One of the main ministries we had in Haiti was “strategic village time”. Mission of Hope, the organisation we were partnering with, wanted us to visit homes in the villages and find out information about how people were living, what their needs were, and if they had heard the Gospel. Once this information was collected, they would know how best the serve the local people based on their needs.
One day when my team and I were out visiting homes, we were talking to a lady who showed us the fruit and vegetables she was growing in her back yard. As we walked back I noticed that in the middle of the front yard, was what looked like two small totem poles and a cross. I immediately knew these were signs of voodoo.
An older gentlemen was sat across from them and with the help of our translator, and some of my other teammates, we were able to ask him about this. He told us he believed in God. He respected God as sovereign over the earth. He worshipped God. But he also practised voodoo. He explained that he only used it for good, he only used it for protection from other evil forces, he would use it for healing. When he practised it, he would light a candle before going to bed, and in the night “a man” would come to him in his dreams and tell him what to do.
Whilst this might seem like an innocent enough thing, it is not. As we talked, I asked God how I could share with him why this was wrong, because wanting healing and protection seems like a good intention. However, God reminded me of the story of the Israelites and the golden calf. When Moses went up the mountain to speak to God, the Israelites grew impatient and built themselves an idol of a golden calf. Instead of turning to God to meet their needs, they made an idol for themselves. This is what this man had done, voodoo was an idol, coming between him and God.
You see our God doesn’t just want some of us, He wants the whole lot. He wants all of our attention. He doesn’t want us to turn to other things to meet our needs, He wants us to go to Him. The things this man wanted were good, but he was looking for them in the wrong place.
He was also delving into a world of spiritual darkness, which although we should not fear, we should not be engaging with. God doesn’t want us communicating with spirits which are not of Him, because they again are removing us from Him. We need only to place our trust in God, because He is sovereign over everything and is completely good. When God fills us with His Holy Spirit, we are filled with all that we need, with a power that is stronger than any darkness. We do not need to go looking for anything in the spirits of darkness.
Unfortunately in Haiti there is a lot of mixing of spiritual practises. However, through the work of organisations like Mission of Hope, the people of Haiti are hearing the truth of the Gospel and receiving it. Whilst this particular man did not choose to give up voodoo on that occasion, we were able to speak truth into his life and pray over him. There is hope for the nation of Haiti and its people, and that hope is in our Lord God, sovereign over all.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
