FRM Newsletter
October 2018: Surrounded
Read the full October 2018 newsletter here.
Daniel Maker graduated from class ten of the Chaplains’ Corps. Since that time, he has been engaged in excessive combat and has been wounded twice. In a place called Kodok, his platoon was attacked by a force of 300 rebels, his platoon having only 32 men. The enemy came at them with a frontal attack, while sending an ambush to hit them from the side. Daniel’s platoon could spot the ambush and divided themselves, sending 16 men to fight each enemy assault.
Daniel was fighting when he felt a bullet hit his head. He said that the blow was so hard, he wondered if it were a death blow. But, when he felt his head, the bullet had just grazed his forehead. Daniel said that the blood made it hard for him to see and his head was in extreme pain. He told one of the other soldiers that he could not see, and he needed to pray. He then said, “Lord, unless you intervene, this will be my last battle.” As the men continued to fight, God intervened when everyone should have been killed. The enemy began to falter; the aggression and heart they started with at the beginning, began to ebb away. Something was happening in the supernatural. The enemy had the upper hand—having ten men for every one soldier in Daniel’s platoon. Without warning, the enemy fled. Six of the men in Daniel’s unit of 32 were killed, but they had put to flight 300 enemy soldiers. I often wonder what the Lord is revealing in the supernatural—things that are unseen to us but are seen by the enemy.
In 2017, Daniel was with a force of about 300 men when they were attacked by an enemy force of over 1,500 soldiers. The enemy was supported by tanks and armored vehicles, at a place called Kola. The outpost was very remote, but they had water. The next closest water was 78 kilometers away, and that is what the enemy wanted. Daniel’s unit was attacked by tanks and heavy armored vehicles, when all the men with Daniel were just foot soldiers. They fought for three hours until they were just about out of ammunition. Realizing that they would soon be overrun, word
was sent to evacuate the post. At this time, Daniel was shot through the lower arm, with the bullet exiting just above the elbow, which took out part of the bone. Daniel could not control the movement of his arm, so he had to tie it to his body. That night he began to feel severe pain and he could hear the broken bones grinding against each other.
He said that the men had scattered, and he was on his own. Thirty-six men had been killed and twenty-seven were wounded. He hid in the bush and began praying for help and protection. He knew that he was in great danger and danger was all around. He walked for a day and prayed, “God, my life is completely in your hand. It is only You, who will decide if I live, or die.” The place where he was, it never rained. Daniel realized that the Lord was the one who provides for the thirsty and he began praying. As he prayed, the Lord heard, and dark clouds began to form on a sunny day. Then, as the sky grew darker, a great thunderstorm broke loose and flooded the area. Daniel was able to find puddles where he was able to drink until he could drink no more. He slept that night, but when he awoke the next day, his broken arm was making him weak. Again, he prayed and asked the Lord for strength and the Lord gave Daniel the strength that he needed. He still had to walk for two days, wounded, without water, but was able to survive because of the answered prayer— the thunderstorm.
During another crisis, Daniel’s unit was stationed with a forward battalion headquarters that had several outposts, and the enemy was attacking with a great number of soldiers. Daniel’s unit tried to hold their position, but the enemy was just too large. As the enemy kept up their attack, they kept sending hundreds of men to annihilate Daniel’s battalion, but they were being killed by the hundreds. Daniel’s men fought ferociously, but the number of the enemy was too great. Eventually, every outpost had been overrun and destroyed. The enemy came at them with two battalions of men, with about a thousand soldiers per battalion. All that was left of Daniel’s battalion was 67 men and many wounded. All they could think about was evacuating the wounded, before they were overrun. Everyone was preparing to die, but then Daniel knelt and began to pray, “Lord, it is only You who can protect.” As he prayed, he said that the Lord told him to have the men spread out all over the headquarters, and as soon as the enemy came into sight to open fire. The enemy approached thinking that this was just a mop up exercise to finish the last of them, when the men opened fire on them. The enemy attacked from the east and the south. As men at the outpost loaded the wounded onto vehicles, they were also able to load 59 men to support them, as they evacuated the base. As the last vehicle evacuated, eight men had to be left behind, including Daniel. These are the times of hard choices, because those who are left behind are the sacrifice, so the others might be saved. It is at a time like this that you want to choose men who are ready for heaven, knowing that their lives will give time for the others to come to Christ. These were the ones who chose to die, so that the rest could escape. It has been by the blood sacrifice of these chaplains that they have and will continue to be held in high regard within the South Sudan Army.
Daniel and his men braced themselves to fight with everything in them to the last man, as 2,000 enemy approached. Then, there was a commotion among the enemy. Daniel and his men did not know what the enemy saw, but suddenly, they could hear the enemy crying, “They are much larger than us!” In a panic, the enemy fled the battlefield, running for their lives. Daniel and his men expected for the enemy to regroup and come at them again, but silence came over the battlefield and the enemy never returned. Daniel said that the men were so shocked. Expecting to die, they just sat down and began to laugh. Then, they all came together and bowed down to give thanks to God for delivering them from the enemy.
News had reached our base that Daniel had been killed. No one could imagine that he and the other seven men survived. But, word was sent from the outpost to let the army know that they were still holding the base where the enemy had been defeated. But by whom was the enemy defeated? It became a great testimony to the army and to the nation, when they found out that it was through the power of prayer that victory was won that day. Reinforcements were then sent to secure the base and retake the outpost. But, I wonder if they were needed? The Word tells us, Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
There have been many stories of missionaries throughout history that demonstrate the supernatural. I recall the story of John Paton and his family, who were missionaries trying to reach a very savage tribe with no success. The tribe decided to kill this family and came one night beating their war drums. The parents put the children to bed and prayed as the drums came closer and closer, until they were just outside the house. They expected to be killed and prayed fervently until they fell asleep. The next morning when the family awoke, the savages were gone. A year later, the chief came to Christ. The father of that missionary family asked him why they did not kill them that night. He said that we were going to, but then asked, who were all those men in shining white with swords raised above their heads? We will probably never know what the two battalions saw, but something happened that put an entire army to flight.
While South Sudan is one of the five most dangerous countries in the world to live in, the supernatural is happening through the prayers of our men.
Wes Bentley
Far Reaching Ministries