HIJACKING!

I covet your prayers as I board a plane tomorrow with my two young sons to head "Over the amazon and across the Carribean to Grandmother's house we go . . ."
Jeff will follow us on the 20th, but I'll be on my own to get us there on Wednesday.
While I'm more worried about in-flight temper tantrums or diaper shortages than hijackings, I have been thinking alot about them lately. My husband had one in his ministry this past week.
It's the second one he's faced on the mission field. He handled it so well, with such grace and a Godly attitude. I was so proud of him.
While almost inevitable at times, ministry hijackings can be extremely disheartening. The first ministry hijacking I ever saw happened to my mom. My mom had served a small women's prayer group for about 15 years. Every week, without fail, she unlocked the doors of the meeting room, set up the chairs, waited for the other ladies to arrive, and led the meeting. One week, a lady visited. That lady then decided that the group needed a good Bible study teacher and she invited Women-to-Women to send a teacher to lead the group. They did and BAM!-hijacking! The ladies in the prayer group were too polite to tell their new teacher what had happened, so they sat and listened, for YEARS! The visitor lady never returned. WTW teachers came and went, my mom continued to go, unlock the doors, set up the room and listen politely. I'm sure that she wrestled some with God over the loss of that ministry, but overall she was very mature in her attitude toward it.
We have to remember Solomon's story of the ladies fighting over the baby in I Kings 3:16-28. The real mother loved the baby so much that she would rather give it up than see it harmed. The false mother would split the baby in two rather than give it up. We have to be careful to protect the babies in our care from the crossfire of other's territorial wars.
That's what my husband did this week. I was so proud of him.
We also need to remember than hijackings are always humbling, and it's the humble that God can truly use. I do believe that how we handle them frequently determines our next assignment from God. Now I'm praying for my husband as he awaits his next assignment. Did I mention how well he handled it and how proud I am of him?