Armour

Sorry if the title of the post seems strange, but we talked about armour during our Prayer Breakfast - namely putting on some armour.  Elizabeth Chotka had used an excellent example during the prayer breakfast of how the shields used by army's in the days of scripture were not made of metal or other hard material as we would most likely assume, but rather of leather, wet leather.  The  sides of the shield were cut in such a way so that when the army marched in a line to battle, they could 'lock' their shields together, forming an incredible barrier to the enemy.  Further, they soaked their shields in water, so that flaming arrows shot by the enemies would be doused by the water in the shield upon impact.

As we go to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus, there is no doubt that we will face trials, hurdles, problems, and blocks that Satan puts in front of us in an attempt to break us and halt us from moving forward.  He may attempt to divide the team.  We need protection from this.

We need to daily put on our shield everyday to be guarded from the evil one.  As a team, we must look to the Father, and claim Him daily as Lord over all that we do.  We need to put on His armour, and walk together trusting in Him.

Unannounced to anyone, Caleb Spratt had been busy working at making leather bracelets for the team with "Costa Rica 2010" stamped on them.  The idea was simply to create something symbolic to tie the team together further.  The example that Elizabeth Chotka had used of the leather shield was an outstanding lead-in to distributing the leather bracelets later that day.  Isn't it interesting how God can use something very simple to drive home a message without any 'intervention' or planning on our part!  While not a physical shield, the bracelets serve as a reminder to each team member not only how important it is to put on the Armour of God, but also that we are strong in unity.

Thanks Caleb for all of your hard work on the cool bracelets!  Your thoughtfulness and hard work on these is a wonderful contribution to the team.