God's protection

just got this from my dad in swaziland. something he wrote after a harrowing experince yesterday. if you ever wondered if your prayers for missionaries make a difference, you really need to read this.



A highway intersection.

Two cars totaled in the crash.

Four lives at risk. God intervened and nobody was seriously hurt. Our awesome God protected Jean and me and the other young couple.

Every time a sore muscle makes us wince we are vividly reminded how quickly lives can change and how fragile life is—and how awesome our God is.

We were returning up the mountain to our home in Mbabane after Jean had spoken at a staff meeting of the ladies that help us feed the children at the Children’s Cup Care Points. It had been a great meeting as Jean and the staff discussed the challenges and opportunities of caring for some of the neediest children in the world. Jean told me later that in spite of the spiritual “high” all morning she had a deep urging in her spirit to be in prayer against an accident.

I’m so glad she obeyed.

When we got home one of our Swazi employees told us he had felt the need to pray for us this morning, too.

And because I know how God does things, I’m sure some of you had been praying, too.

It happened at noon Swazi time, which is 5AM Louisiana time—6 hours ago as I write this.

I don’t pretend to understand why the accident was allowed, but I’m sure God will be glorified because of it. It really is true that God will take the worst thing that can happen to you and make it the best thing for you. Right now our sore muscles and the need to replace our vehicle try to challenge this belief in me—but I know it’s true.

I’m writing this to thank you and to encourage you to pray for us and every missionary you know. It truly is a violent warfare when you invade the devil’s strongholds to rescue souls from his clutches.

You may remember that just a few weeks ago a lady helping us clear the brush at our Mozambique Mercy Center site was bitten by a black mamba—one of the deadliest snakes in the world. The doctors said she could not live but she survived and will have total recovery!

I’m believing that in answer to the reserves of your prayers and ours God will guide us through the legal and insurance aftermath of this incident. With our confidence in our prayer-answering Jesus, Jean and I and the ‘Cup Team will press forward into the fray—not with a cavalier or giddy disregard for the enemy, but in the sure knowledge that “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”

The eternal souls of hurting little ones are worth the investment and the risk!