Although the country we're in is made up largely of one nationality, there are people from other places here as well. There is a decent sized group from another African country, trying to find better jobs and escape major political problems in their home lands. Today we spent the afternoon with them playing soccer, eating together and eventually sharing the gospel with them. Most of them profess to be Christians, and we'll definitely be spending more time with them, trying to disciple them help them grow. Before they left the office today, someone asked them to sing. I really didn't expect much, but they really belted out this native praise song that they all knew. It was a really cool experience...just sitting with at least a few believers and listing to them sing to the Lord as only Africans can do. 

Lately God's been showing me a lot in my time with Him; I'll pass along one quick thing. I was reading about the temptations of Christ, specifically when satan shows Christ all the kingdoms of the earth and says, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish." This really got me thinking, and I followed the notes back to Daniel. It describes a scene in which the angel Gabriel appears to Daniel and gives him a vision from the Lord. When Gabriel arrived, he explained that he had been delayed due to a battle with "the prince of Persia". This was not a physical prince, this was a demonic prince. Gabriel went on to say that "Behold, the prince of Greece is coming." He planned on battling them both with the help of the Angel Michael. The point of all this is that spiritual warfare is as real as anything that you can see and touch, and that satan has his hand in the kingdoms of the world that we live in. Application for Cole: How in the world do I expect to do anything against that type of power by myself? The only way the the gospel can go forward is if God chooses to do battle for us, and works in hearts to remove the blindness of the people, caused by the god of this world.  (See II Cor. 4) So, the most important thing I could ever do for this country is pray. Not scream on the street-corners and get kicked out of the country, not even tell every person about Jesus. It's to pray and beg that God does the work and uses me, because I can do nothing. Paul didn't say I can do all things, he said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's all about Him, anything good that happens is a result of God's greatness, not mine.