Haiti Trip Report
This was another amazing trip to Haiti. Thank you for standing with me in prayer. I needed it and God blessed my efforts. It feels like my ministry there has been taken to a new level.
I had been invited to teach a
group of pastors and church leaders who have been active in
organizing marches and crusades around Haiti. Last time I was here,
it was the day after three days of fasting and prayer near the
palace, with 24 hours of prayer, culminating in a massive march from
the palace to the airport and back, telling Voodoo that it had to
leave the island. They were high as a kite. This time, they had just
finished a six-day crusade in the largest slum section of the city,
really a city within the city called “Citi Sole”. I had been near it
before, could see it over the wall from the church where I was
preaching, heard gunshots, but few people dared to enter it. This
was where all the kidnappers hid with the people they stole, knowing
the police would never come in to find them. The group I have been
working with spent three days fasting and praying that the
kidnappings would cease. Then, after the UN made a sweep of the
city-- ridding the area of many kidnappers, finding victims, and
caches of weapons, the violence had died down. This group went in
and prayed, worshipped, and preached for six days, gathering
thousands of people and leading hundreds to Christ. Maxo Joseph and
his team head it. They had met in a church for two days of teaching.
It was a wonderful time together and God was moving by His Spirit.
Violet Thompson of Bermuda also joined us. She has a burden for
Haiti and encouraged them a lot.
Several years ago, I met this
unusual group of believers in Haiti who were different than the ones
I had been relating to. One difference is that they do not expect me
to pay for all the projects they've started or to give them personal
financial support. They have not asked for anything in return for
the hospitality they provided and refused when I offered it. They
are generous, considerate, and very ambitious for the revival of the
island. I have been waiting for the “other shoe” to drop, but it
hasn't yet. When I ask how they came to this attitude, they tell me
that they believe Jesus when He said that it is more blessed to give
than to receive. They want to offset the image of the Christians in
Haiti who have become dependent on missionaries. They want to do for
themselves and under-wright with their own limited resources, but
are doing it with joy. The other thing that sets them apart is their
spiritual hunger. They love to be taught and are looking for tools
to apply to reaching their island home.
There
are few things as beautiful as a worship service in Haiti, after a
song or two, they come into a rhythm and seem to get lost in the
song for an hour or so, swaying in the Spirit like a palm tree under
a gentle breeze. There is something so natural about it-- nothing
forced-- as if they are trying to do it. It is instinctive, each
adding a part, creating an amazing harmony that you do not
experience very often. You can see the glory of the Lord on their
faces. They forget about everything around them and seem to get lost
on a journey in an unseen vehicle that has come down and swept them
up. I wish everyone could see what I saw. Video cannot really
capture it. You have to be there.
Something is happening
in Haiti that is different from when I first began going down there
in 2000. The next generation of leaders is trying to reach their
island and are having a real impact wherever they go. They are
focused on prayer and fasting and have a great boldness in
confronting evil. I am not sure that we can call it revival just
yet, but it could lead to it. All I know for sure is that I want to
be a part of it and am honored to be included in what God is doing
there. I am already looking forward to the next time I go back down
there.
