In a favorite Bible story of mine, the king of Syria is warring against the king of Israel (2 Kings 6). The king of Syria is very displeased because the prophet Elisha is telling the king of Israel all his troop movements and battle plans, so he orders his army to surround Dothan and take Elisha captive. When Elisha’s servant sees the Syrian army surrounding the city, Elisha tells him not to panic because there are more soldiers on their side than against them. Elisha prays that the servant’s eyes would be opened that he might see the spirit world, and the Lord gives him the ability to see that the whole mountain was covered with an army of fire—heavenly angels sent by God to protect them.
As a missionary about to enter service for my Lord, this story brings me peace. I know I will have an angel escort as I do my work of sharing the Gospel. I recognize Jesus is asking my wife and me to work in a territory and in villages claimed by the Devil and his demons. They have used human resistance, animal attacks, sickness, weather, discouragement, marital conflict, and even death to stop God’s missionaries. So I choose to practice and claim James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
My prayer is that God will not only keep us safe in Papua New Guinea but that He will open my eyes to see His supernatural works among the Ama people in transforming them from animistic devil worshipers to loving Christians!

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