The Giant Killers and the Supernaturals

Have you seen the fisherman that played cat-and-mouse with Chinese Coast Guard personnel on a speed boat? If you haven’t, try finding it on YouTube.

The Filipino fisherman went alongside the Chinese militia at a relatively high speed, managed to dodge, outmaneuver and actually make his chasers think twice about being made to look like bullies and fools – and he did it with a small displacement banca!

Ultimately, the fisherman made his point: not everybody is scared of the Chinese Coast Guard and the West Philippine Sea belongs to Filipinos! While this miniscule cat-and-mouse chase in open sea may not change the current situation, it is awe-inspiring and reminds me of real-life Giant Killers and Supernaturals who fought one-sided battles or came to the rescue of people who faced impossible odds.

Whether it is in the battlefield or in the sports arenas, we have all seen and heard accounts of the underdogs or the “dehados” overcoming a superior force. As Filipinos fret over the possibility of actual war or invasion by China, we hear guys like Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Senator “Bato” dela Rosa suggesting and encouraging everyone to be vigilant and prepared.

To their credit, these two guys are at least recognizing a valid threat and opting to prepare than to run scared. We will not lose anything from preparing for a threat even if it never happens. If you’re convinced that we don’t stand a chance, then go study Mandarin as a second language.

Whether we end up in a shooting war or hand-to-hand combat with the Chinese military only God knows. But I wonder why the non-military, leaders of various religious organizations, churches and communities have not spoken out, acted or led believers to do what they do best: pray!

If anyone should be afraid or worried, the religious groups should be, because they will be the first on the list to be run out of town, martyred or sent to re-education camp!

You are welcome to be cynical, dismissive or maybe say that my suggestion to make a call for nationwide prayers is for the “weak” or fatalistic or religious. If you have a better idea, go ahead and promote it because in times like these, we need all the solutions that can help.

Before you turn off from my idea, may I humbly ask you to do a cursory review of the leaders and kings of the Old Testament, real life monarchs, prophets and warriors, particularly those who faced overwhelming numbers of soldiers, invaders and mercenaries who specialized in invasion, pillage and genocide.

Beginning from Moses going face to face with the slave driver Pharaoh, to being chased into the Red Sea and witnessing all their enemies engulfed by the waters, the battles of the Israelites against far superior armies that were wiped out by divinely orchestrated sound effects of trumpets, mirages of blood in the desert, invaders pulled back by false reports of armies behind them.

Almost all of these followed a similar storyline: invaders or political warlords picking a fight with God’s people, often recruiting outside forces to totally eliminate the Israelites. With backs to the ocean, to the walls or surrounded and sieged, they dedicated themselves to prayer and fasting for a deliverer and deliverance.

Do we have to wait until an enemy is ashore? Do we have to wait until bullets are fired or Filipinos held captive or some naval personnel from China is accidentally shot or killed, like in the Taiwan incident of many years ago? Do we have to wait for another call on TV-radio or mobile phones to go to the churches and the streets like Filipinos did during EDSA 1?

Isn’t it ironic that religious Filipinos have no problem praying nine-day novenas or prayers for special petitions during Simbang Gabi, that Born Again Christians or Evangelicals hold 3-, 5- or 7-day prayer and fasting to receive God’s direction and answered prayers at the start of every year and mid-year. We all do some form of praying with petitions, with rosaries, bible study groups. Some even have their cats and dogs and businesses prayed over.

We generally pray for good health, greater wealth, good jobs, promotion, improved business, family reconciliation, to find a spouse, have children or a home. I’ve intentionally over-stated the obvious so I can point out that even if God gave all of these to us, if war broke out or invaders attack, chances are we will lose all of it, even our lives.

It’s like investing everything on a house but forgetting to build a good roof! You can go and believe that if God gave you answered prayers, he won’t let the invaders attack and take these away. Yeah, maybe. Or he could point out your sin of omission of not praying for your enemies, enemies who generally don’t believe in the absolute power of God. That’s something to pray for!

“Experts” believed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 would be a two-day event. Two years and four months later, Russian military has been fighting a two-step forward/one-step backward war, even their brutal tactics that were directly aimed at civilian targets has not taken the fight out of the Ukrainians.

What many people did not realize was that Ukraine and Ukrainians are very religious, prayerful people and even before war broke out, our friends who were on the ground had already initiated a prayer call and cover for Ukraine. Little did their enemy realize they were going up against Giant Killers aided by the Supernaturals.

Please join us in daily prayer for the Philippines and for China. Become Supernatural!

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