Warfare

It was finally time! The doctors had given us the thumbs up to take Esperanza into the Outback, and our home was set for a variety of guests (to help cover our mortgage) and people to take care of it while we were gone. Charlotte, our dog, would have a wonderful home for six months with a loving family and a large race track in the backyard. Yet we still did not have all of our funds for the trip. What were we to do? We prayed, and a significant gift met the gap for our flights. Then another considerable gift came in to cover most of our pop-up. We knew God was confirming that we were to step out in faith and trust that He would provide the rest of the funds. Therefore, with only four days until the departure date, we purchased flights trusting that God would step in and cover the rest. 

At dawn, Tuesday morning, March 25th, our kids climbed into the car with other vital items and bags. Our good friend was the lucky, sleep-deprived soul who would drop us off at the starting gate of our adventure, Pensacola Airport. While driving, a message popped up on Messenger from the film director in Australia. The vehicle we had rented would not allow us to tow the caravan he had picked up for us (I had found one on Marketplace & he had gone to look at it & pick it up for us). What were we to do? 

All we knew to do was pray and submit it to the Lord. Waiting in line at the airport, I canceled the hired vehicle and searched Marketplace for one to purchase. Renting just wasn’t feasible. Knowing we could only afford something with about 200,000 km or more, we pressed into the Father for precise directions. Where was the vehicle that could tow our pop-up camper and spend most of its travels negotiating the rough and rocky terrain of the Outback? I cast a wide net, leaving messages with multiple sellers as we boarded our flight to Houston. Two and a half hours of prayer, dry snacks, and happy kids reading their new books. After landing in Texas, I checked my messages. Not a single good fit. Once more, I canvassed the SUV ads, leaving numerous messages. A four-hour flight to Los Angeles followed, and then we were tucked into our hotel for a 12-hour layover. After a greasy cheeseburger and French fries from Carl’s Jr, the kids and I retreated to the Hotel’s pool for a good stretch and lots of water fun. Before sleep, we said our prayers, thanked God for keeping us safe and blessing us with these comfy beds, before I dove headfirst into our continued search for a vehicle. One appeared to be a good fit, so I reached out.

At the Hotel breakfast buffet the following morning, we noticed a strange man with laser focus staring at the kids and me. As Esperanza went to get her food, the man quickly followed to ask where she was going. She said we were going to the airport, and he offered us a ride. Now, mind you, the hotel provides us with free rides to the airport. And all its guests know this. The creep alarm was screaming. One hotel staff member came over and told Esperanza not to speak to him. A few minutes later, hotel security warned us of him as they gathered evidence of his strange behavior that morning. He was a registered guest. But he was quickly wearing out his welcome amongst the guests. To further creep us out, the security lady showed us a video she had taken with her phone from a distance. Demonic eyes of lust hid behind the face of this man like a prowler. The devil was prowling around like a roaring lion. We were on high alert.

With the Lord as our front and rear guard, we gathered our flock and hurried to the airport. The next flight to Hong Kong took 17 hours because of headwinds. Each flight was uneventful but surely tapped into our energy reserves, leaving us exhausted upon arrival. Zoe was the only one who got a wink of sleep. With exhausted bodies sprawled about “a less loud” section of the airport terminals, Bruce and I took turns as watchmen. After a 2-hour nap, I got back online looking for a vehicle. Finally, a car that appeared to fit our needs. We would arrive in Perth, Australia, at 9 am, so I scheduled a time to check it out that afternoon. 

Our last flight was only 7 hours. Arriving at 9 am in Perth, our bodies were so confused. We were exhausted from travel and jet lag, yet determined to stay awake as long as possible. We got settled at the YWAM Perth base and then started the whirlwind of getting ourselves sorted while seeing miracles amid attacks. After arriving, our first miracle was that there was a couple from Australia that the Lord gave them a specific number they were to provide us with, which was the exact amount we needed to bridge the gap to purchase our vehicle, on the Friday night we arrived. 

Saturday, we joined our team to pray and chat about the “plan”. They hoped to leave on Tuesday. The thought of this seemed a little overwhelming, but if this is when they had hoped to leave, we would do all that we could to meet this deadline. Over the next few days, a flurry of events took place. Money exchanges, gathering supplies to be ready to be in the Outback for six months, switching the title of our vehicle, insurance, getting tires ready for the Outback, etc. In the midst of this, we found out the AC unit not only needed to be gassed up, but it needed to be completely redone. There was a leak. 
This was the first slowdown to our departure date. We couldn’t get our vehicle in until Tuesday morning, and it wouldn’t be done until Wednesday afternoon. At the same time, we needed about $2k to get it fixed, which we did not have. The evening before we were to take our vehicle, our family prayed for the finances to fix it. I checked my e-mails, and someone we had not expected gave us the exact amount to bridge the gap between what we needed and what we already had. Wow!! 

At one point over the weekend, the director brought our pop-up caravan to our stay. As we began to wind it up, we heard a deafening click and quickly realized there was a break in one of the coils that held Bruce and my bed up. This repair will take the next week to fix. During this time, we also learned that the pop-up needed new tires and the stabilizers needed to be fixed. Each time a new cost came up, we would pray, and someone who had no clue what was going on would feel the prompting from the Lord and give the exact amount we needed for each fix. Our faith in God’s provision was increasing. 

Finally, everything had been sorted and we were ready to go. Our team gathered to pray once again for the upcoming trip. I led the whole team in some basic steps of intercession and asked everyone, kids included, to wait on the Lord for specific words, pictures, etc. One child, who is five, said that we would leave either Sunday or Monday. This prayer time was on Tuesday, and we had planned to leave Thursday afternoon, so we hoped he was wrong. 

One family headed to our first campsite on Thursday afternoon and arrived close to dinner. Our family had planned to leave right after lunch, but the director needed to finish a few things. So I took the kids to the park. As they climbed trees and created their shelter, the Lord highlighted an Aboriginal man very close to where I was standing. I went over and engaged him in conversation as the kids happily played. Soon, I found out that both his Dad and brother had committed suicide in the past year. After much discussion, I got him a Bible from YWAM Perth and prayed for him. God was going before us. 

Finally, a little after 5 pm, we left Perth. We quickly arrived at the campsite and found out that the first family’s vehicle had started to overheat on the way to the campsite (they had had it checked out before they had left Perth, and nothing had been wrong with it). The next morning, they took it to the small town mechanic, who quickly said he couldn’t fix it there and they’d need to return to Perth, three hours away. After prayer, even laying hands on their vehicle, Bruce and our teammate headed back to Perth to get his car fixed. They had to stay the night and pick up the car on Saturday morning. The mechanic was concerned that there would be more issues in the future, but he didn’t know when they would happen. But he was able to fix the problem that had occurred. After much prayer, the guys came back Saturday night with their vehicle. Trusting that over the next six months, no other issues will arise again. 

While waiting for the two guys to return, the director made a sweet God connection with the campsite owner. The owner is a believer who was super excited to share the previous Kimberley video with his church and to view the next film. 

Sunday morning we packed up and for the first time our whole team headed to our next location. Yes, you are reading that correctly. Our five year old teammate had heard the Lord correctly. We would leave as a team on Sunday. We arrived at the next location and our family flet like it was in disoray. We all seemed to be at odds with one another as we packed and unpacked our pop-up. There was such a heaviness that had fallen on us. Early the next morning the thunders roared, lighting spidered across the sky and the rains rapidly fell. Once we woke we knew we were not leaving early, the outside of our pop-up was soaked. 

We took this opportunity to get some homeschooling and laundry done as the sun dryed the camper. By noon we were ready to get on the road again. Our 7 hour drive turned into a 3 hour drive stopping off at a campsite we hadn’t planned on visiting. And with only 15 minutes until we were to arrive a concening voice came across our walkie talkies. 

One of our teammates was having such intense stomach pain and we needed to pull over right away. When he got out of the car we laid hands on him and prayed. After prayer I jumped in their car to drive their vehicle the rest of the way. The next morning the director decided we needed to have some team time with worship and prayer. The battle was raging and we knew that we needed Jesus. During our intercession and worship we got a strong sense the Lord was slowing us down on purpose. That this next season our Western mentality of time was going to be challenged and to make the best connections we were going to need to go slow. Gryphin also got a picture of a wing and that we were from now on going to fly by and not have any more issues on our trip. Amen!! Let it be so!

During our surpise campsite we also had some great conversations and realized that the campsite was in partnership with a boarding school for Aboriginal middle and high schoolers. We got to give them the first Kimberly Spirit video and made connection to get them the next set of videos. We even found out that many of the children had been personally affected by somone in their family comitting suicide. This was not an accidental stop. 

The next morning I woke to the birds chirping and the view of the sun rising from our camper window. Bruce brought me my coffee travel mug and I sat worshipping and meditating on the Lord. The younger two girls climbed into my bed and we watched the rest of the briliant colors spread across the sky. Soon the kids started piano lessons with our friend back in Perth and we started to pack up to get back on the road. This time, a sweet peace rested on our family as we all worked together. 

We had another stop in Newman and stayed at a church. The pastor’s daughter-in-law had us over for a pizza dinner and the following morning we headed out for a 7-hour trip to Port Headland (including stops) to stay at a persons home who is friends of YWAM. The following day we were on the road again for a 8-hour trip to Broome. We have enjoyed a solid day of rest and on Monday, April 21st, Bruce and Josh will start making connections with different tribal leaders to determine where God is leading the team to build relationships for the film God has brewing in the hearts of the Aboriginals as well as our team. 

So often we have expectations of how things are to turn out. We have our timelines and our agendas and yet the Lord sees the big picture. He knows each hair on our head, he knows our tomorrows and the whys of our yesterdays. As we continue on this journey we believe that the Lord is in control. We choose to not strive and make things happen in our flesh. We choose to praise Him even in the midst of inconviences. Knowing that the Lord is at work and at times He slows us down for those Devine appointments and to remind us that our journey is with the whole team, kids included. God will use all of us in this journey. And as we go forward we believe the Lord is unifying our team and bringing His glory through us as we learn how to love one another through His Devine love. For this love is what will draw people to our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Happy Resurrection Day!