If this were not such a serious eternal life and death business, this would be downright laughable. What a sorry lot of weak human beings we are, and still God insists on using us to bring about His Glory.
The Cajazeiras Campaign gave the church there some new ground to work, to seed, to water, and hopefully produce fruit, but behind the scenes not everything was as smooth rolling as it might sound.
The plan: spend several hours each day door knocking and being with people in their homes. The reality: the heat was so intense that the group had to stay indoors during the day to avoid strokes; so that only left the late afternoon hours to clap at gates (more common than knocking on doors).
Our fearless missionaries, not accustomed to the extreme heat, suffered several side effects. Lee had to go the hospital with a migraine (the air conditioner in their car went out on the eight hour trip), Danny had stomach craps due to heat or food, Ricardo had an ameba attack, Raniere's nose started bleeding profusely from a recent surgery.
One more person had to go the hospital: Joe McKinney. He stumped his toe twice on concrete, and his foot swelled till he couldn't stand to walk on it. The doctor told him to keep it elevated for 15 days - Yeah right! In the middle of a campaign? Needless to say, his foot was worse when he finally reached Joao Pessoa.
Attacks from the enemy or just a hostile environment - whatever, let's remember these campaigners when the going gets tough and thoughts of giving up start wandering into our minds. God is using us for a reason! God knows best!
The devil will do what he can to stop the spread of the word, but the sufferings of this life makes heaven look even better! God bless!
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