"This Is War"

Our pastor showed this video (see below), entitled "This Is War", at the beginning of his sermon today. It is VERY powerful. Please take the time to watch it. Although it seems this video is talking specifically about reaching the lost with the Gospel, I couldn't help but think of the very real battle that each family faces as they set out to adopt a child. The evil one has had such a stronghold over Communist and now post-Communist countries that he gets ticked off when families seek to rescue one of these children that he wants to see rot away in an institution. Do you think I'm kidding?  Just ask families that have started the adoption process.  There is a running "joke" that goes something like this: "You know you are adopting when...the car breaks down, when the car has a flat tire, when your basement floods, when your most expensive appliances need to be replaced, when your car is smashed up, etc"...the list goes on and on. But these are the "easy" things...the physical things.

The emotional attack is heavy too, especially that brought on by the gov't of Elijah's former country. (And I'm not just talking about blue ink either. :-)) We dealt with that last fall when the threat of "the vote". This vote could have shut down this country to all adoptions. We could have met Elijah and then been sent home. Praise God it didn't happen! God knew! But now, there is a new and very real threat for those families in process of adopting from Elijah's former country.  On April 7th, the president signed into effect a new law that the SDA (State Dept of Adoptions - where we got our referral to meet Elijah) would now be governed by a new ministry. It is now "rumored" that the SDA could shut down in June for up to 3 months while that transfer of power happens!  That is way too long for some (all) of these precious children to wait. But, like I said, it is a rumor. To the best of my knowledge, no one knows for sure how long they will be closed, if at all.  While they are closed, at a minimum, no dossiers will be submitted. It's unknown at this time if families that have their dossiers submitted before that will still be issued appointment dates.  SOOO...that leaves lots for room for GOD to work!

Please join me in going to battle through prayer for the "war" that the evil one is waging against families trying to rescue these children, and the "war" over these children's lives. For some children, a delay of three months could be very detrimental to their health (I'm thinking especially of little ones like Turner and Nathaniel that need urgent surgery). It could also be costly to already financially strapped adoptive families who may need to redo expired documents and resend them over to EE.




Ephesians 6:10-17:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.