Missions Update from Burkina Faso

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Joel and Karen Gray, ICC-supported missionaries in Burkina Faso, report that they had a close call with violence. Several terrorist attacks resulted in missionaries being killed or kidnapped. They report:

"Yesterday evening about 25 SIM missionaries went out to dinner together at the invitation of friends from Messiah College. As we finished our meal several people received phone messages describing a terrorist attack happening on the same street about 7 blocks away. We quickly exited the restaurant and hurried home. Men used car bombs and machine guns to to take over a hotel and a restaurant often frequented by Westerners. Many people died, including apparently, a missionary friend of ours who serves with another organisation.

"Earlier that same day another attack occurred in a small town to the north. Again several people were killed. A third incident the same day involved the kidnapping of an elder missionary couple: Dr. Ken and Jocelyn Elliot who have served in northern Burkina for many many years." Read more

Difficult Fight, Easy Fight

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David Jun preached today on the well-known story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. Here is an excerpt:

I don't mean that there are two kinds of fights, some easy and some difficult. What I mean is that each fight has two parts: a difficult part and an easy part. The difficult part requires you to put in a lot of effort. The easy part is easy as long as you have won the first, difficult part.

The main point is this: God is my stronghold. If I am in the stronghold, I am already fighting the easy fight. But for this, first, I should occupy the stronghold. This is the difficult part. Why? Because the stronghold is at a very strategic and impregnable point, almost impossible to subdue. Where is it? It is my heart.

It is extremely difficult to occupy my heart and give it to God so that he may be my stronghold. This is the difficult fight. But, once I have won this battle and my heart is steady in God, the stronghold, then the rest is easy.

God is with you

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When you dedicated your life to Christ, spiritual warfare starts and the attacks are nonstop. These attacks are designed to make us feel powerless and out of control. Defeat and failure become our outlook on life. Satan catches you when you are unaware, when you are vulnerable, when you have doubt.

I want you to have unshakable faith—and I want you to understand that, even through you may experience failures in your lives, you are not a casualty of war. That’s because the battle is not yours—it’s the Lord’s.

I don’t want you to begin to think that God is not with you. He has not left you powerless and unprotected. God has left you with power and has given you his protection. He has given you the armor you need to protect you from the forces of evil and hatred.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:14–18)

—Pastor Doris Hooks