3 hour church services make me sleepy..
So Sunday morning service was interesting this morning. Did
some worship in Creole, and said some things that I have no clue what they
meant. But truth is, we have come to worship.
That was my thoughts this morning as church began. It does
not matter what is said. It does not matter if I understand the prayers of the
Haitians to my left. It does not matter that the def kid sitting next to me
thinks it is funny to pull my leg hair, and it doesn’t matter that 4 year old
Bob is jumping up and down in front of me drooling more than Sara does in her
sleep. I was there to worship. I was
there to give my all to the God of Gods. I was there to raise my hands and lift
up our savior Jesus Christ. I was there because it was my turn to say that God
is more important than the crops in the field. He is more important than the
hole we have been digging. He is more important than my sleep. He is more
important than playing hacki sack. He is the most important thing there is. He
is everything, and “that” is why we come to worship on Sunday. To give Him that
day, to give Him our life, to give Him our praise.
With all that said, I happened to glance across the audience
to the far wall underneath a small poster. There sat a man quiet but intrigued.
Not distracted by a single thing, but fully staring at the speaker trying to
hear each word. I recognized the man. I had seen him once before. His name,
John Claude, he is the witch doctor that we invited to the church the Sunday
before.
He came! He happened to catch me looking, and I couldn’t
help but let go of the biggest smile, and I through my hand in the air and
waved at John Claude. He returns a smile and a wave back at me.
God stirred something in his life. God is moving in his
life. The team caught up with him as he was walking out of the church at the
end of service. He had brought his son Johnny. We explained to John Claude that
we were ecstatic to see him this morning. We asked him what he thought, and if
he thought he would be back? He responded simply that he enjoyed coming, and
that he will be back next week. We prayed for John Claude and his boy Johnny,
and watched them walk away, back to their home about 3 miles away.
How good is God? Who can stir in the hearts of voodoo witch
doctors and compel them to walk three miles through the mud, up and down hills
to a church in the middle of nowhere with no promise of any physical gift?
Answer: OUR GOD! Our
God is that big! Our God is that guy! He is the one who compels, convicts, and
offers hope and life! Our God is the greatest, our God is the biggest, our God
is the Rocky Balboa of gods! You just can’t beat him!
“God, you are so good!
God we lift up John Claude and his family. We ask you to continue to stir in
their hearts and minds. Father we ask you to light the fire in his heart, that
he would be a light to the village around him. God I pray that you will convict
John Claude, that you will bring about change in his life, that you would
become his everything. Make him hungry, and then you be his food Father. We ask
these things in the name of Jesus. Amen”
