I remember the Sabbath morning when a vicious dog ran snarling up to me, knocked me to the ground, and grabbed my head in its teeth, causing deep lacerations. I got up and ran screaming to my mom. I was three years old. Today, I still have scars on my head and a deep distrust for dogs.

God doesn’t cause awful things to happen to little boys to teach them a lesson. I was a victim of sin in a sinful world. I am very thankful for God’s protection and for saving my face and eyes from harm.

A few years later, a dog again played a significant role in my life. Every weekday, I walked a mile and a half along a dirt road to church school. There was a house along that road that had a little brown dog that liked to come out through a hole in the fence and bark at me and nip at my ankles. Needless to say, I didn’t like that dog one bit. So I would pick up little stones and throw them at the dog.

One day the lady of the house saw me throwing stones at her dog and came out and yelled at me to stop. Now I was in a difficult situation. I didn’t want to offend the lady, nor did I want to get bitten by her dog. So I began to pray each day that God would silence my footsteps in the loose gravel in front of that house so the dog wouldn’t hear me pass. God answered my prayer, and my young prayer life was born!

Edie and I have been stretching our prayer lives as we prepare to begin ministry among the Ama people of Papua New Guinea. Please pray for us, too!

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