God works in mysterious ways. Three Fridays ago, He sent my friend, Colette, out on a mission. She began her trip thinking she was going to visit an old friend on the other side of town. When she got to the area, she became disoriented by the maze of paths through the patchwork fields. But, at each fork in the trail, a voice told her which way to go. Knowing God was leading her somewhere for a purpose, she followed. At one point, someone asked her where she was going. She told them honestly that she didn’t know.

Colette finally stopped at a house. The family asked her what she wanted, and she said she had brought the word of God. They didn’t act very interested.

As she was standing there wondering what to do, a man came running up to her and invited her to his house. He said he and his wives wanted to hear the word of God. Colette set an appointment to meet with them the next evening, then she returned home. At church that evening, she asked me to go with her to start these meetings. I was glad to.

Sabbath evening, Colette and I bumped over the fields and navigated the twisting paths until we arrived at the house. The man wasn’t there yet, but chairs were set up in the courtyard, so we knew the family had remembered we were coming. We sat down on a log under a tree next to the house to pray and collect our thoughts. I had prepared to teach the story of creation.

Finally, the man arrived. He had been invited to work in a field and had just finished. He quickly called everyone together, and we started. It was a very nice meeting, though I didn’t talk too long since I knew the man must be hungry after working in the field. We agreed to meet again on Sunday morning the next week before I had to be at the church for Pathfinders.

After a chilling motorcycle ride through the cold morning air, we returned to the man’s home at 7. on Sunday morning. We sang and prayed together; then we shared the story of the Garden of Eden and the two trees, ending with Satan’s encounter with Eve.

“It’s true what she said,” one family member commented. “I have read it myself in the Bible.”

“Colette has very good Ditammari,” another noted. “Of course, she went to Ditammari school.” (Colette and I had a good laugh over that one on the way home. She isn’t Ditammari and she’s never been to any school, but God has given her the gift of languages.)

The family also complained that our meeting had ended too soon. “Good,” I thought. “That means they’re interested and will come back for more.”

This last Friday, I wasn’t feeling very well, and neither was Colette. By Sabbath morning, I was much worse and had a fever, but I decided to go to church anyway. By the afternoon, I was even worse. I told Colette that I’d call her if couldn’t go with her to the Bible study Sunday morning. That evening, I told God I believed He wanted me to go and that this sickness was Satan’s way of trying to keep us from telling the family more about him and how he led humanity into sin. I asked God for just two hours of relief so we could have the Bible study.

That night, I was up every hour with diarrhea and chills. But when I popped awake at 6 a.m., my stomach didn’t hurt. I still had a fever of 101.5°F, but I felt strong enough to get up. I bundled up and got on my motorcycle. Sending up a prayer for strength, I went to pick up Colette. God had healed her, too!

We found the family still sleeping, but they got up and set out the chairs. As we sang, other people began to trickle in. The family told us they had gone throughout the neighborhood and invited everyone. However, there had been a party the previous night, and almost everyone was still sleeping. (Satan had been at work on their end, too.)

We started, and I continued the story. As I spoke, I could feel my strength ebbing, and was getting colder and colder. But I prayed for strength and was able to finish.

As we drove home, I kept getting colder. My house was closer than Colette’s, so we stopped there. I was shaking so badly I couldn’t continue to her home. Colette took a motorcycle taxi home, and I bundled myself up and lay down. It took me two hours to warm up. I later went to the hospital and was diagnosed with malaria and another infection. I am almost well now.

This morning, Colette came over and told me about the dream she had last night. She dreamed that Satan wanted to kill me, but God had forbidden him. In her dream, there was a demon sitting on my back, but holy angels chased it away.

Praise be to our God! He has won the victory over Satan, and He is our protection and shield. We have entered enemy territory, and Satan is not happy. But our God is stronger. Please continue to pray for us.

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