"Under Attack" (El Salvador Update: Saturday)

"Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him and be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world." I Peter 5:8

Whenever we do the work that God has called us to in making disciples whether at home or abroad, there will inevitably be opposition. Evil will always be antagonistic towards the spread of the Gospel. I used to think that it's because our enemy, Satan, knows that he is ultimately finished - his fate is sealed. But these days, I wonder if he is self-deluded and deceived into believing that he can actually win. In any case, our God is greater than the god of this world, the god of the air. We've read the end of the book and Jesus wins!

Arriving in El Salvador and committing to missionary endeavors for two weeks paints an incredibly large target on the back of each team member. We are warned that the devil stalks us and to assemble the full armor of God in order to quench his fiery darts. But sometimes those schemes hit incredibly close to home especially for our Salvadorian brothers. At first, we hoped that our flight delays would be the end of our challenges, but the Lord provided for these needs beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. But yesterday, we began to see how spiritually attacked the pastors in this country have been in preparation of our arrival.

The primary in-country, native missionary (Pastor Ed) experienced an unexpected death in his family just a few days ago leaving his wife and family grieving. Last night, he went with them to the funeral services and we simply prayed that the Lord would bring comfort and peace. Our driver and long-time friend of Salvadorian missionaries, Pastor Clemente, was recently dealt an incredibly difficult blow when gang members murdered his brother and threatened their immediate family members to leave their home. That dark and stormy night in El Salvador was filled with fiery darts, nevertheless he remains vigilant in serving our team and seeing that the Gospel be extended. He is a living example of Romans 12:11 which says, "Never be lacking in zeal but maintain your spiritual fervor in serving the Lord."

Challenges and complications in life and especially on the mission field are inevitable. However, Satan is merely a lesser god - his darts are painful, sometimes excruciatingly so, but we must know whether our efforts are worth it. We must decide if we are willing to live unconfronted yet unproductive lives or rick everything to make Jesus famous. Our team is ready for what comes but we ask for your prayers!

On Saturday, we divided our team into two groups. One remained at the hotel to begin preparing our supplies while another went to Bello Horizonte ("Beautiful Horizon") to conduct a soccer tournament for children in a village of just 1,000 people. Children arrived in droves to meet our bus and cheered when we walked off to greet them. After a brief devotional and time of prayer with all the kids and parents, our students and adult leaders took to the fields and had a wonderful time together. I was able to meet and pray with the local pastor and other local parishioners who were sick or otherwise in need of prayer. We saw some familiar faces including little Madeline who in November was suffering from a severe fungal infection on her scalp. Today, her hair is fully regrown and she is smiling all the time, running and playing, and just being a kid again. More than 75 children and families like Madeline's heard the Gospel and interacted with our extraordinary team of athlete-missionaries. But the team back in the hotel were perhaps even more productive successfully preparing all the supplies and organizing them for EVERYDAY of the trip - a feat that sets the bar high for all future teams :)

It was a great day and one that we hope will have set the tone for the entire week!