Peligroso!

Sometimes we can get to a place where we feel lulled into a sense of well-being and safety, and we believe that everything is sunshine and daisies.

Other times, the evil around us rears its ugly head and we begin to feel that darkness lurks at every turn.

Lately we've been inundated with stories of rapes, attacks and robberies. I can feel the enemy of fear crouching at my door, wanting to engulf me in terror. Fear is an old enemy, and one I know well. It was my constant companion from my late teens until my mid-30's. I am so thankful that the Lord has delivered me from this overwhelming, all-consuming fear!

In the past two weeks there has been a rise of violent attacks, particularly against women. Almost daily we are hearing about something that has happened to people we know. This past Friday night, one of the girls here on the base was taking a tuk-tuk home at about 7 pm when the driver pulled a gun on her. She began screaming and then jumped out of the tuk-tuk and ran into traffic waving her arms. As the tuk-tuk turned around she fled into the bushes and hid, calling some friends from her cell. Thank you Jesus that she had the wherewithal to do what she did and that God was with her and helped her get away safely!

As you can imagine, this has caused us all to have our guard up, and even to be jumpy and suspicious. We don't want fear to rule us, yet we want to be safe and use wisdom.

I don't want to spawn fear, but I do want you to be aware of what has been going on so you can be praying for us and for the people here...

- in the past month another coffee shop has been robbed 3 times by gunmen who come in and steal the customers computers, purses and backpacks. No one has been hurt, thankfully.

- 10 days ago two girls were accosted by 3 men and raped.

- another girl was attacked from behind, but was able to fend off her attacker by screaming and using pepper spray; however, her keys (which were in her other hand) were stolen.

- yesterday a couple was walking down a street in the morning when a man stepped in front of them and blocked their path, while another man came up behind them. They stood up to the men and were able to get past safely.

These are some of the stories from just recently - as I said, there seems to be a spike in this kind of activity, at least from my perspective. Of course, one story seems to beget other stories until that is all people are talking about, so it is important not to let it get too big in our minds. As one woman reminded me today - we serve a Big God!

Please pray for us that God will give us wisdom and discernment. Please pray for our safety, and the safety of the other women and staff here. Please pray that the coffee shop would be invisible to those who might want to cause harm. Please pray for the safety of our belongings that they would not be stolen. Please pray that if violence does rise up against us that God would show us the way out and give us the strength to act. Please pray for us to be in the peace of God and that fear would not overtake us.

Thank you for your prayers - they are powerful weapons against the schemes of the enemy!!! This is the time of year that the enemy wants to come out and cause chaos and confusion...but we can stand against this in the powerful name of Jesus under whom all demons must flee! We must remember that 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 (Eph. 6:12).