Our Battle is Not Against Flesh and Blood

Her name was Ate Em, and she owned a sari-sari store. We had just come from a Bible Study and were craving a mid-afternoon junkfood fix, so we stopped by her store. In between bites of Fudgee Barrs we asked if we could have a Bible study with her, and she nodded us in.

The inside of her house was dark. The light over the living room didn't work, and outside angry grey clouds were shrouding the sunlight. Everything was dim. We'd heard thunder rumbling in the distance. As we began the study, the dense clouds outside let loose. Out here where houses are made of bamboo and tin or thatched roofing, the sound of raindrops reaching the earth seems to be amplified. It s nearly impossible to carry on a conversation when there is heavy rain, and this particular afternoon what we got was a torrential downpour.

We read the Bible passage twice, voices raised over the storm, and asked a simple question: What do you remember about the story we just read? No answer. So someone recapped the story, and asked again. Who was in this story? Her eyes squinted and her brow furrowed. She said she didn't understand.

The rain, impossibly, started pounding even louder. Our Filipino teammate scooted her seat over next to Ate Em so they could hear each other. As she did so she looked up at us for half a second and said "Pray for us.  For her." But we already were. She pulled out a bridge illustration and began sharing the Gospel. As she did so both she and Ate Em started coughing, and had to keep turning their heads aside to let it out. Meanwhile there was no indication that any word said was registering with Ate Em, but we sat there a while praying silently as our teammate labored against all the odds.

The darkness, the crescendoing rainstorm, the coughing, the total blank stare---all ominous reminders that truly we have an Enemy who does not want the Gospel to be proclaimed or understood. I felt like I was seeing the spiritual battle manifest itself in the physical realm.

• Pray with us that his strongholds would be broken down.  
• Pray for Ate Em, that the Word of Truth that was shared with her might even now take root in her heart and transfer her from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light. 
• Pray for others like her, whose eyes have been blinded, that they would see. Only the Holy Spirit can make that kind of miracle happen.

To all of you on the homefront and around the world fighting with and for us on your knees--thank you. I hope you know how vital you are to the Mission.