The invasion

The sudden event was our host web server first crashing and then taken down. Some person or group from China hacked this server by severely bombarding it. I doubt it has anything to do with our website, although many Chinese have downloaded many BFF resources–94 gigabytes in March alone (which is a great amount of material), second only to those in America. It was difficult to simply sit back and hope for the best. Fortunately, it was repaired quickly, and hopefully it will not happen again.

Tax papers

The second problem has been ongoing since last June. I have been trying, yes, and far too slowly, to resolve the revocation of our tax exempt status. Whether or not the revocation was right or wrong, weeks of time have been diverted to that task. Yesterday, about 134 pages later, I am finished. This should be added to the list of books I have penned!

Holed up

I felt trapped, caged in, gripped by lack of productivity, detours and troubles. I had to work these things through in prayer, especially in light of the fact that I will be teaching on the sovereignty of God this coming Sunday. Is God really in control? Why doesn't He do something about this? I had to humble myself and admit my doubts in His perfect care and control of the affairs of my life and ministry.

I was somewhat encouraged by thinking about others, like the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul or the difficulties Jesus faced from those who opposed Him. What helped me break out of this demise of spirit was the fact that God is so sovereign and caring that He is able to redeem lost time and resources for His glorious purposes. The Lord is able to bring a greater good than otherwise possible. These things do not frustrate Him nor should they hinder my trust in Him.

God's teachings

I thank the Lord for His encouraging Word during my quiet time. "And he said, "Thus says the LORD, 'Make this valley full of trenches. For thus says the LORD, 'You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts'" (2 Kings 3:16-17).

The very same water that was used to quench the thirst of the parched army was also used as bait to lure the enemy unaware into the camp of the Israelites where they suffered a devastating defeat. The Israelites first had to dig the holes or trenches before they were miraculously filled.

Sometimes we will be paralyzed, put out of commission or on hold, but we need not fear. God is able to use these times, not only to train us in patience and perseverance, but to look to Him to redeem these situations for His greater purposes.

Praise!

• Praise the Lord that two (Amharic 'Reaching Beyond Mediocrity' and Chichewa 'Building a Great Marriage') out of the four videos series have been produced, uploaded and prepared on Libraries. God's abounding grace!

• No allergy problems yet this season! Amazing. So refreshing to sit in the sun without sneezing my head off!

• Thankful for extra grace for recent sermons and teaching.

• Especially glad that I could get through the tax exempt nightmare and finish up the rough draft yesterday.

Pray!

• My computer's 2 terabyte hard drive is full. I need to take files off and put them on other backups. Pray that I would not misplace files! My creative memory is replacing my permanent memory.

• Determination and discipline to complete the next two series in the following two weeks.

• Speaking on God's sovereignty on April 29th. Last class for this session.

• Rev. Godstime's father died. He cared for and taught 60 pre-school children, half of them orphans. That Nigerian ministry now has no one to care for it.

• Insight into how to integrate the philosophy and practice of discipleship into Christian training, formal and otherwise.

• Guidance to which exact ministries to work alongside during our next overseas trip. Right now I plan to go to the Philippines in the fall.

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