Hello everyone,
I haven’t written in a little bit and things have been so crazy. First off, we are in Peru for a second month straight because Bolivia was in civil unrest and not safe for us to get into. We are with a different ministry host called Calvary Chapel in Cusco, Peru. They are an amazing couple who started a church here about 5 years ago. They have done an amazing job at growing their church and being an example of Jesus throughout their community! With this all being said, I want to talk about the realities of spiritual warfare with you guys!
Spiritual warfare is very real and I’ve seen it first hand a couple times this early in my race! I never really experienced much spiritual warfare in the United States if I’m honest. Our ministry host had some spiritual warfare as soon as we got here. They had some accusations against their church that were completely false and got blown out of proportion fast. Also, I have experienced spiritual warfare myself. I currently have my second bacterial infection in a month. Also, in between my first one and second one I had salmonella that turned into typhoid fever. I’ve spent days and nights in the hospital and have taken many different antibiotics. The past month I have finished my antibiotic treatment and been healthy for like 3-5 days and then had symptoms of another infection. I’m not going to lie to you it’s pretty crappy feeling sick after meals and just a majority of days. It has also caused me to miss ministry, which kind of has drained my spirits.
My team has been awesome through all of this by praying for me, encouraging me, and just being there for me. We have prayed many times and it is a constant battle, but thankfully we are on the winning side. Also, honestly I have been asking God why I have gotten sick so many times and been unable to do things for him. However, he answered pretty quickly and I realized spiritual warfare happens to people who God is using to further his kingdom. God is always winning the war and he is on my side, does that mean I won’t get sick? No, but it does mean the Devil is attacking me to try and disrupt what God is doing. God is so powerful though that he uses this war to further his glory and does amazing things through the sickness and afterwards. How cool is that, no matter how hard the Devil tries to disrupt he ends up just enabling God to further his kingdom and bring glory to his name!
I hope this encourages anybody who is currently experiencing spiritual warfare. Do not let your hope and spirits get down, because God is moving and is going to use you to bring glory to his name. Also, know that you are on the winning side of the war and the Devil is only attacking you because God is using you in amazing ways!
Much love,
Zach
