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NelsonNews September 2013 WHY PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES? A few weeks ago, my car broke down at the beginning of the long 50-mile drive home from Kampal
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NelsonNews
September 2013
WHY PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES? |
A few weeks ago, my car broke down at the beginning of the long 50-mile drive home from Kampala. The isolated road is also under construction for the first 25 miles, and for safety reasons, we try to avoid driving after dark. It was getting late, and we had bought gas at a different station from our usual place, and the gas was adulterated. |
God hand was upon us, and our breakdown occurred near a small factory alongside the road where were able to leave the car inside their security walls over night. The car was then repaired the following day back in Kampala. |
WHY PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES?
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As a result of the bad fuel available in Uganda, we have to frequently clean out the gas tank. Last week the car began running rough again, indicating there was another problem. So on payday, Pastor David took the car to the mechanic again while we were in Kampala. This again delayed us getting out of town until after dark, and I still had to stop by the vet’s and pick up my cat that we’d left there that morning. |
By the time we got away from the vet’s office, it was 8:00 and the traffic was so bad that it took us an hour and a half just to get out of the city. And David had somehow spotted a Luweero witchdoctor behind us with a carload of men. This witchdoctor hates David with a passion and has sworn to destroy everything that David does; we believe he was behind the kidnapping of the boy from our church last January. He is known to carry a gun. So having him following us home in the dark was not a healthy situation. |
As we got some miles out into the dark, rural area, still in the construction zone, my car began running rough again. As we traveled slower and rougher, our thoughts turned to the knowledge of this evil man following us. And we began to pray. We prayed for the car, for safety, and against any witchcraft he might be trying to use against us. |
The car began to run better… |
When we got to the last town before home, about 12 miles south of Luweero, we stopped at a roadside market to buy some roasted chicken. It was 10 PM and neither of us had had dinner. The witchdoctor pulled up a ways behind us and sat there. No one else was in his car, but another car had pulled in behind him. We waited while the chicken cooked, and we watched. After some time, the witchdoctor’s car pulled out on the highway and passed us. But he only drove about a block, then pulled off to the side, and waited. |
_Finally we headed on home, continuing to pray. Our biggest concern was that he would’ve called ahead on his cell phone to alert other thugs to our coming. But we made it home safely._
*The next day, my car ran just fine…* |
WHY PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES? |
Missionaries globally are having difficulties accessing, or remaining in, their countries of ministry. This past year has been a struggle for me as well in that regard, necessitating my return to Uganda in August with only a visitor visa. On the government website, a visitor visa is good for 3 months. However, the writing on my visa was totally illegible, and there was no expiry date written on it. I have been making plans to make a visit to a friend in Rwanda in late October, so I would then purchase another 3-month visa on my return to Uganda. We are in the process of registering our ministry as a Non-Governmental Organisation (non-profit), and when that is done, I can get a work permit that covers me for several years at a time. |
In the NGO process, I had my passport looked at by an official I thought might know what was written on my visa. I was alarmed to learn that I had been given a 30-day visitor visa, not a 3-month visa – and I was now 8 days expired! Uganda now has a law that penalizes offenders $50 per each day of an expired visa. |
But this man was able to take my passport to the proper government office and plead for me. The result was that they only fined me for 3 days instead of 8, and I had remembered the fine incorrectly. It was $30 a day, not $50. So my $400 fine was now dropped down to $90. And the man was able to obtain another 3-month visa for me, one that covers me as we work on the NGO registration.
This was much cheaper than a flight to Rwanda and purchasing another visitor visa on my return, which also could end up being another 30 days only. |
WHY PRAY FOR MISSIONARIES? |
As the Apostle Paul wrote from prison: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms… With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the [missionaries]. Ephesians 6: 12,18b.
We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory… with your help!
Thanks for praying. |
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