Ignite mission to the islands: Day 3
5 minutes after my alarm went off, I was standing in the dark field that overlooks Bosa Village and Lake Victoria beyond. The sounds of a sleepy team behind me barely distracted me from a brief time of communion with Jesus. But I sensed some opposition awaited us this day and stumbled into the wood slat church structure ready to war in prayer.
One member shared that she awoke in the night unable to breathe. She knew it was a life-threatening attack from the enemy, and prayed through it in the name of Jesus, spending the remainder of the night in focused praise. Another had a word from God about a battle lying ahead in the village we were about to enter. “Today’s ministry is not a joke” he reminded us, and with the seriousness that comes with a pending threat, we had one of the most intense times of prayer I’ve ever been in.
As we polished off our breakfast, I spotted a snake dropping off the back wall of the church, slithering around on the platform. The guys quickly crushed his head and disposed of the body after making a public spectacle of it. Coincidence or not, it was an eerie reminder that the war we fight in the spirit has very natural implications.
The intensity continued throughout the day–another hour of praise upon reaching Misonzi Village paved the way for a receptive population. Then when rain scattered our crowd, threatening to cancel the evening meeting just after we cranked up the system, our team and the local church members went to prayer. We took authority over the cloudy skies and 15 minutes later were back to preaching to a gathering congregation of unbelievers.
The team named and dedicated a child today, his whole family receiving Jesus for the first time. I taught a full church in another town one mile away after a hunch that they might be there waiting for us. A tough-looking young man with dreadlocks and rasta gear was the first to respond for salvation in the evening crusade, and many others followed suit after hearing the message of the cross from one of our students. Seth called a man out of the crowd concerning his dreams the night before. The public word of knowledge caused this backslider to surrender his life once again, surprising his pastor.
In the end, God won the day and many souls for His Kingdom. The power of prayer, praise, and obedient labor in his field was clearly evident, and we lie exhausted in our tents, ready for one more day!
