Dogs run the streets of San Juan like the rats own the streets of Chicago. Every night, at least twice, the pack of stray and wild dogs works it’s way past our homes. For the next day, our whole squad of 53 is living together and worshipping, growing, and ministering to one another.
Last night, they parked out in front of the girls house for about two hours.
Before I go on, I need to point out some background. Spiritual warfare is a real and physical reality. Rachel arrived a few days after the rest of our squad, and for our first lunch we ate Empanadas in the park. They were delicious, but as the seven of team spectacle ate, a man possessed by a demon began to circle us and pray curses upon us from Satan.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
We prayed for the children in the park he was also cursing, praying for Christ’s blessings to supercede this man’s curses. God told me to pray for him, and in Spanish. He told me to pray “En el nombre de Jesu Cristo, salida.” Basically, “get out.” I went and laid hands on him, prayed for him in Spanish, and felt like a failure when he walked away laughing at me.
But God revealed to me that he was pleading for my obedience at that moment, not my victory, or I would have had it.
With that background, we prayed for the block around our house. We asked for protection from the night terrors tormenting several of our girls. We sanctified through prayer the homes. Within minutes, a man was standing at our fence. He didn’t belong there.
For three days now, he has been trying to get into the girls house. So last night, to protect them I slept out front. For two hours, they barked and kept me awake. They were so obnoxious, and I prayed for at least an hour that the Lord would get rid of this curse. Eventually they did, but it was at this moment that the man we had been chasing away made an attempt to get into the girls house, jumping the fence into their yard,
God taught me that night that I look his gracious gifts in the face and reject them too often. I mistake the good for evil. What I saw in the dogs as a curse, he had prepared to keep me awake and attentive for the protection of our girls.
He also taught me what it meant to be a shepherd. I sat watching, willing to risk my life in exchange for the lives of my squad – which is a promise I definitely do not take lightly. I’m called to shepherd a flock eventually. And I will, with the strength God provides, dependant on his provisions!
