Under attack for God

I spoke with a dear friend this morning.  She seemed to dog-gone weary.  In the early morning grogginess she explained what had transpired in the last 12 hours since I had last seen her.  You could hear the weariness in her voice.  With a few kids to contend with,six to be exact, schedules, an ongoing difficulty with a pesky health issue, projects due, funds to be raised for upcoming mission trip, curriculum to think about for next month...


Another friend has had the similar struggles with projects to get done, unexpected vehicle issues, kids, schedule changes, curriculum to think about for next month, funds to raise for upcoming mission trip... faulty wiring, and wait... it gets better!  Her dryer quit working today!





Wait, they both have kids going on this mission trip! In less than a month two groups of kids and adults from church (22 altogether), Oldest and Only included, are traveling to the southern part of Belize, in Central America.  Each group, staying for one week, will work closely with the missionary already established there, sharing about God in the villages of San Isidro and Bella Vista. Tim (our youth minister), Oldest, and Steven will stay the entire two weeks as coordinators of the project.
So what do the two have to do with each other?  It really seems that many families who have a child/children/spouse going on the trip have been under attack by little and big things and it's wearing them down.

Oldest and Only have been working to raise their support to go.  We told them from the beginning that we didn't have the funds to send two kids on this trip - shoot, we don't have the extra funds to even send one child!  Just today I took Only and "J" to a home so they could pull weeds in a family's garden.  They were hot, dirty, and tired when I picked them up!  Tomorrow they will clean a house and Only will spend the next two days helping a teacher move from one school to another.  Some of the kids have taken summer jobs, part time jobs, writing letters, mowing lawns, "Slave for a Day" projects (people from church call with projects they need a student to do)  all to fund this trip to tell others about Jesus.  

This will not be a cushy summer trip to a tropical retreat.  Oldest found out last summer from his 2 week trip there that it is extremely hot, there are HUGE bugs and snakes that like to hide out in the outhouses, and they worked from 4 a.m. until sometimes 8 p.m., amenities are minimal. Granted  there will not be as much physical labor to do this time, but Satan is already worried because he's been after the families and kids. There is a lot of spiritual tug-a-war going on... makes me wonder what awesome things are going to come from this trip! I know this is a terrific opportunity for the kids to experience life on the mission field, and while it is short term, it will make an impact on their lives.

Are there any battles going on in your life?  If you think about it, can you pray for the kids and their families? 


Simply,