Struggles and victories

Many thanks to everyone who has sent us e-mails last week; it encouraged us so much that you stand with us. Yes, we had to change our plans drastically and unexpectedly. After all the setbacks of the past weeks Johan all of a sudden woke up with a big knee. According to the doctors it could be a bacterial arthritis, a serious condition if it is not treated appropriately and quickly. So last Saturday he was rushed to the operating room, where the inside of the joint of his knee was cleaned. For the next few days he had to stay in the hospital and was on strong intravenous antibiotics.

So our trip to Haiti had to be postponed; we couldn’t go last Monday. Then to top it off, on Tuesday Johan woke up with a severe eye infection. He has ankylosing spondylitis, so that flared up as well. Wednesday he was released from the hospital with lots of medicines and with blood tests, and doctor’s visits marked for Thursday and Friday. We really hoped and prayed to be able to travel to Haiti on the next Monday, but also understood it depended now on the health of Johan, which we put in God's hands. We told each other, “He knows what is best for us, our life is dedicated to Him. If He wants us to go to Haiti he will also make it possible”.

Many people wrote us to say that they believed we were encountering a great spiritual resistance because of our plans to go to Haiti. It is a fact that 200 years ago in Haiti, some mighty men high up in the government, made public pacts with demonic forces. But Johan was personally present in Haiti this year, when exactly one month after the earthquake, a 3 day service was held on the square before the presidential palace. Hundreds of thousands of people came together to fast and pray, to break the demonic bonds, and to enter into a new time where Haiti will be dedicated to the Lord.

Yes there is spiritual warfare going on and there is lots I don’t understand, but one scripture comes to my mind. It is where the Lord Jesus tells Peter (Simon) about his prayer in Luke 22:31: “Simon Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith might not fail.” It surprises me that Jesus did not pray that Simon would be spared from the attack; He did not tell satan to stop. No, He prayed so Simon’s faith might not fail. So that’s how we want people to pray for us, and how we pray ourselves: “Help us Lord so our faith might not fail.”

And yes, when we came back for the doctors consult yesterday, one of them told us he had never seen somebody recuperate so fast! Thank you Jesus and thanks to all of you who prayed! We will be travelling on Monday to train young Haitian people in the course that will start the 4th of October!

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Thank you all so very much for your love, care, gifts and prayers! May God richly bless you!