Some basics for those of you just now dropping in: My sister and I are on an 11-month Christian mission trip to 11 different countries across 4 continents. We’re headed to: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cambodia, and Thailand. The work will range from country to country in partnership with established ministries in each area.
It’s month 2. My team is in Mendoza, Argentina.
We’re working with a YWAM base.
Welcome to BLOGATHON. I haven’t had any WiFi in Argentina, so I need to play catch up. You’ll be getting five updates tonight. Prepare for the fourth and final Chile blog and all four Argentina posts. Enjoy! Next stop: Bolivia!
BLOGATHON 3/5: NIGHT WATCH, A GOSISGO CO-BLOG
We’re staying at a mission base outside of Mendoza in a poor neighborhood. It’s All Squad Month, so all seven teams of seven are here.
One the day we arrived, we were told never to walk anywhere without a male escort. Later that night, a few of our squadmates reported that they saw an armed man walking the premises, guarding our base.
It isn’t until later that we discover the need for all these precautions. One of the locals explains that almost next-door to the mission base there’s a place called “King’s Club.” The exclusive club sits down a dusty dirt road passed a massive garbage heap full of lean-to homes.
It’s a brothel staffed by trafficked women and children. Guarded with machine guns, the building services only the most VIP members of a gang.
The local woman tells Miranda that when the poor families are indebted to the mob, they’ll send their daughters to “work off” their debts.
It’s horrifying.
MIRANDA:
The first week we arrived, I experienced a spiritual attack in the middle of the night.
I prayed it away in the name of Jesus, but I still felt very disturbed in my spirit.
Then, a week later, it happened again. I recognized it to be the same spiritual attack and commanded the enemy to leave in Jesus’s name.
He did. Suddenly, God revealed to me that the spiritual darkness was coming from the brothel next-door. He showed me a vision of my squad of 50 World Racers in battle-mode, praying against this evil. I saw my teammates sitting up in their bunks, in unison commanding “Get out!” I heard The Lord say, “Put on your armor.”
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
SARAH:
My team was having a rough month. Thanksgiving had been hard. Other things had been harder. We were having nightmares, falling into struggles. Three members of our team were sick.
At the end of a particularly hard team time, we were out of ideas. “We’re having a really rough time,” I say. “And we’re already praying about it. Is there something else we could be doing?”
One of my teammates suggests a night watch. The World Race had taught us this at training camp. In shifts, your squad stays up through the night to pray. And it just so happens to be All Squad Month.
We told our leaders about it during lunch, and they suggest we hold the night watch on Sunday, in two days.
That morning, I woke up exhausted. It had been a very trying two days for our team. I went to one of my teammates. “Do you feel like organizing it?” I asked. “I am so over it,” she responded. I laughed. “Let’s just call it off. Getting a good night’s sleep will probably be the best thing for us.”
Miranda had told me something about her vision that morning. I walked over to tell her that we were calling off the night watch.
MIRANDA:
My initial response was confusion. I didn’t understand. “Exhausted?” I asked her. She said yes, that her entire team was just physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted. I felt a little bit of defeat but an even stronger spirit of determination. “Sarah, we have to do this.” Reluctantly, she agreed to talk to her team.
Later that afternoon, a sign was posted on the wall saying “Night Watch: Two racers every 30 minutes, starting at 12 AM and ending at 7 AM.”
The slots quickly filled as our squadmates eagerly signed up, ready to go into battle mode for the country we’ve been called to serve.
Prayer requests began pouring in as well. “I’ve also been having night terrors. I can’t sleep.” Prayers for sick team members and struggling family members back home. I write out the story of the brothel.
SARAH:
3:30 AM
When my alarm went off I was so confused. Oh yeah, night watch. I walked downstairs and into the prayer room. The original plan was to pray outside but the mosquitos are killer.
I was Jenny’s relief, but she hadn’t seen me yet. She had her headphones in and the prayer request sheet in front of her. Her hands were raised and her lips moving quickly in petition.
As I stood watching her, I felt the weight of my disobedience. I was tired? I was emotionally drained? I was pressed spiritually? How feeble my excuses felt in that moment. What we were doing was so important, maybe the most important ministry of our entire month.
Megan was my partner for the 3:30 slot, and she walked in, groggy but determined. We sat side by side, interceding for brothels and stomachaches.
MIRANDA:
4 AM
Katie and I shook ourselves awake and walked to the tiny room that had quickly become the “war room.” We took the list of prayer requests and prayed over each. We read the psalms out loud as petitions. We commanded the enemy to leave and never come back.
I felt so much peace. I heard in my heart that the battle was not ours. We were just the tools. We were the servants. We were warriors in the Lord’s army.
I slept soundly, knowing that my squadmates would be interceding throughout the night.
We may never know the all the results of our night watch. The power of prayer ripples out. We do know one thing for certain.
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
He will complete the good work He started during night watch. This, like so many other things on the Race, is a faith walk. We act as his obedient servants despite our weariness and excuse, despite not seeing all the fruit of our efforts. We just obey. We trust in him to complete his good works.
