The Battle is the Lord's

It can become very discouraging as we see what is taking place all through out the world.  Our nation is in a state of disarray and is split in half.  In all the brokenness and evil that surrounds us, we must remember THAT THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S (1Sa 17:47)!

In 2 Chronicles 14 we see this same theme, where the Ethiopian army of 1,000,000 men was advancing towards Israel, whose army was about half the size.  Righteous King Asa cried out to the Lord "O Lord, no one but You can help the powerless against the mighty!  Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You alone.  It is in Your name that we have come against this vast horde.  O Lord, You are our God; do not let mere men prevail against You!"  The Ethiopian army clashed with King Asa and the army of Judah, but “the Lord routed the Ethiopians and they fled” (2Ch 14:12). King Asa and his men pursued and plundered the Ethiopian army that day! Let us not be moved to fear at the roar of the enemy that seems to be all around us. Let us boldly put our trust in Jesus!

1 Peter 5:8 (NASB)  Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  The devil roars “like” a roaring lion, but Jesus, whom we serve, is the Lion of the tribe of Judah! Let us trust in Him! Faith releases the grace of God, His operational power, to do what we cannot.

What's Happening in WACA

An Update from Chip & Kathy

We were planning to hold a WACA-wide team meeting in Togo next month, but due to the lock-down in West and Central Africa (WACA) from the Wuhan, China originated flu, we are postponing it to a time yet to be determined. Although we are sad that this meeting has been postponed, we are thankful for ZOOM and the ability to encourage our team in real time, while seeing them face to face! 

As many of you know, we had two Leadership Development Academies from early March to early May, but closed airports and country borders in WACA resulted in us being responsible for the accommodations of 21 of these students beyond the end of their training for several months. We praise God that we have only two more students to get home at this time. Ground travel in Africa is difficult to begin with; throw in a pandemic with closed borders, etc., and one can imagine the added difficulty in traveling across 4 countries to get home. We are thankful that the Lord has protected each one of our team members.

One of the two that remains in Nigeria developed acute appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed. Lucas is from Bissau, Guinea Bissau. Knowing the medical system in Guinea Bissau, it is very likely that if he had been there instead of Nigeria, he would have died from appendicitis. God works ALL things together for GOOD to those who love Him and are called according to HIS purpose (Rom 8:28). Thank the Lord with us for the 21 who have safely returned home to their families, and trust God with us to get these last two home safely. Please also pray for our Guinea Bissau lead coordinator, Daniel, to get home from Brazil as soon as possible. He has been there for more than six months. Please pray also for his wife, Carolina and children, who miss their papa!

In the midst of this “shutdown” in WACA, we have found that some of our coordination teams have even been expanding, as in Central African Republic (CAR) where no lock-down occurred other than the airport being shut. Others have altered their strategies to do training and outreach within the scope they are allowed to travel, such as in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Even though a majority of our schools across the region stopped for a period of time, many are back up and running and many others are preparing to do so. This pandemic and the difficulty in travel that is likely in the foreseeable future there only makes Live School a more valuable tool for pastors in WACA to train there people holistically! We are already seeing that, with some pastors refusing to wait for a group of facilitators to be trained, demanding us to train them without delay. As Willie Crew often says, “In the midst of chaos, look for the harvest!”  THE HARVEST IS AMONG US! As the borders begin to relax, we believe we need to “have our seat belts buckled,” because of how vast the harvest is and how fast it needs to be gathered!

Thank you for helping to pray Justin home from the Republic of Congo. I was with him in Democratic Republic of Congo until I flew to Nigeria and he crossed the river to Congo-Brazzaville on March 19. In mid-June (3 months later), he finally gave up on a promised repatriation flight that never came and traveled all the way home to N’djamena, Chad by ground. After 5 days of rigorous travel, he finally was reunited with his beautiful wife Maimouna and his children. Justin helps us by overseeing the work the Lord is doing through Sonrise in Central Africa. In addition, he has a Bible Training Center that is now run by some of his disciples, which he has had for more than 20 years. He also has a primary school that meets at the same venue and now has a high school in another location. The students are all Muslim. They have regular bible classes in both. This man is forever reaching out.

While he was away, the principals of the schools told the teachers they would pay them for the 3 months they were closed down because of the Wuhan, China virus. They had no authority to do this. What a firestorm Justin came home to! After much deliberation, he has agreed to pay the teachers one month’s wages (24 teachers x $280/mo = $6,720). I felt lead to put this in our newsletter to help him and give you an opportunity to sow into his ministry to reach the Muslim youth in Chad with Christ. Please ask the Lord what He wants you to give to meet this pressing need. If the Lord prompts you to sow into these schools, please be sure to designate “Chad-school.” This will enable us to identify how much to send him as a conduit of your blessing.  GIVE HERE or mail in your gift to the address below. 

Together, we are making a difference in WACA!

God bless,

Chip & Kathy

Would you like to be a part of what Sonrise is doing throughout WACA?  Find out how you can get involved!

**We have created links below to help give a greater perspective as to what the ministries mentioned above actually do.

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