When I initially thought of Haiti, I thought of extreme poverty, and then I thought of voodoo. I think that’s probably what most North Americans think about this 3rd world country.
Before the race, the thought of talking to voodoo doctors was intimidating. It was scary enough talking to strangers about Jesus, but talking to people who were connected to spiritual evil was straight up creepy. Or, at least thats what I used to think.
Week one in Haiti, we were asked to do SVT (strategic village training), essentially evangelism with a purpose. The purpose is to gain information on people as we talk to them to assist in the building of wells, latrines, schools, and clinics. We would begin by asking questions about their family, work, health, and then move on to talking about the Lord.
During our first few days working with mission of hope, we traveled in a canter two hours up to the mountains. We made our way through streams, dirt roads, mud, and steep hills to a village called Turpin. The first few days of the week we talked to lots of different types of people in the village, farmers, vendors, singles, families, and small children. Toward the end of the week, we were making our usual trip up to the mountain, and near the end of the journey, one of our translators casually informed us that we would be visiting the local voodoo doctors today.
Before the race, that would have seemed like a bad idea to me. I mean they obviously need people to talk to them, but I didn’t think that should be me. The thought of them creeped me out. But now, I was excited. I knew I wanted to go and visit with them, I had no idea what to expect, I mean what do you expect of a voodoo doctor except what you’ve seen in movies? But I knew I wanted to visit one, I knew I wanted to talk to them, and I wasn’t afraid.
As we made our way off the canter, our translators led the way to a home that looked very similar to those of the other people we had visited. It was made of brick, had a tin roof, and a dirt floor. We passed by another building which the translators informed us was his temple, the place where we made sacrifices, and ‘healed’ people.
The man seemed normal, our translators began just like usual explaining to the man who we were and what we were doing. We started asking him questions, questions about his home, his family, and his job. He admitted he was a voodoo priest and he began explaining to us what he believed. He believed God created the universe, the earth, and He is all around. He admitted he knew who Jesus was, and he believed in spirits. But, he also believed that making sacrifices to demons wasn’t a bad thing. Our conversations continued as we tried to share truth from the Bible with him. We tried to pray for him, and he declined. We prayed for his family, and that God would convict him, but he himself wasn’t convinced.
There was so much confusion in this man’s mind. He thought he knew who God was, but he didn’t KNOW him. My team began to share with this man pieces of scripture, to try and speak truth to his confused mind. But, he didn’t listen. I didn’t leave this encounter feeling upset, or scared like I thought I would have encountering a voodoo priest. I just left sad, sad, because I know true freedom and he was living in bondage. Sad, because people are fearful of these men, but they just like everyone else who need truth. Sad, because the one person that could really heal him, Jesus, he didn’t know.
During my time in Haiti, we visited many voodoo doctors, many who were confused, but also some who were convicted. I used to think that these people would be scary, but what I realized is that they were just lost. I know that the spirits they were messing with are real, but it wasn’t creepy, and it wasn’t intimidating. I wasn’t afraid because I have nothing to be afraid of. Our God is good, and He is real. I’m on his side, He speaks truth, love, and grace. That’s bigger than fear. Perfect love conquers fear, and my God is a God of love.
What I realized during my time there was that, these people are just like the rest of the world. There are so many lost, and hurting people at home that need God’s truth, love, and grace too. Why do we so often let fear stop us from sharing the gift of Jesus? He’s he best gift we’ve ever received, and the best gift we can ever hope to share. Fear controls many of our actions, and the enemy loves that. He wants us to be afraid to speak the name of Jesus because he knows the chains that can be broken. He wants us to be afraid of voodoo, he wants us to fear. But, we are no longer slaves to fear, we are children of God.
So now when I think of Haiti, I think of the freedom that I’ve seen, and the freedom that can be brought. I think of people in need yes, but people in need of the love of Jesus. Haiti showed me more than ever that God is real, God is good, and God is truth.
Haiti, I’ll be back!
