Demons, Death, and Daylight

The last two weeks have been yet again, eventful for Kristin and I. I have either had no chance to write, or the times I have had to write, our internet was down. However, I will try and sum up these last days for you.
 May 18th is a big holiday in Haiti called flag day. It is a day of remembrance of when the first Haitian flag was born, and it represents freedom from the French oppression. So, for most of the week, we had it easy. We didnt teach the preschoolers, and our adult english classes were smaller.
In the midst of our not working a ton, God showed us some pretty crazy stuff.
One of the girls at the pastor's house has become very dear to me. Her and I joke that I am going to bring my little brother over here so that they can get married and she can be my legit sister, so I always call her my sister. I think it was Wednesday, she looked like death. I asked her what was the matter, and she couldn't even resond, but shook her head with tears in her eyes and walked away. Her wisdom teeth have been growing in and have been causing her pain to the point of tears, so I figured it was that and told her I would pray for her. The next night at church she got up infront  of church and they prayed for her, and I couldnt understand what they said it was for, but someone told me it was because of spiritual attack. Then friday came around. Our moto was a bit late and we were sitting at the pastors house and asked how she was doing. One of the other girls said she was doing better but asleep. I then asked one of the little boys (he's 9) in the house what had been wrong with her and he very blatantly said she had demons, and he started demonstrating for us what it looked like, and it was super creepy. As he was talking, one of the other girls came out of her room, and very calmly told the pastor that my dear sister needed prayer. He very gently and calmly went over, got his hymn book out and walked to her room. We asked if we could join in praying for her. We went into the room, and tried to wake her up, it took so much effort just to get her to open her eyes, that I almost thought she had died. When she finally did open her eyes, tears immediately spilled down her cheeks and sobs began to rack her body, again, I dont think she could physically speak. She calmed down a bit. Pastor began to sing over her, and started praying. We all prayed under our breath with him. His voice was so calm and soothing, that I was shocked into atention by the blood-curtling, yet short scream that came out of our sister. We continued to pray. Her body began to tense and her back arched, and she screamed then relaxed once again. We finished praying for her. She was able to sit up and the tears were gone. She was able to speak again, and her eyes were normal. They got her to walk to the living room and sit down. she seemed pretty normal, except for the fact that she was incredibly weak and needed to have someone feed her. It was the most intense thing I had ever seen. Definately not what I ever thought it would be like to pray demons out of some one. My heart was SO broken for her. It literally made me cry to see her in such despair, and it was one of the most calm prayer sessions i've ever been in. I've heard people pray with more fervency over blessing their dinner, and yet the marked difference in her blew me away. Krisin and I came away, not exactly knowing what we had seen, or what exactly had happened, but are so blessed to know that prayer changes things in a big way.

This week we attended another funeral. This time was very different for me. The last funeral we went to, we had no association, except through the brother of the deceased. This time, we had met the woman who died just three days before she passed away, and she was in seemingly good health.  She was the sister-in-law of one of our favorite friends here. What was even sadder is that she had just given birth to twin boys 10 days before. She died of in infection from her caesarian section. Remember me telling you about the wailing at the last funeral we went to? I felt like it was magnified ten-fold. And it was crazy, because I knew most of the people who were mourning her loss, and it absolutely broke my heart to hear them wail as if they had lost the dearest love of their lives.

Although this week brought experiences of things not so pleasant, God showed us a lot. A big reminder to us was that spiritual warfare is real. He tells us that in Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It was good for us to hear again, and see so vividly, and to realize that spiritual warfare can affect even us. Halleluiah that Greater Is He Who Is In Us Than He Who Is In the World. I think both Kristin and I were experiencing more spiritual warfare than we had realized, but once we did, and addressed it, we were very much more clearheaded and light hearted. What a fantastic God we serve!

Hmmm…. Some highlights for the past week:

1)      Diana. The Cutest, daintiest little 3 year old lives on a corner that we walk past every day on our way to work. Each morning she hears us coming and comes running at full speed, screaming Kristin’s name and dives off the mound of dirt at their front stoop into Kristin’s arms. After she has filled her quota of Kristin kisses, she reaches for me, and I scoop her out of Kristin’s arms for the most delightful good morning hugs, and the saltiest good morning kisses. I set her down then we walk around the corner. By the time we have reached to other side, she pops out of the fence with a smile reaching from ear to ear, ready for another round of hugs and kisses. We are blessed to have the same warm welcome each afternoon as we head home. There is no better fuel for a mile long walk in 90 degree weather than the joyous love of one of God’s little children

2)      We got to go to the beach on Sunday. It was so nice to have a relaxing day of sitting in the shade of palm trees and swimming in the warmth of the Caribbean. My favorite moment from the beach was one of our pastors swimming out to sea on his back with a goofy grin on his face, and singing at the top of his lungs to the Lord, sputtering every other stroke as water got into his mouth.

3)      Today our friend asked us if we would like a mango, and who can’t resist a good mango? So he did what any good Haitian friend would do, and he slipped off his sandals, scaled the nearest mango tree in 10 seconds flat and started dropping mangos down to us. Amazing!

4)      One day after we finished painting, we said good bye to our painting buddies as they went off to school, and we stopped off at the pastor’s house for lunch.  About 30 minutes later, we stepped onto the street to walk home. Lo and behold! Who are walking toward us, but our two painting buddies carrying legit 6 foot long tree trunks nonchalantly on each of their shoulders.  As they stopped to say hello, one of them let go of his shorts to wave at us, and a machete fell out of the leg of shorts and almost stuck him in the foot. And when we asked why they weren’t in school, they said that they needed to bring fire wood for the family. I like Haitian priorites. It is more important to help a friend cut down fire wood with a machete than go to school. Done and done.

5)      Another joy of this week was sitting in church, this time without an interpreter, listening to the hundred questions about Matthew 5:31-32. Through my broken creole, I’m pretty sure the congregation asked every individual scenario of the terms and rights for divorce. Including, but not limited to “well, what if I move to Miami, and my wife has to stay in Haiti, and I get lonely and want another wife, can I divorce her and not sin?” I love question and answer time J

Haitians: A People of Passion and Patience

On thursday, we were at church and something that I found profound happened. The pastor was preaching very passionately about something that I only understood about every 3rd word, and as he finished up, members of the congregation, one by one and very politely stood up to ask him questions. Apparently, his message had been either new material to some, or rather controversial. He was speaking about Romans 8, and walking in the flesh as opposed to walking in the Spirit. Afterwards, I asked him to repeat the sermon for me in Creole/English so I could understand, and he did so for me very graciously. He was right on. He spoke of how we no longer live according to the law, but now we have been set free by Grace. The thing that got eveyone riled up, was when he began to speak of what things are considered sin. As in, looking lustfully at someone or thinking evil for someone in your mind. Alot of people were asking about how could you be sinning if you weren't "doing" anything. The message itself was not too profound to me, nor peoples questions. The thing I found revolutionary that night was that people would stand up in the middle of a packed out church service and ask the pastor questions beacause they didn't understand. First off: that takes humility. That takes not caring what man thinks of you and wanting to truely know what God thinks. To stand up and ask questions takes a thirst for God. I was quite blown away. I love the church we attend here they have such a passion for our God. ... and I wish I always understood every word that they say. I've been asking for the gift of tounges :) soon enough :)
Today Krisitn and I are blessed with a day off. We were going to go over to our friends house and play, but we diecided to have them come to our house. They brought a movie with them to watch. We were excited to see a movie... and it was in English. They showed me four burned discs, and I assumed they were probably about 30 min each. After 4 HOURS into a cheesy drama, romantic, action film, we realized that we were still only on disc 2 and it was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and we hadn't done a thing. Our friends had to go, so they left the other 2 discs for us to finish on our own. 8 HOURS of one movie??!! Shoot, I cant hardley sleep still for 8 housrs. Let alone sit through a movie. Haitians, I believe are the most patient people I have ever met. I honestly am blown away at how incredibly hard they can work, and how incredibly long they can sit. I'm not going to lie, my bum is tired. But it was so fun and Kristin and I are so incredibly blessed to have such great friends here. I LOVE IT! God is SO good to us :)

Two Weddings and A Funeral

The last two weeks have been quite eventful. Kristin and I have had the opportunity to serve at 2 weddings and attend a funeral. For the most part, the ceremonies for both the weddings and the funeral were quite what I expected in comparison to American tradition. There were 2 great differences though. In both weddings, there were multiple women dressed in wedding dresses that walked down the aisle before the bride. I asked the reasoning for this, and I was told that they are the people closest to the bride. (Sorry Amber… If I ever have a Haitian wedding, you don’t get to re-wear your beautiful wedding dress, I’ll stick to the American tradition on this one.) At the funeral, the difference was the way people mourn. And when I say mourn, I mean, convulsing, flailing themselves on the ground, weeping, screaming, mourning. It was truly gut wrenching. I did not know the man who had died. It was our Pastor’s brother, so we went to support him as his friends and sisters.  But seeing his loved ones grieve this man’s  death in this way made me realize how greatly this man would be missed, and that it is ok to grieve. I don’t think I will ever find myself mourning in this way, but if the need ever arises, I don’t think I would be afraid to actually mourn over a loved one anymore.

In the funeral, they read Hebrews 11:13-16 (or at least I think that is what I understood from my broken Creole)

 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

 ¹⁴For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

 ¹⁵And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

 ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

This verse has made me think. It perfectly sums up a feeling that Kristin and I have been feeling. We have certain friends here, that when we hang out with them, we completely forget they are Haitian. Yet, at the same time, we don’t think they are American either. We have realized it is our friends and family here who are walking with the Lord. They don’t emanate one country or another, because they are not of this earth, but that they desire a better country, a heavenly one. It is the same way with the weddings and the funeral. So, there may be a couple of marked differences, yet, they both signify love, and death.  (mind you, they were Christian weddings and funeral, I have been told that non-Christian weddings and funerals are different)

Lets see… what other highlights have there been over the last couple of weeks?

Kristin and I began our English classes. So far they are going great. We absolutely love teaching. We have 4 adult classes a week and 2 preschool classes a week. It is a lot more prep work than we expected, but so worth it.  We are still sanding and painting houses.

My skin has been taking a beating. The first week we were here, I had a lovely sun rash that covered my chest, face and arms and was itchy as all get out. This week I got a wonderful burn on my leg from an exhaust pipe on a motorcycle, it is quite ugly and huge even though it doesn’t hurt that bad. And today I realized I have ringworm on my face again. Super attractive, I know. Oh! And,  have you ever had ants in your pants? I have, tonight, and I didn’t realize it till we were at church and I was trying to very discreetly squish the ants that found their way into my leggings. I knew we had an ant problem in our room, but I hadn’t realized they had found my clothes drawer. Praise the Lord all of our problems are limited to skin irritations

Ooh! The rain, I forgot to tell you about the rain. Last year when I was here at this time, I was 7 hours north. I didn’t rain once, so naturally I was expecting a nice, dry Haitian Spring. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It probably rains every other day here. Sometimes it is just a little sprinkley rain, and sometimes it is so hard, that you immediately are drenched the instant you step out into it. I love these rains; in them I feel God’s glory and power, his cleansing and his thundering voice. There is however, a slight problem with rain this hard when you take a motorcycle everywhere; you can’t take a Moto anywhere in rain such as this. Kristin and I walk the mile from our hotel to the church a few times a day, no problem but at night, we have our friend drive us home because it is just not wise or safe for 2 girls to be walking in the dark. A couple of nights ago after church the rain started to sprinkle as we were finishing up dinner. Right as our friend arrived to take us home, it began to downpour more than I’ve ever experienced before. There was no hope of the rain letting up, so we started out on foot back to our hotel, our friend walking with us for safety. Fortunately, he is as good –natured and crazy as Kristin and I are, for we had the most glorious mile long trek back to our house. We sang and danced and shouted to Jesus in the rain, singing in Creole and English for all in Heaven and on earth to hear. I don’t think I’ve ever had quite so much fun in my life. I love God’s unexpected dates, which you could never plan, or scheme up, but that He has prepared for you, if only you will take the time to enjoy them with Him.

I challenge you… take the unexpected God moments in life, and enjoy them with Him this week.

Be blessed!

Haitian Super Star

Last night was SO random.
The First of may is the birthday of the town we are staying in in Haiti. Every year they have a huge festival and bring in the biggest stars in Haiti to sing and party all through the night.
Kristin's and my night started off with wanting to see the festival by motorcyle. We didn't want to get into the midst of the action, we just wanted to see what it was about.So we had one of our friends drive us. On our way downtown our moto ran out of gas. none of us had money on us, so we had to walk back to the hotel to get  cash, walk back to the bike and push it to the nearest gas station. Then we set out for the festival again. When we got to the water where the festival happens, it was so crowded we decided to turn around. Right then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was another one of our friends. The four of us talked for a bit, then decided that we wanted to walk on the beach in the midst of the action. It was fun. We returned home about 9 and  started to get ready for bed.
Our hotel owner is quite a character. His name is Bernard. We enjoy him greatly and have many a funny conversation with him. Last night he came and got us and told us we needed to come meet the Haitian super star that was staying at the hotel. A nice, normal looking Haitian guy came out and made small talk with us. He said his name was Gracia Delva, and said it as if we should know who he was. He called out his girlfriend and she came and chatted too. Immediately, I felt a great love for her in my heart, the kind of love that you want to see her do SO well in life and see all brokenness healed and see her walk with the Lord. They told us that he was singing at the festival that night and they invited us to go back down to the festival with them and watch the show. I wasn't in a mood to go out again and didn't even consider it for a second. however, Kristin is way more adventurous and fun than I am and told me she wanted to go. I reconsidered and Bernard talked us into going by telling us that we would only stay there for 20 or 30 minutes to see part of the show and come home.
6 of us hopped into Gracia's truck with 4 gigantic security guards. As we neared the festival and traffic slowed down, and people could see into the truck, and started swarming our truck once they recognized Gracia inside. As we approached the stage, we had to practically run to keep him from being swarmed by people. Kristin and I had no idea what to expect. We came around the back of the stage and Gracia disappeared. We were ushered onstage where there was music already blaring, and looked out over thousands and thousands of people singing along, dancing, and shouting. All of a sudden Gracia appeared onstage from no where and the crowd erupted. We had no idea that he literally is a huge super star here. We stood on the side of the stage with his girlfriend the whole time and danced and clapped to the music. Before he finished singing, his girlfriend Anne motioned for us to go off stage. we ran down and had to run back to the truck, ushered by the security guards. All of a sudden Gracia appeared in the truck and drove us home. It was like the craziest dream. On the way home, we found out that his second job is being a congress man. Just got elected into the Haitian government on March 20th. We all swapped information.
It was so crazy, because yes, it was a random, unrealistic night, but we know that nothing is random  with our God. I know that it is not random that I have a deep love for Anne already and a passion to see her brokenness mended by Jesus. I also do not believe it coincidence that one of the deepest prayers of my heart for Haiti is to see its government fall in love with Jesus and actually begin to see the country healed from the top down and we met a congress man, have his number and can pray for him. Who knows what God has in store, but I pray that God saves Anne and Gracia and uses them in changing Haiti.

A week of fun

It has been so long since I have had a chance to write, and our internet is not the most reliable thing.

 It has been an amazing week. God is so good. Kristin’s and my week days are full of working on houses and playing with kids and going to church. Last Saturday we were blessed with quite a great surprise. One of our friends came and picked us up on a motorcycle and took us to his family’s house where we got manicures, pedicures and got our hair braided. They made us food and spoiled us rotten. We taught each other our favorite hymns in Creole and English and laughed together. Then we went and cleaned the church for Easter service. We feel so blessed to be here and be a part of this family.

 Easter was a beautiful day here. The service was filled with such beautiful worship, and all of the songs that we learned the day before, we sang in church. We then went to the Pastor’s house and had a huge feast with the family. It was so wonderful. Kristin and I usually eat alone, and it was so much fun to have the whole crew together. The Pastor’s house is amazing. There are 3 pastors who work for Restoration Ministries. One of the pastors, Rodruige and his wife live in “the pastor’s house”. They have taken in 2 boys and close to 10 girls who were abused or have no family to live with them. Kristin and I go there for every meal and hang out in between work jobs. So we have gotten to know them all pretty well and can’t wait to start investing in their lives more.

We have had many great opportunities here to invest, but sometimes, it feels like we are just living such normal day life that we should be doing more for the Kingdom. Kristin and I have been praying that we would have opportunities to share the gospel and be Jesus’ love to those around us and tonight He gave us the most epic opportunity! We had just decided not to go to church tonight so that we could stay in and get stuff done, when we asked our hotel owner if he knew of a good place to get my favorite food, Patay. He called up some random guy named Johnny to take us to the market. So, Kristin, Johnny and I hopped on a motor cycle and headed into town. As we were driving, we were making small talk with Johnny and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said He didn’t. I asked him if he wanted to know Jesus, and he said yes. So I asked him if he ever wanted to come to church with us. And he said that he would. So we asked if he wanted to go tonight. It was 5:54 and church started at 6. He said yes. So we skipped the Patay and turned around and headed to church. As we were driving, a near monsoon began and by the time we got to church we were drenched, and it was raining so hard, there was no way that we could keep driving so we sat in church. They ended up cutting out on service early, because the storm was so big that we could not hear the pastor. So the three of us went back to the pastor’s house and ate some dinner and hung out for a bit before returning home. Johnny said that was the first time he had ever been to church and that he would like to come back with us on Sunday. So, if you think about it, pray for Johnny. Lord willing, he will come to know Jesus this week! Halleluia!

Can I tell you one thing I absolutely love about Haitian culture that I got to see tonight? Haitians treat each person they meet like family. Tonight as we were introducing Johnny to our friends, they all started up conversation with him like they had known him all of their lives. What could have been a potentially awkward situation of two girls bringing their taxi driver to church spur of the moment, turned into a family affair. Kristin and I have felt that affection and family atmosphere a great deal and are so blessed by it.  I pray that if I ever come back to the states I will bring this atmosphere with me. That each person I come into contact with will know that they are welcomed into my family; the family of God.