When
I was a kid and it was time to pick teams for recess the best players always
got picked first. And when my teacher came out to play everybody started
shouting “We get Mr. Hunt!” You know how it is. It seems to be instinctive: we
want to surround ourselves with those who can take us to victory—at least when
it comes to games at recess time. But for some reason in the realm of spiritual
realities, we become confused. We walk on our heads! We make a science of
winning our childish games while we ignore the science of salvation and the battle
for our souls. We forget that we are at war. There are only two sides. The
great controversy between Christ and Satan is not a spectator sport. There is
no middle ground. Neutrality is a trap invented by the enemy to damn the
complacent. All benchwarmers wear the Devil’s jersey. If you have not yet taken
the field, you are no soldier of the cross! True Christianity counts no fans,
no players in its ranks, only servants and soldiers. We must deny self, we must
make sacrifices for this cause! Choose you this day who you will serve! Christ
has chosen you, but will you choose Him? Will you take the field in his
strength? Will you walk in His victory?
“WE ARE AT WAR”
For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Eph 6:12
“Many who think that
though they are doing no actual work for Christ, they are yet on His side, are
enabling the enemy to preoccupy ground and gain advantages. By their failure to
be diligent workers for the Master, by leaving duties undone and words
unspoken, they have allowed Satan to gain control of souls who might have been
won for Christ” (Christ’s Object Lessons, 280).
“We are at war” Those were my words when my friend Oliver
and his mom(1) asked me how things are going out here at the school. The
reaction on their faces made me smile and I hastened an explanation. It is a
war for hearts and minds: a war for loyalty, for character reform.
Recently, all the girls had to wait
outside of their dormitory while the dean and a couple of other teachers
searched for over 250 bolivianos that had been stolen from several different
girls. Part of the money was found tucked in between the rolls of toilet paper
in a different room. No one would admit to the wrong. We all had our suspicions, however. One of
the top suspects was a young lady, I’ll call her Shirley, who we have been
trying to help overcome habits of lying and stealing for the last two years.
The most recent incident was this year when some of her classmates noticed that
she arrived this year with a book from the library in her possession. When they
asked her about it she claimed that some missionaries had given it to her. To
confirm the story she showed a personal message in the front of the book: “To
Shirley, from Clint and Helen” Unfortunately for Shirley, her handwriting is
unmistakable, as well as the fact that the message was written on page two, and
one could clearly see where the first page of the book, (the one that had the
library card and seal on it) had been torn out. To top off the botched
cover-up, Clint’s wife’s name is Mindy—Helen is another missionary that served
here a few years ago! Because of that, and several other reasons, Shirley was a
top suspect concerning the missing money. She knew that as well, and,
unbeknownst to us, sent a message to her father telling him that she was being
falsely accused of theft and that one of the teachers had insulted her and told
her she should never have come to school and would he please come get her as
soon as possible because she didn’t want to be here anymore! Within the hour
her father arrived, letter in hand, wanting to know if it was true. But the
director and most of the students, including Shirley were out harvesting rice,
and since the father had other engagements to attend, we arranged to have a
meeting that evening. In the meantime we met with Shirley. We prayed with her,
and reminded her that we love her and want to help, and that we are very
worried about the choices she is making. I shared the story of Achan from
Joshua chapter 7 as well as a personal story about having to confess for
cheating on a test. We confronted her about the letter she had sent to her dad,
and asked her, name by name, which teacher had insulted her, or told her she
should never have come here. Shirley hung her head and admitted that she had
invented the story. We also pointed out that there had been no formal
accusations against her, and the only reason she had been questioned more than
some was because of her own past choices. At this point Shirley changed her
story and said she now wanted to stay until the problem was resolved so that
she could be a good influence for whichever girl had stolen the money so that
that girl could see that it is possible to change.
“That’s wonderful Shirley that you
say you want to be a good example, but if that is truly the case, what you need
to do is start by making amends for stealing the book from the library. You
should make restitution for the book and you should apologize to your roommates
and any other girls who know what you did for the bad example that you gave
them.”
I wish I could say that Shirley has
truly turned over a new leaf, but she remained unwilling to even apologize for
her lies and for the stolen book. The day after our meeting she decided to go
home. We continue to pray for her, that God will touch her heart and give her
the strength to make amends and break the bad habits that she has already
formed at such a young age.
In the search for the stolen money,
the dean and teachers discovered that theft was not the only problem in the
girls’ dorm. Several of the girls had in their possession occultist drawings,
images, and music. One of the girls, we’ll call her Jasmine told us that during
the vacation her best friend had given her much of the material. Jasmine said she wanted to witness to her
friend, but whenever she tried, her friend made fun of her and changed the
subject. Apparently the witnessing happened the other way around. Several
nights ago, Jasmine asked her roommate Karen to pray for her as she felt
overwhelmed by a pervading sense of fear. Shortly afterward, both girls felt an
evil presence, and Jasmine’s suitcase began to move back and forth across the
room, apparently of its own accord.
Karen prayed again, and told
Jasmine that if there was anything in that suitcase that she shouldn’t have she
had better get rid of it. As the dean
told me the story I began to understand why Jasmine had seemed so dark and
somber these first few weeks of classes and why she has not wanted to pray or
sing.
Providentially, just a few days
before, Teacher Min had shared her personal testimony of how Satan had harassed
her, untying the curtains in her room and lifting them out perpendicular to the
wall and oppressing her with a dark, choking presence. Min recognized that it
was because she had been unwilling to give up a bad relationship with a young
man who was involved in all kinds of evil stuff that the devil had access to
harass her. When she finally broke off
the relationship after resisting the pleadings of her conscience for a whole
year, she was tested one more time, and after that the oppressive
manifestations ceased.
Praise God, Jasmine took this
experience as a wake-up call and has gotten rid of all of her satanic pictures
and music and has begun to pray again. We continue to pray with her and for her
and her friends. We as staff took it as a wake-up call as well. We need to come
together more in prayer, we need to search our own hearts and be sure that we
leave no portal open for the enemy. We must give Christ the whole house, not
just one of the back bedrooms.
Please pray for us here. This work
is too big for us. Every time I stop to reflect on it I am amazed how God is
willing to risk his reputation with me, to let me represent him, to call me to
be a co-laborer with Christ for the salvation of souls! He could do this work
so much better himself, or with his angelic host. But he chooses to use me!
(1.)
I made friends with Oliver and his family the
year before last. Oliver approached me in the market and wanted to practice
English. We struck up a conversation and he introduced me to his parents who
keep an office-supply store, and they invited me to lunch. We have had many
interesting conversations about spiritual things and they have come to visit us
several times at the school. They are very kind and giving people, and I pray
that God can use our friendship to draw them to a full commitment to Him.
