Day 12 - Back In Action/ What a Start

Sorry for the delay. We have A LOT of catching up to do. This is a post that I wrote out on the plane on my way in to S. Africa last night. I have spent time typing it out today; so I won't be able to post today's blog until later tonight. We have a lot to talk about....

Looking back to last Thursday, I must explain what I would have done differently. Through my countless interactions with spiritual helpers, God warned me that I would be tested; thus, advising me to “remain focused in Him, and give way to nothing.”
Rather than saying, “Do not give way to certain things in particular”, God told me to give way to “nothing.” This makes so much sense now because, at the start of this trip, I had no clue what to anticipate. I put all of my faith in the idea that God would protect me against the enemy; however, when it came to the little things such as asking God for advanced words of advice on how to speak to people, or praying prior to stepping out, I failed to include God. Caught up in the thrill of unknown beauty that I found in visiting Europe for the first time I became distracted from my communication with God (pastor Banks warned me before I left to “make sure I stayed all prayed up”). Thus, accordingly, the enemy came at me from all sides with weapons drawn; and, I was hit with everything, but the kitchen sink.

My computer died the minute I set foot in my Amsterdam hotel room, and when I went to charge it I realized that i needed a converter plug because European outlets consist of two horizontal plug holes; hence my charger did now work. Likewise, once I was able to get my hands on the proper adapter, I was informed that the hotel did not offer free wireless internet access – you had to purchase an access code. Rather than paying the fee, I assumed that this was a sign from God that I was not to continue my blog until after I had witnessed and experienced Amsterdam; although, at no point, did I ever consult God in the process of developing such an assumption.
All that I wanted was to go out and see everything that the city had to offer. I was aware of how dangerous and how dark the city could be, but, again, I didn’t ask God what He thought of this. Instead, of asking God if it was His time for me to step out, or if He had any words of Wisdom for me to cling on to and use, I sought the adventure in being in a new place and figured that we had enough guys, thus, we would be okay. My teammates and I went and saw some of the most beautiful scenes and heard some of the most beautiful accents; still, in the midst of all the beauty, we were naive about how vulnerable we, actually, were. Moreover, as night fell, God allowed for us to be tested. Our first evening in Amsterdam, my teammates and I encountered what the locals referred to as, “the gypsies”.

We were hanging out in a local park, about a single block from our hotel, when the first gypsy arrived. He was about 5’9” tall and originally from Morocco. At first, we assumed that he was just a lonely old drunkard, looking to make new friends. He was loud and chanting in a language that we could not comprehend. He was funny, at first. He asked each of us where we were from; to which, each of us responded with a name of a random country in Africa. It became a game for us to see just how many names of African countries that we, actually, knew off of the tops of our heads. What is more, each time we would name a country, the man would give us some crazy response such as, “Nigeria! We cut legs off there!”He would then repeat his Moroccan chant, and give each of us this frequent and awkward look, where he would tilt his head back, raise one eyebrow and widen both eyes like it was a Michael Jackson, thriller scene. He was a bizarre individual, but his expressions had us all in stitches, laughing. We indulged in the humor of the situation for about ten minutes before three others showed up. They were his friends – all of them drunk and repeating the same Moroccan chant – and things started to get a bit sketchy.

I made eye contact with each of my teammates, at some point, within the next thirty seconds, and we all knew to stay tight together and to keep our space and watch our pockets. The initial guy continued giving us stares; however, now things were not so funny. It took about fifteen minutes of making no eye contact with the gypsies before they became so distracted within their little group that we were able to get away safely. Later that night, however, my teammate Jacob and I encountered more gypsies on our way back to the hotel, and we were both pick-pocketed. Jacob got his wallet stolen, and I lost my camera.

It wasn’t until morning that I realized I had been robbed. I even remember when and how it happened; however, all I could hear was the Holy Spirit telling me, “I told you that you would be tested. I told you that you would be tested.” Moreover, after considering how I never even sought advice from God, I could not even be mad – what had transpired was my own fault.

At this point, I smartened up and decided to ask God what He meant for me to get out of this situation. I asked Him, “How do I respond to this?” I looked to the story of Jesus, when He encountered Satin in the wilderness. Rather than treating Satin’s temptations on Jesus as weaknesses within his own spiritual construct; rather than trying to ignore Satin, Jesus confronts Satin like a normal human being, taking authority over him through the use of Scripture. Jesus is not afraid; moreover, He is not passive.

Following this model, I decided that the best possible thing for me to do was not to be discouraged. I decided that what God was calling me to do was to engage the enemy, and to lean on Scripture as a way to withstand temptation. And, here is when I even got the kitchen sink thrown at me.

We decided, the next day, to take a stroll down to the Red Light District, and man was Satan’s presence ever felt. There were drug dealers everywhere, trying to sell us cocaine, bouncers trying to lure us into sex shows and countless prostitutes standing in windows, trying to lure us into sex cabins. One lady even labelled us as “the gay parade” when we refused her, as she poked her head outside of her door. We were knee deep in the enemies territory, walking through what was, honestly, the creepiest scene that I have ever been in. All the while we were like magnets – each player had a high regard for the next. Though we were all a bit nervous this might have been the best bonding experience for our team, in that we were truly able to see just how much we all care about each other.

However, through what I encountered in the District, God revealed to me a level of passivity that I was not aware of. I froze up in the midst of such darkness to the point where I became so nervous and paranoid that I could hardly speak. All I wanted to do was leave. We are called to resist Satin; to withstand all attacks of the enemy, using Scripture to verbally claim our victory in the name of Jesus. It has been only a night in South Africa. My teammates and I stepped out only to get a bite to eat; and, already, that the Spirit of the enemy has shown to be even more intense here. I must work to activate the Christ-like warrior within me. There is much work to be done here.

“Father, you are a great Warrior, and I am made in your image. I am your son, and a warrior, too. Open my eyes to see how you have been developing the warrior in me. Show me where I have misinterpreted or failed to include you in what has happened in my life. Give me the strength and resolve to rise up and accept my warrior training. And when I am losing heart, give me your grace and encouragement to hang in there, all the way through to victory. In Jesus name.” (Eldridge)


~Tristan