How do you discern simply having a bad week from being spiritually attacked? Right before some very important meetings, I caught a cold—the kind of cold that has you in bed for a couple of days with fever and chills. It was also during a time when we were wrestling with some escalating situations on different fields.

I had also found out from my wife that our youngest child, who is 9, was crying again because she missed her life in Cambodia. Was it all just a coincidence?

During that week we were welcoming about 25 new missionaries to MTW. Several of our CMTW (Committee on Mission to the World) members were there and our chairman gave a charge to these new missionaries. He began his charge by telling them that they now have a target on their backs and will be the subject of spiritual attack. The passage he read was from Ephesians 6:10–20 describing the need to put on the full armor of God. Two things struck me from his message: (1) the reality of the enemy and his desire to distract, discourage, and destroy God’s people; and (2) the hope we have in the gospel as the foundation of the armor of God.

The reminder was timely, not only for the new missionaries, but for me as well. As the apostle Paul writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).

Interestingly enough, I had a restless night soon after because of a bad dream. In the dream these strange people were attacking me and my family. We all had guns and were shooting back at these enemies. When I awoke, my heart was still pounding. I couldn’t help but make a connection with the dream and being attacked by the evil one, so I prayed for God’s protection over our family. When I shared this with my wife in the morning, she laughed and reminded me that I had a Nerf battle with my kids the night before and that maybe I carried that battle into my dreams … hmmm?

Would you pray for God’s protection over these new missionaries and our MTW family as we engage in God’s kingdom work?