the battle belongs to the Lord

In March 2009, I received an email from Yeen Lan, a missionary called by God to serve among those she calls "God's least ones in Africa". I got to know this dear sister when we were both serving in BSF way back in 1998, just before she left Singapore for Africa. I hope my facts are correct : I think Yeen Lan first served as BSF Teaching Leader, then BSF Area Advisor for Africa before she was appointed the Director of Rafiki Village in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Rafiki Foundation, headquartered in Florida (USA), began in 1985 with the aim of turning helpless orphans in Africa into godly contributors in their countries. Today it has established a Rafiki Village in each of the 10 countries in Africa ("Rafiki" is an African word for "friend"). Rafiki Villages support the local community by operating a Christian home environment & education for orphans and providing medical care for community residents. You can get involved in the work of Rafiki by sponsoring an orphan. I am blessed to be a sponsor to one of Yeen Lan's 80-over orphaned children. (Read more : http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/)

Yeen Lan's sacrificial love & total devotion to the Lord is most impressive. She gave up a lucrative career & comfortable life in Singapore to live & work among the untouchables in Africa. Yeen Lan has been a great encouragement to me in my battle against cancer. With her kind permission, I am posting her email below so that together we can learn the lessons that Yeen Lan shares from the book of Joshua.

Re : The battle belongs to the Lord

My dear Sock Kim,

I am teaching the Village employees every morning during devotions. We are into Joshua. In chapter 6, God gave him some strange - almost ridiculous - instructions to take over the fortified city of Jericho. God told him to organise the people to follow the priests holding the ark to march around the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day to march around for seven times and then shout. Then the city wall which was 25 feet high and 20 feet thick would collapse. Now, I thought to myself - it takes a ton of faith and another ton of obedience to do that. Who else has ever won a war that way? So I asked the employees - why do you think God gave such strange and complicated instructions? I offered three reasons -

1. God wanted to make it UNDENIABLY clear to Joshua and the Israelites that the taking over of Jericho was not going to be by the soldiers - not by might nor by power - BUT by His Spirit. The taking over was going to be with the ARK - and who dwells in it? BUT GOD. God was going to do battle for Israel.

2. God wanted to accentuate Jericho's fear - in Joshua 2 Rahab had said all of Jericho was melting in fear because they know, they have heard about the God of Israel.

3. God wanted Israel to trust and obey His specific exact instructions regardless of how "humanly stupid" those instructions seem.

I praise the Lord for the way He has led you and continue to lead you.
He determined the cancer.
He determined the surgery.
He led you through and IT IS FOR HIS GLORY.
I worship Him with you.
I rejoice with you, dear sister.
I love you for your strength and courage in this heartwrenching experience - may He hold you in His everlasting arms.

With great respect for your participation in suffering for the Cross,
Yeen-Lan
3-March 09

"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song."
(Psalm 28:7)