Being in Haiti for 3 weeks now with one week left, I’ve seen God work in incredible ways. It still feels surreal to me that I’ve been doing mission work in this country for almost a month, and I sense that He is going to be moving even more in our last week of Haiti. I’ve experienced a love for God’s children that has wrecked my heart, but I’ve also experienced spiritual darkness like I’ve never seen before. What the enemy has meant for evil to come against me, God has meant for good in this battle. God will use these experiences to shed light onto others as he has allowed me to relate to those trapped in darkness on a small scale. I can now share with others what God has done for me to fight against the enemy. Jesus has already conquered all death and darkness. There is no shadow (even in a culture filled with voodoo and demonic activity) that he doesn’t overcome. In the end, all evil will be destroyed, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He is Lord! John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This gives me and all Christians the ability to walk in peace knowing that we don’t need to live in darkness. It now gives me a passion to love those who live in darkness.
The darkness in this country has given me a strong compassion for the people here, and I’m seeing that the simple act of loving His people just as Jesus did is one of the many forms of worship we have. To serve God is to serve and love others. He even COMMANDS us to love others. John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: to Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Solely from the act of giving love, people see Jesus in us and want to have a relationship with Him as well. Language has no barrier in giving love to His people. Before coming here, I struggled with the lie of: “how am I supposed to minister to people and share the love of Christ if I can’t communicate with them?” Quickly upon my arrival, God has trampled this lie. We do of course have interpreters when in times of sharing the gospel to people on the street or preaching a message to people. However, when we don’t have interpreters, Jesus gives us the creativity of giving love in different languages.
I have had full on conversations with people ranging from toddlers to elderly people of me talking in English to them, and them talking in Creole back. We both have no idea what is going on, but we continue to have a fantastic conversation that brings laughter. I smile writing about these moments thinking about how awkward it is, but giving a smile to that one person and caring for them shows the love of Christ to someone that overcomes darkness. Almost every time I walk in the streets a child comes up speaking in Creole to me as I smile back at them. They then grab my hand as we’re walking, and I pick them up and put them over my shoulders. This is a ministry I didn’t even expect God to work so greatly in. The ministry of loving people whole heartedly, being a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows (Psalm 68:5), and portraying Jesus in the language of Christ-like love. I expected to come into this trip preaching the good news, suppling food to the hungry, caring for the elderly, supporting indigenous people, and praying for those in need (which has all come into fulfillment), but never did I expect God to wreck my heart with love for His children in the midst of the darkness around them.
Another place I’ve experienced God’s love immensely is in a Haitian church during worship. I wouldn’t have thought I could get so much out of a church where I sit for 2 hours not understanding a single word they are saying. I see that this opens the opportunity to hear the voice of God and sense His promptings as I sit and watch those around me following along in the church service. While I don’t understand a word besides “merci” and “Jezi”, the presence of God is just as strong in worship. God has shown me love and placed a heavy burden on my heart for the Haitians in church that worship God whole-heartedly even when they are surrounded by darkness and may not know if they can provide the next meal to their children. Being in the middle of darkness doesn’t stop God’s love or the love that people have for God. Language doesn’t stop the presence of God, and surely it doesn’t stop the love we give to serve God.
When I saw language as a barrier, God saw it as an opportunity. He saw it as an opportunity to love in creative ways I’ve never loved before. An opportunity to fight against darkness with the overpowering love of Jesus, and the opportunity to hear His loving voice stronger than ever before to better minister to His people.
