Spiritual Warfare in the US

I used to think that I knew what spiritual warfare was. And then I moved to Mexico. When we lived in Mexico, we experienced spiritual warfare on a daily basis. You see, where we lived, and in many places around the world, there are very few Christians (like less than 1% of the population). Satan likes it that way. If he can keep them from knowing Christ, then that's one less Christian he has to deal with. What did it look like? Well, spiritual warfare came with many faces. We never faced death for our belief in Christ. No one ever threatened to put us in jail or kill us because of our faith, which happens in many places around the world. But, it appeared for us in tearing families apart when they began a bible study in their home. Or, a local religious leader would tell the people in our bible study that we were leading them to hell. Or, plans would fall through for a major event that had been set for months. And finally, one of the most frustrating for us was to be put on the sidelines.

What do you mean, "to be put on the sidelines?" Well, for us, one of those things was the attempted kidnapping of our children. They were fine, and as you know, we still have them, but it was a personal attack that made us want to give up serving. Believe it or not, there was one more thing that was more taxing than the attempted kidnapping...illness. "Illness," you say, Lori?????? How in the world is illness more taxing than an attempted kidnapping? I am glad you asked!

The attempted kidnapping was one moment, a split second in time when our lives were changed forever. Not like they could have been because it was only an attempt. We were able to put that moment on the altar and move on. But illness? Illness is a day after day after day event that can happen at any moment, and it can be exhausting. I would venture to say that you could flip through the calendar of the 3 years that we were in Mexico and put your finger on a date, and one of the 5 of us would have been sick. Part of that is having young children, but it was more than that.

I firmly believe that our illness was a form of spiritual attack on our family. If one of us was sick, it almost always took most or all of us out of the game and put us on the sidelines. If a kid was sick, Craig could go do ministry, but I was at home with the kids. If Craig was sick, majority of the time, I could not go because I had to care for Craig and the kids. Also, as many of you know, illness is exhausting. Night after night of little sleep can wear on you.

Well, did you know that spiritual warfare exists in the US, too? This weekend is a HUGE ministry opportunity in the life of our church. It is the BIG SERVE. Saturday night and Sunday morning services are canceled. Almost all of the Sunday school classes have taken on projects and will be out in the community ministering to those who don't typically attend church. The church will then gather on Sunday night at 6pm for a celebration time sharing about what God has done. There will be between 1500-2000 people doing local missions Saturday and Sunday in an effort to share the love of Jesus with the people of Hampton Roads!!! Isn't that awesome????

Well, guess what? The girls are sick. I, once again, find myself on the sidelines. The Artist, who has been dying to participate, finds herself on the sidelines. We will be UNABLE to physically participate in the BIG SERVE! But, I've determined that although we will be on the sidelines that we will not be rendered useless. You see, Satan will be out there this weekend trying to destroy EVERY project that our church is a part of. We will be fighting Him in prayer!

Join me in praying this week for the thousands of people that will be touched by the members of First Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA who have never seen a church BE the church outside the four walls! Pray for every obstacle that Satan will try to put in the way of each project.

Oh...and pray for the girls (and their very tired mama.) And pray that Craig and the Jedi will stay well.

Thanks so much!