God is greater

I’ve been in Swaziland for 2 weeks now and I’ve realized that I have been writing about some things I have experienced but not necessarily about myself.  God has moved in some big ways and I’ve already experienced some new things.  However it is definitely apparent that wherever I go, the Lord is with me.

We’ve been in so many places in Swaziland.  We’ve been to care points, hospitals, schools, and many other places.  We went to a game reserve and saw animals: zebras, impalas, monkeys, warthogs, and more.  No giraffes though.  I would love to see a giraffe before I leave though.  Moral of the story: I’ve seen and done a lot so far, in both ministry and overall experience with the Lord.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

Something that God’s been laying on my heart is the weight of his glory and holiness.  No matter where I am I can see it; in the mountains of Swaziland, the countless stars in the sky, and even the thunderstorms testify to His glory.  Although I felt it in the U.S., going to a new place gives me a new perspective outside of the normal things that I see every day.  I feel the Lord is moving me to realize His glory because He is preparing me to acknowledge His power on a daily basis in many experiences.

With new experiences daily, I’ve seen so many people; young, old, sick, poor, rich, disabled, who have such a need for the Lord to touch their lives.  I mentioned last week that although they have heard of Jesus and most claim to follow Him, their culture and beliefs suggest otherwise.  Through talking with these people, I have seen that all humans have a God-sized whole in their hearts that they try to fill with other things and are always coming up short.  This week I have found that the reasons, however, are not all at the surface level.

In America, the reason most people lack a relationship with the Lord is due to the many distractions in our culture.  Television, school, work, relationships, etc., tear us away from Him daily.  We simply have become so busy that we’ve taken God out of the equation.  Swaziland doesn’t nearly have the distraction and the time crunch that America has.  “Swazi time” is a term used to poke fun at the lack of timeliness of the Swazi people.  (Similar to Mexico time from what I hear.)  People hear have time for God and definitely believe in Him.  But they also deal with dark spirits for their gain as well.   This definitely creates a warlike environment in the spiritual realm.

I knew that demonic powers were at work and had felt a little bit of a battle in the first 2 weeks but it really wasn’t significantly different from some experiences back home, so I didn’t think too much of it.  However, the other night our team experienced much more apparent forces at work.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

It all started with a loud wake up by my teammate in early in the morning.  He had heard a voice through our window.  He woke all the guys up and explained it to us.  We started praying and then went to the girls’ house and prayed around it for protection.  We then went back and sang some worship songs to invite the Lord to rid our homestead of any darkness.

When we woke up in the morning, we talked to one of the girls and she said that she had heard footsteps around the girls’ house and a loud, constant slamming of the bathroom door even before the guys woke up and went outside to pray.  It’s obvious that there are dark forces around us and that we are a part of an ongoing battle.   (In addition, I had a dream that one of our girls had a bad dream, and when I asked her about it, she in fact did.  Wow.)

I believe that the Lord has revealed more of His glory and holiness to me as a weapon again Satan.  In this place, demonic activity is very present and realizing that He is the creator of the stars and the oceans and the universe teaches me to fear Him and not anything that is beneath Him.  He has all authority and through my faith in Jesus Christ I have the authority in me to cast out the evil forces.

“In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16

Our leaders have said that this is a very common experience in Africa.  The demonic is much more active because of many beliefs in witch doctors and other dark practices.  It’s going to be an interesting two and half months that we have left here, so please pray for us.  And since much of this happens at night, pray throughout your day for peace and strength, because that is our night.