On Saturday morning last week, I woke up with a Bible verse song stuck in my head. It comes from Ephesians chapter 6, where it talks about the whole armor of God. Specifically, this verse kept playing again and again in my mind:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” — Ephesians 6:13

I wasn’t quite sure why this song was stuck in my head, as I hadn’t listened to it in a while, so I just went along with the rest of my morning routine.

Later, when I was spending time with the Lord, I felt the song come back to my mind. At this prompting, I got out my phone and played the song. I also got on the Bible app, and I read the verse of the day. The verse was Ephesians 6:11:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the schemes of the devil.”

After reading this, I just laughed and asked the Lord what He wanted to talk about since the armor of God was being highlighted so strongly to me. He prompted me to read through and journal about the whole passage of Ephesians 6:10–18, specifically highlighting what each part of the armor meant and how we can truly put it on as we stand firm in the Lord.

So that’s exactly what I did. There were a few things during this time that stuck out to me that I want to share with you:

1. God gives us the whole armor. He doesn’t give us just parts and pieces, but everything we need to stand firm.

2. Our strength comes from the Lord. We cannot stand in our own strength; we must first be strong in Him.

3. We are called to actively put on the armor. God provides it, but we must choose to walk in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and His Word.

4. The armor reflects God Himself. Isaiah 59:17 describes the Lord wearing righteousness as a breastplate and salvation as a helmet. In Ephesians 6, He gives His people armor that comes from Him.

5. The goal is to stand firm. We are not called to live in fear of the enemy, but to stand firm in the Lord and remain faithful to Him.

This time with the Lord was so sweet, and it excited me for the day.

It was a very light day of ministry where we were only going to the church to help with a children’s day camp. I was so elated because I had been sick for multiple days before this due to a blood infection. Thankfully, my host’s wife works at the hospital, and I was able to get diagnosed and given medication to help fight the infection. We also haven’t served with children too much since being here, so I was excited to spend the day with them.

At the church, we reenacted the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fourth man in the fire, and it was awesome.

After we were back at the house for a while, an incident occurred where a drunk man came into our host’s home to get out of the rain and would not leave. He wasn’t aggressive, but it was unsettling for the kids and our team.

The rest of the night, the team and I went about our normal routine, but something was feeling off in my spirit. I went to bed with a lot of anger, and on Sunday I woke up with that same anger. Part of it was triggered by some teammates and part of it was something else that I wasn’t sure about. There were also thoughts attacking my identity.

I started wrestling with the Lord to understand where all of this was coming from. It was an emotional morning where I continuously ran back to the feet of Jesus, asking Him to speak truth over my identity and to forgive me for the ways I was holding onto anger.

I kept feeling the Lord draw me back to walking in His light and His forgiveness. And I can chuckle about this now because later that morning, one of my teammates gave a sermon at church about forgiveness. She talked about how we need to ask for forgiveness and forgive those who have hurt us by bringing it before the Lord.

When my entire team returned from ministry, I opened up about what I was walking through, and they received me with open arms. I asked for their forgiveness for the way I had isolated myself and held bitterness in my heart toward some of them without them knowing.

As soon as I shared this with my team, one of the girls we spend a lot of time with came up and gave me the biggest hug she has given me. In my spirit, it felt like a giant hug from the Lord.

The rest of the day, the Lord invited me into so many moments of simple joy, whether that was spending time with the kids or cooking samosas with our host—which, by the way, are so delicious!

This whole experience reminded me of what the Lord had been speaking to me just the day before about the armor of God and how necessary it is to stand firm in Him.

We must stand firm in the truth of who God says we are.

We must stand firm in the righteousness we have through Christ.

We must stand firm in faith when the enemy’s schemes come against us.

We must stand firm in the salvation we have received through Jesus.

And we must stand firm together as the body of Christ, continually praying and encouraging one another.

So I am here to tell you: stand firm in your relationship with God. He is your rock and your foundation, and everything else is placed upon Him.

He is the Good Shepherd who wants to guide you and direct your paths when you give Him your yes.

Every day is a new opportunity to choose Him and seek Him. And I can speak from experience about how beautiful it is to walk with the Father.

So I am testifying to everyone who reads this that God is good and He truly loves you. We are never alone when we belong to Him. He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us, and He has given us everything we need to stand firm in Him.

So put on the whole armor of God. Stand firm in His truth. Stand firm in His salvation. Stand firm in faith. And when you have done all, stand.

Photo highlights from the past week:

Prayer Requests:

• Health over my entire squad, as many are dealing with sickness.

• Protection from spiritual attacks, specifically in the battle within our minds.

• Full funding for me and my teammates. Currently, 9 out of 25 are fully funded.

• Strength to continue being diligent in our ministry as we are continually having long days of ministry.

If you feel led to give, you can do so through this link : https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/september-2026-world-race-11-months-26w0901/participants/kira-bertke