We had a great trip to Namibia. I thank God for his protection and provision for our team of eighteen. I got to accompany our missionary friend, John Hunter, as he went to the doctor to get final results of a bone marrow biopsy. John does not have multiple myeloma, but a similar though less aggressive cancer called Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia. According to the medical community, this disease, which causes a thickening of the blood, is incurable but treatable. John and Suzanne will probably travel to Cape Town, South Africa soon to meet with a specialist. Their son, Christian, is a doctor at the Harvard School of Medicine so there is much investigation taking place in the States too. I know the Hunter family treasures all prayers.
One of the assignments our team was given this year was to intercede for the children and teachers of Community Hope School located in an area of the capitol called Katutura. This large section of Windhoek is a township where non-whites were forced to move in the late 1950′s. Apartheid still impacts many inhabitants of South Africa and Namibia. Katutura, meaning “a place where we will never settle,” is known for poverty, disease, and hopelessness. But the Light of Jesus shines brightly in all places where God’s servants pour out the Father’s love. Suzanne told us that a couple of weeks before our arrival the devil had been active in bringing fear and unrest to the young students in their school. Satanists had left evidence on the property of proclaimed curses and demonic manifestations had caused many of the children to be afraid. Suzanne’s words to our team were a bit strange to us Americans, but the spiritual world is very real in most sections of Africa. Witch doctors, sacrifices, and graven images are common in various pagan religions. Suzanne asked that we participate in spiritual warfare by walking through the neighborhood while praying for God’s will to be done. She wrote out Scriptures for us to pray as we walked. In the afternoons, our teenagers and adults trekked courageously through an unfamiliar part of the world praying for the lost, for children, for the hurting, and for all Christians in the area.
At the end of the week, I joined John and five natives of Namibia to intercede specifically for the teachers, students, and friends of Community Hope School. During this time, prayers were offered for John and me and our families. This was a very humbling experience as I found myself in a circle of brothers and sisters praying in languages I did not understand with a love that can only be found in Christ. It is even more humbling to realize that as we intercede for others, Jesus himself intercedes for us. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)
I want to thank all who prayed for us the past couple of weeks. As usual, I felt great while out of the country. On these trips, I sense more than ever the wonders of the Kingdom. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. The Holy Spirit is our Intercessor and Counselor. God is our perfect Father. If He is for us, who can be against us?
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Romans 8:26-27 (read the whole chapter!)