Time of Testing

Please pray for the leadership team in Marabá. We had a great phone call with them yesterday. During these two weeks since we left enemy is testing the boundary lines. Chelsea is sleeping at our house, “the house of peace and blessing.” She is having nightmares, something very unusual for her. The church itself is very sad since our girls have left, and going through withdrawals. There is a sense of a dark cloud over the chácara. Ivanildo and Monica started an early morning prayer meeting on Tuesdays and Thursday. Things are starting to look brighter. I said I would ask for more prayer.

When we left for a week in March a large group of drunks (about 30 people) started crossing through our property to go to the river, drinking and rowdy as they walked. They stopped by the church building on the way by and threatened the youth there, “We are going to start using this property for a shortcut whenever we want.” Their leader is a big guy, waving a machete around. This happened two or three times during the five days Deanna and I were attending a conference in another city. At the same time another group of people smashed down the brick wall on a nearby lot. They were planning to invade it and take it over. The police came and threw some of them in jail for awhile. Some of our church people were involved in this attempted land grab.

After I returned everything calmed down almost instantly. I bought three padlocks for the gates. Then I went to the locksmith and got him to change the “secrets” of the locks, so they all opened with the same key. I walked down to the river where the drunks were. Friendly waves back and forth. I did this a a few times. I went over to where the invaders were to hear their story. They understood this particular land had no title, and therefore was public domain. The judge ruled differently. It all blew over. They went home. The owner rebuilt his wall. One day on the street one of the drunks apologized to me for walking through our property uninvited. I was so surprised.

I am not surprised that Ivanildo and Monica, Aline and Chelsea are once again experiencing times of testing. Living in Marabá we often feel like we are camped on the edge of a crisis or disaster. At the same time we always feel safe. May God grant Ivanildo and Monica this same sense of His presence all around them, and make them aware of the authority He has given them. May they see people as God sees them. May they not be discouraged by all the junk, but may their hearts rejoice at each little victory in the lives of those they are influencing.