Power in the Name...
In January 2003, there was a huge Voodoo celebration that lasted nine days with drumming around the clock. It was held at the house across the street from the church nearest the orphanage. This time, the celebration happened again in the same place, but I was greatly encouraged that we only heard sporadic drumming for three days. The last day that we went out visiting people, Pastor Winston's team ended up stopping by that house and talking to the man there. As we found out later, he was the high Voodoo priest for the whole region. Winston talked with the man and at the end of the conversation, Gerald agreed that he could come back the next day at 4pm and he would accept Jesus at that time.
At about 3:30, our team got together to begin interceding for when Pastor Winston went to visit. We prayed that Gerald would hold to his commitment and would be willing to leave behind his only source of income (People would pay for him to perform chants or sacrifices, make potions, etc.). Winston returned after about 15 minutes with the news that Gerald was in the middle of a Voodoo ritual. Someone had come to him with a situation, so he was contacting spirits on their behalf. Gerald's wife had said that he could come back in an hour and see if he was done.
It was time for dinner, so we made the plan that we would always have at least two people interceding until we saw Gerald saved. We declared the roof of the orphanage to be a place of prayer, and three volunteers headed up while the rest of us ate dinner. When we finished, we all joined together as Winston headed down for a second visit.
After intense intercession and five visits by Pastor Winston, Gerald renounced Voodoo and prayed for Jesus to be his Lord and Savior at about 8:30 that evening. The Haitians rejoiced with us when we heard the news. Poppy said that the magnitude of Gerald getting saved was comparable to us holding a thousand church services. This was the biggest stronghold Satan had in the area, but now it is broken. We prayed by faith in the name of Jesus, and God rescued Gerald.
Re-match...
It has become an expectation that we play soccer with the kids as many of the days that we can. The kids are good, and really enjoy getting to play against us. A lot of people find out about the game and come to watch it. Our last trip and this trip, this series of games has escalated to a "World Cup" game at the end. This time, we really played it up. We told some of the guys to spread the word so a lot of kids would be there. In May and this time both, we have tied the series of games, tied the championship game, and even tied the penalty kicks at the end.
At the end of the game, Pastor Winston gave a short message about Jesus and had an altar call for salvation right there in the yard. He made it clear that just those who had not received Jesus before should respond. Several kids came forward and prayed for Jesus to come into their heart. Afterwards we had a party for the teams, with cake and soccer prizes. The cakes had soccer player candles, one of which had its front side smashed flat while traveling. During the game, their best player, Antwon, blasted me in the face at point-blank range while trying to shoot a goal (it hurt...a lot, and I had to sit down for a couple minutes to recover). Well, because of that incident, their team gave me the flat-faced candle, which I now have displayed on a shelf in my bedroom.
Impressions...
I think our future trips are going to have a different focus after what happened this time. We will put more emphasis on discipleship and bringing maturity to the body of Christ, instead of being intent on demolishing strongholds. This trip was great. God used us in a significant work. I will remember the intense group prayer on the roof for the rest of my life.
In May, we will be going back again. We will spend 14 days in Haiti, spending time with our friends there and ministering to people. God is not done yet. With strongholds broken, we should begin to see large numbers of people saved. One group Pastor Winston wants to focus on in particular is the teen and twenties age range.
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