Full Frontal Attack

If you have been even a casual follower of this blog you will have noticed that I have not posted anything here for 10 days.  That is the longest, by far, that I have missed writing here.  There were several reasons.

I am getting ready for a trip to a country that is hostile to Christianity.  I will be working for several days with leaders of underground churches there.  Then a few days later I will be helping with a family Bible camp.  Further, in between those meetings there may be an opportunity to meet with another leader which may expand opportunities in that land.

During preparation for trips like this there is always resistance.  The enemy is not pleased with this type of invasion of his territory.  You know the passages John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8.  In the past the resistance has been mostly temptation, this time, it has been physical.

It started about three weeks ago.  There was what I thought was a pimple on my neck.  Over the last couple of weeks it grew into a spherical abscess with the diameter of a quarter.  Then I found out that I needed surgery on my bladder.  All of that came together last week.

I found out on Monday that what I thought was an infected hair, was a brown recluse spider bite.  I had begun taking antibiotics on the previous Friday, but the pain was such that I was prescribed a mild pain killer.  I do not get along very well with pain killers.  I was in a fog.  Thursday the surgery was scheduled and during the pre-op the surgeon took a look at my neck and told me that it needed to be cleaned out.  He told my wife after the surgery that the infection was worse than he had thought and I would have to stay in the hospital an extra night.  They were going to pump me full of antibiotics to prevent the infection from spreading to the bladder.

I have never reacted to medicine.  Friday evening I did.  Every time they hung an antibiotic I broke out on my arms and legs.  It did not matter what they hung, I broke out.

I was released late Saturday but did not get rid of all of the surgical accouterments until yesterday morning.  So for the past week I have been in a pharmaceutically induced fog.  I did not trust that anything I might write would make any sense…

When I got home from the hospital there was a letter on my desk informing me that one of our largest donors would no longer support the ministry...

I am back today working on prep for the trip.  Normally, this is a joy and it just flows.  Not this time.  I feel continually blocked and resisted.

If you are so inclined and think about it.  Please pray that the enemy would be bound away from this prep time and I would be able to get the material assembled, translated, and printed.

If the resistance is any indication.  This is an important trip.