadogo, under a nearby tree and began praying.  As I lay the unconscious girl on the grass I was instantly filled with compassion for this girl who was in desperate need of freedom.  I looked into her eyes, and I saw tears streaming down her face.  The teachers told me that she was demon possessed and needed deliverance.  The first thing I thought was, “I am not equipped for this.  What the heck am I supposed to pray?”  But pray I did.  We were determined to see this precious girl free.  I began to speak to the spirits of worry and fear and witchcraft and tell them to leave, and surprisingly, they did.  Kadogo went from trembling and calling to her dead ancestors to silently weeping.

Martha asked if she could say the name of Jesus, but she still could not.  So we kept praying.  We learned that she was not a Christian, and when we asked if she wanted to accept Jesus, she nodded her head.  Even though she was unable to speak, I led Kadogo in the sinner’s prayer.  I prayed as hard as I could for this precious life.  I quoted every scripture I could about freedom and new life – It was all I knew how to do.  Amazingly, at the end of the prayer, Kadogo was able to say “Jesus”.  I heard her whisper it over and over again.  She was free!!  All three of us were in utter amazement of the Lord’s good work.  God used an attack of the enemy to not only free one of his children, but give her eternal life.  God set her free!!  It was such a beautiful moment.  Still in shock that God cast demons out through us, Martha, Lauren and I could only pray and praise God for the amazing work that he did that day.  God put me in a situation where I had no idea what to do, and he again used my weakness to do miracles.  He never ceases to amaze me.  I praise Him for being so good!  He loves his children and he desires to set the captives free.

Praise God we are free.

We are free indeed.

The day just seemed like a normal day in Kenya.  We played with the children, we shared the Gospel with people, we had about four cokes at 20 cents each…and then Martha spotted her.  Sitting in a puddle of her own urine, precious little Melissa was completely alone and scared. I first introduced you to Melissa through Martha’s blog a few weeks ago.  But I want you to know the impact this precious little one has had on my life.  We simply could not pass Melissa by.  One look at her and one could tell that something was wrong.  Melissa was seven years old, but weighs only 15 pounds – about the size of a six month old.  And yet despite her physical condition she has the most infectious laughter I have ever heard.  Upon seeing Melissa, we knew that we could not just leave her alone.  We quickly took her to the first of three doctors visits and learned that she was in dire need of nutrition and physical therapy.  On top of that, she was in the care of her father, John, who spent more hours in the bar than at home taking care of his daughter.  We were at a loss of what to do.  We could not find an orphanage that could take her, and our time in Kenya was quickly drawing to a close.  We prayed fervently for a week that the Lord would provide a way for us to help this precious little life.  The day we were scheduled to leave, the pastor we were working with said that he had found a woman from the church that was willing to take care of Melissa until she was healthy.  I was nervous because I did not want to simply place her anywhere.  However, God always has an absolutely perfect plan.

Earlier that month we had done a hospital visit where we met a wonderful Christian woman named Elika.  She led us around the hospital laying hands on people and praying for them.  She has a gentle, matronly spirit about her, and I instantly liked Elika.  The day we left Kenya, the pastor brought in the woman who had volunteered to take care of Melissa, and praise God, it was Elika!  I knew instantly that God had planned all along for us to cross each others path.  He had everything absolutely ordained since before creation.

So I am happy to report that even though it has only been two weeks, Melissa is doing wonderful!  She is taking very well to physical therapy, and the nutritious diet she is on is helping her improve greatly!  Her story is so encouraging to me because we didn’t do anything special to help Melissa, we simply stopped when we saw her on the side of the road.  God orchestrated everything else absolutely perfectly.

So how do we save a life?

Simply stop for them.

And follow the path that God has already planned since the beginning of time.

This week I have completely understood what they mean by dependence.  Tim and Paul, our team leaders had to go to Kampala, the capital of Uganda to get some work done for next month.  They left Ashley Higgins, an amazing woman of God and videographer, and me in charge.  I was honored for the position, but a little worried.  I have no clue how to lead as far as AIM programming goes, much less in the bush of Africa.  Nevertheless, off Tim & Paul went, and up Ashley and I steped to lead the group of 12.  Our week was scheduled for us to travel to two different Bush towns and work with local pastors there.  We packed up on Monday and arrived late that afternoon.  After a quick meeting with the pastor, we went right into house-to-house evangelism.  Our schedule for the next few days was: Up with the sun, quick breakfast, then teaching at local schools all morning, break for lunch, then house-to-house until dinner, finally finishing the night with a crusade or a showing of the Jesus film.  Now, as excited as I was to have tangible ministry this month, I had no idea we would be having as much or as strenuous as we did.  I am learning that ministry takes a LOT out of you.  By the time lunch came around each day, we were completely exhausted….It takes a lot of energy to keep the attention of an entire elementary school.  When it came time to evangelize each day, I was completely spent.  I had literally no energy at all.  I remember the first day stuttering and stumbling over my words as I attempted to relate the Gospel to a Muslim woman.  I was completely weak.  But amazingly, it was in those moments that God did a miracle.

I was utterly spent – at the end of my own strength – after countless confusing and stressful meetings as a leader, and hours of ministry, I could no longer go on.  It was there that God met me.  I heard him say, “Lean on me Jennifer, my yoke is strong”.  This week, I learned the meaning of complete dependence.  When I have absolutely nothing else to lean on, that is when God can begin to move.  There were so many prayers prayed that I don’t remember what was said, so many people touched and I have no idea how – other than the power of God.  He worked through me when I was at my weakest.  I think he was able to truly work in the lives of others because I was no longer in the picture, I was completely set aside and all ministry was completely God.  I love that.  God wants to get us to a place where we are completely dependent on him so that He can be the one working.  I hear him whisper to us all, “Lay down your own strength, and trust Me…I am able.”

Spiritual Warfare.  Most Christians in the West hear that term and instantly think of crazy over-the-top charismatics, or some witchdoctor sitting in a smoke hut communing with the dead.  However, here in Africa, Spiritual Warfare is common jargon among Christians because it is something that they face literally everyday.  Here, it is more common for people to seek the help of a witchdoctor than it is to see a medical practitioner.  People face spirits everyday.  This week we have been working in Bugobi, Uganda, a small bush town.  Within a few hours of being here we learned that it is a common practice for parents to commit their newborns to the service of demons within hours of their birth.  Children wear amulets and bracelets demonstrating their pledge to evil spirits.  There are also people who practice child sacrifices in order to appease the evil spirits.  Literally everyone is walking around under spiritual oppression and the Christians are bright lights amidst a very dark environment.  The people here worship demons and believe that any health and wealth they have comes from them.  In as much as the people worship demons, they are also terrified of evil spirits.  They have many rituals and practices in order to keep the evil spirits away.  They are in such bondage and deception that they do not realize that the thing they worship is the very thing they are afraid of.

As Christians, we have to daily put on the armor of God.  We are in the middle of a battle here, and at times we can literally feel the enemy at our heals.  The first night in Uganda, we knew something was wrong.  Many of us were plagued by the spirit of fear and were oppressed at night.  Last week I slept a total of about five hours.  We could hear people screaming at night, and their chants drifted in with the wind.  The enemy was fighting very hard to get us to leave.  However, we are not children of the darkness, but children of the Light. (1 John 1).  We don’t have to walk in fear because there is no fear in Christ Jesus.  I never thought I would become one of “those” Christians, but I constantly find myself rebuking the spirit of fear.  Yesterday I found myself casting the spirit of infirmity off of my teammate who was feeling sick.  It is common for me to begin a praying for someone on the street, “I rebuke every spirit of witchcraft on this person, you have no power here.”  In Africa, everything is spiritual.  Illnesses are very rarely just illnesses, depression is very rarely just because some one is having a bad day.  Oppressive spirits run rampant here and we can see as people walk around plagued by them.  It makes me wonder how much of the Western world is under a different sort of spirit.  Here, things are so active because the people are used to that culture.  In the West, it seems as though people are perfectly content under their lethargy and spiritual dryness.

As much as it kills my skeptical, Western spirit to admit it – Spiritual Warfare is alive and well…both in the bush of Africa, and in the business world in America.  Though we are battling different spirits, evil forces are at work all over the world.  Jesus even says, “If you are not for me, you are against me.”  People all over the world are buying into the lies of the enemy and following evil spirits rather than the Truth and Light.  As Christians, it is vital for us to not only be equipped for battle, but to actually fight.  God says that he has given us the keys to the kingdom, and he has dressed us for battle.  The battle is his, and he has put us on the front lines.

Whether we are casting out demons in Africa or battling spiritual deadness in America…the battle is alive and well.
It is time for the Church to rise up and fight.

When I picture traveling evangelists, I usually imagine a bike, a crisp white shirt, and a perfectly tailored answer concerning salvation.  That, or a sweaty purple suit shouting something about fire, hell, and brimstone.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would become the very thing that I do not have a particularly good taste for.  In my mind, door-to-door evangelism was not only ineffective, but was intrusive, and certainly not the Lord’s plan for me.  One would think that seven months on the race would rid me of planning my own life for myself…but I guess I still have more to learn on the subject.
This month my team is in a tiny town in Uganda.  We have no electricity or water, and are camping out in our tents indoors because the bugs are just that bad.  In the midst of these conditions, my team has one directive – evangelize.  We began last week giving a whole new meaning to door-to-door evangelism, because when I say we are in a tiny town in Uganda, I mean tiny. We basically go into the bush every day and share the Good News to every hut that we encounter.   Enter: my cynical mind and skeptical spirit and you have a perfect combination for Spirit-stifling.  However, I decided at the beginning of the month that I am in Uganda doing evangelism right now because that’s what I was created to do.  God created me specifically for a purpose, and if I believe that he has good plans for me, then Uganda is part of those plans.  So I decided that no amount of doubt would prevent me from bringing Kingdom to these tiny huts in this tiny village.   We split off each day into small groups with our translators and preach the Gospel to anyone who has ears.  Each day has its own challenges – one day it’s a resistant Muslim woman, another day it is a husband preventing his wife from faith, yet another day brings translation issues – it seems like no amount of preaching will ever get done….and yet, somehow, at the end of the day, I am amazed at how many people confessed with their mouth that Jesus is Lord.  One would think that I would have learned the lesson of the simple Gospel(Insert Could It Be That Simple) back in Kenya, but I am nothing if not stubborn.

Each day God continues to show me how much he loves the people of this world.

My heart skips a beat every time I get to say with a Muslim “I believe that Jesus is God and he is the only true God”.

I am constantly amazed at the size of the harvest and vastly ashamed that the workers so few.

I grow increasingly grateful as I present the Gospel and trust that, “at that time, it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:19).

And I am boldly walking in the promise of God, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance.” (Psalm 2:8).

Look out huts – I am evangelizing.