“…[H]e will give a crown of beauty for
ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of
despair.”
-Isaiah 61:3
Before
coming to Haiti, I had heard pretty much nothing but negative talk about this
country. People called it a hopeless
nation, a black hole that sucks up resources, a revolving door of missionaries,
a country given to Satan, and a barren land.
Rumor said Haiti was ugly, brown, and unfertile. I’d been told I would see a shift from green
to brown the moment I crossed the Dominican-Haitian border, a result of demonic
curses. “No one knows quite what to do
with Haiti,” was the resounding opinion.
“Don’t waste your time.”
To be
honest, whenever I hear negative press about a country, everything inside of me
wants to prove people wrong. When people
declare a hopeless nation, I want to declare hope. When people declare barrenness, I want to
declare life. When people declare a
curse, I want to declare Isaiah 61—beauty for ashes, blessing instead of
mourning, praise instead of despair.
The
Lord had given me a vivid dream about Haiti way back in August, and I held it
in my heart. Despite hearing how
dreadfully ugly Haiti was, my dream revealed gorgeous palm trees, sparkling
water, and natural beauty. I believed
God saw Haiti like this—but I wondered what I would actually see when I got
there.
Upon
arriving in Haiti, I quickly realized that people see what they want to
see. Yes, it is true that parts of Haiti
are incredibly polluted, poor, and destitute. But beyond the rubbish piles and the poverty, there
is beauty so intense that it honestly can’t be put into words.
In
Haiti, I saw green. I saw lush
vegetation. I saw majestic trees. I saw children laughing and faces
smiling. I saw the same sparkling clear
water and palm trees I’d seen in my dream.
And most of all, I saw a nation bursting with endless potential and
relentless hope.
Haiti is
undoubtedly on the brink of change. The
earthquake of 2010 was not the confirmation of God’s hatred for this “ungodly
nation”. God loves Haiti. He loves His Haitian sons and daughters. And He has a plan of hope and prosperity for
them.
After
visiting twenty-four countries during this trip (many of which blur together), I
can honestly say there is something very different and very special about Haiti. Something significant is happening in Haiti’s
history right now—you can simply feel it in the air. It seems like the people have hit a turning
point, and the nation is on an historic upswing. There is still abundant need and appalling
poverty, but Haiti is rapidly moving forward.
Because
of the unique nature of Haiti, our team’s ministry time here unfolded quite
differently than we’d imagined. Instead
of witnessing healing miracles, overwhelming financial favor, or other
demonstrations of the more in-your-face glory, we experienced God’s glory
through relationship. Most of our time
was spent getting to know people on a much more intimate level than we normally
can. We shared our hearts with our new
brothers and sisters, listened to their visions, and ministered to many
individuals who are in the process of transforming Haiti.
I felt
like God let us in on one of His greatest secrets—that He is going to surprise
the world by what He is doing in this little island nation. He is gradually pouring more and more fuel
into the country, and soon He will throw a match on it; and Haiti will explode
with His glory. In Haiti, I felt like an
undercover agent for God, secretly being handed fuel by my Father and shown
what people to throw it on--knowing the explosion is coming really soon. God connected my team to pivotal leaders in
Haiti’s transformation, and I can’t explain how humbled I am that He let my
little team be a part of their lives and this upcoming burst of glory.
Our divine
connections actually began before we even arrived in Haiti. A friend of my mother, June, had lived in
Haiti years prior and connected me through Facebook to several of her friends living
in Port-au-Prince. I started writing so
many emails to strangers in Haiti that I was getting mixed up with who was
who. But one man’s emails really stood
out to me, and I knew I needed to meet him when we arrived. His name is Pastor
Bobby.
Bobby
is the head pastor of Quisqueya Chapel, one of the three English-speaking
churches in all of Haiti. We attended
his church on our first Sunday, and the moment he began to speak from the pulpit,
I knew this man would shake the nation.
He declared the very words that were on our hearts. He boldly proclaimed that Haiti was
positioned perfectly for revival. God
loves to use the underdogs to blow people away with His power and glory. God uses the weak things of the world to
shame the wise. Haiti has been declared the “poorest country in the western
Hemisphere”; and Bobby declared that label of poverty is precisely why God
would choose Haiti for a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit. He said that because of the devastating earthquake
in 2010, the whole world is watching Haiti.
This tiny country had attracted the hearts of people all over the globe,
and people would see when God brought it from tragedy to victory. This was the first time I’d heard someone
fearlessly declaring that the negative words spoken over Haiti were lies and
curses--and that we needed to believe in something greater.
Immediately,
our hearts connected with Bobby and we knew we needed to spend more time
together. He quickly adopted my team as
his little “League of Nations” and invited us to stay at his home for a couple
nights. There we shared ideas, food, and
laughs with him and his beautiful wife.
Bobby was hungering for more and more of God and was desperate to see
Him move powerfully in his life, his family, his church, and his nation. He saw the same ticking time bomb that we did
and believed God was getting ready to blow Haiti up with His glory.
Bobby
knew God was on the move here in a radical way and wanted to involve us in what
was happening. We spent hours praying
with Bobby and for Bobby, anointing his whole church with oil, prophesying over
his family, and breaking strongholds and curses over Haiti. Bobby had person after person lined up for us
to meet. Through his connections, we met
many of the key players in Haiti’s future and were able to speak with and pray
for several.
One of
the many fireballs in his congregation was South Korean Helen. We met her on a Sunday morning when Bobby
brought her over to our group for prayer.
Helen was facing many trials that had all piled up into one big
mess. She had mistakenly been assumed as
a woman of great wealth, and greed led to an attempted kidnapping. Fortunately, she’d been removed from her home
and able to hide out for a while; but she felt unsafe and needed a new place to
live. Helen was in search of a new base
for her ministry as well. In addition,
she had been suffering from a relentless cough for months. Looking overwhelmed and broken, she
approached us for prayer. We prayed that
God would protect and provide.
Just two weeks later, we reunited with Helen in her brand new
home. God had provided a new place to
live—beautiful, affordable, and fully-furnished. Though monthly rent is a concept virtually
unheard of in Haiti, Helen needed this option, and the woman renting the house
said that was no problem. Helen was also
provided with a new house for her ministry base at the exact price she’d prayed
for. And lastly, her cough was
healed. Helen looked radiant—healthy,
happy, and in awe of God’s speedy answer to prayer.
During our visit, Helen invited a colleague over to her
house and asked us to pray for her. We’ll
call her Jasmine to protect her privacy.
We asked Jasmine what she wanted prayer for. Poised and self-assured, she very
matter-of-factly said she was bi-polar and would like to live a more normal
life. We began to dig a little
deeper. Eventually, Jasmine admitted
that she had been abandoned by her mother and mistreated by her sister as a
child.
Jasmine also divulged that she heard a voice who gave her
instructions. The voice told her there
was no God. It told her that if she kept
smoking, she would go to hell. We asked
her who she thought the voice was. She
seemed unsure at first, then said she thought it was the devil. We asked Jasmine if she believed the voice
when it spoke and if she really wanted to follow its instructions. She said she had no choice. She needed a guide for her life, and the
voice was the only one guiding her.
Jasmine said she couldn’t hear the voice of God, so she was forced to
follow this one.
Jasmine explained that she had begun to feel a “negative
energy” in her childhood home in Jamaica.
Her sister hated and cursed her, and whenever she wore her sister’s
clothes, she felt pain all over her body.
When Jasmine told her mother about the pain, she immediately brought her
to a psychiatric ward. Jasmine was
diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and put on medication. Her mother couldn’t handle the situation and
quickly sent Jasmine off to live with her father in Haiti.
Jasmine had been dismissed as mentally ill, but I told her
that she was not crazy. I explained that
we are all in a very real battle, and there are very real angels and demons
around us. I told Jasmine that the
negative energy and the voice speaking to her is called Satan. The positive energy is called the Holy Spirit. The negative energy, Satan, produces lies,
death, condemnation, etc. The positive
energy, the Holy Spirit, produces life, truth, freedom, peace, joy, etc.
We asked her if she wanted to hear the Holy Spirit instead
of the voice. We asked her if she wanted
to forgive her family and find freedom.
We asked her if she wanted to stand in authority over the voice that was
controlling her life. She said yes on
every account.
Natalie began by leading her in a prayer to forgive her
family and renounce all pacts she’d made with Satan. Several of us prayed for her, and we asked
her to repeat, “I am a daughter of God.
Satan has no power over me, etc.”
As Jasmine repeated, she suddenly burst into tears and began
to yell words from her heart, “I belong to God!
Satan, I’m not your play-toy anymore!
I hate you!!!”
In that crucial moment, she shifted from being trapped to
taking authority over what was happening in her life. I saw the deep pain from her battle and the
true desire to defeat the enemy. We
stopped fighting for her and began
fighting with her as she spoke words
of truth over her own life. This was breakthrough.
Finally, after much prayer, we all went outside, joined
hands and screamed “FREEDOM!” at the top of our lungs three times. Jasmine radiated with victory. She was no longer a prisoner. This woman was free.
Helen looked elated at the deliverance that had just taken
place. As she continues to reach out to
those around her and take the time to find the Jasmines in her community, many
more will walk in freedom.
* * * *
Though we could have easily spent our entire month in
Port-au-Prince, we decided to head outside the city for part of our
journey. We spent some time in the
region of Carrefour, just an hour outside of downtown Port-au-Prince. One of Natalie’s friends connected us with a Haitian
fireball named Karly. An architect by
trade but missionary by practice, Karly exhibited what a true servant of Christ
is supposed to be. Karly spent his days
visiting the tent cities and homes in Carrefour to visit families and pray for
people. He was involved at a
neighborhood orphanage and active with the youth in his church. Karly’s home not only belonged to him, his
wife, and adorable son but also to the countless neighborhood children who
flocked to his property. Every time we
came to his home, local kids were in the front of the house playing soccer,
gathered in his living room watching a movie, or sitting on his porch waiting
for a hug.
Karly often worked with visiting mission teams and led them
throughout his village to be involved in his day-to-day ministry. Normally the teams stayed at “The Villa”, a
fancy establishment across the street from Karly’s home. However, we were placed in a more modest
house next door and invited to eat at Karly’s house each night instead of The
Villa. This turned out to be a huge
blessing and an opportunity to transform from acquaintances into family. Each night, we enjoyed the delicious local
food Karly’s wife cooked for us, as well as the fellowship of new friends. As we joked around with Karly, he became like
a big brother, and his four-year-old son became our team’s new favorite
person. The people who saw us
interacting thought we’d been friends for a long time and were shocked to find
out we’d just met.
Karly whipped us into shape by hiking us around his mountainous
community and bringing us into homes to pray for people. Many were sick and in pain. The need was great. At the top of Carrefour stood a tent city, a
makeshift community formed of tarp tents after the earthquake. As we passed through, we were invited into
some homes to pray. Whenever we prayed,
the women put cloth on their heads—a sign of reverence for God while receiving
prayer. If they didn’t have a
handkerchief handy, they all scrambled to find something before prayer started—even
an old T-shirt—to place on their heads. Despite
rumors that everybody in Haiti
believes in voodoo, my team was moved by the Haitian humility and reverence for
the Lord.
Karly also brought us to a local orphanage which immediately
melted my heart. Most of the children
living there were very young—around five or six years old. They eagerly surrounded us, ready to
play. We organized a few rounds of “duck,
duck, goose” and then a game of musical chairs.
The kids went wild with excitement and roared with laughter.
Aleeza spent her time holding a tiny baby, just a few months
old, who was the most malnourished person I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d seen starving babies from places like
Somolia on TV and in magazines, but I’d never seen a child so emaciated right
in front of my eyes. Her legs were like
fragile little twigs, with withered skin sagging off of them. She looked so delicate that I felt like I’d
break her if I touched her. Aleeza
bravely picked this baby girl up and held her on her lap. She prayed for God to heal the little baby
though she looked lifeless. Her face was
blank, and I knew if she hadn’t been taken in by the orphanage, she would have
died.
A few days later, we asked Karly to take us back to the
orphanage for another visit. In just a
few days, the tiny baby girl had transformed into a different person. She smiled when we picked her up. Her face had life in it. She showed emotion. I could scarcely believe my eyes. God was really healing this baby. Slowly but very surely, He was nursing her
back to health.
The other children were happy to be reunited, and I spent
most of my time chasing around a few of the little boys, tickling them as soon
as I caught them, and swinging them in the air.
I got tired much quicker than the six-year-olds did and sat on the couch
for a moment to rest. A quiet little boy
approached me and crawled into my lap. He examined my ponytail and ran his fingers
through my brown and blond hair, carefully rearranging where it fell on my
shoulders. After he was pleased with his
work, he cuddled into my chest, his arms wrapped around me.
I’d been having so much fun playing that I’d kind of
forgotten these kids were orphans. Suddenly,
I remembered why they were craving such love and attention. It’s not normal for a little boy to be so
starved for affection that he doesn’t care where it comes from. That’s never the way God intended the world
to be. Though we were providing very temporary
affection, I knew these kids needed so much more than we could provide in a
just a few hours.
This feeling of hopelessness is what many people let define
Haiti, but this isn’t the end of the story.
Though there are still many orphans, God is raising up a generation of
fathers for the fatherless. Karly is
already serving as a spiritual father to many, and he is training up many young
Haitians to follow his example.
Karly had been dreaming of organizing a youth conference for
the young adults in his church for a while and asked us to make it happen. He wanted to disciple the youth and begin a
ripple effect of God’s love. As these
youth go deeper with God, they will become the revival Haiti needs. Karly invited several young adults to our
house for a three-day conference. My
teammates and I taught on the father heart of God, our identity in Christ, and
the authority we carry as God’s children.
The youth were open, eager to learn, and excited to pass on what they
learned to others. I believe God will
raise them up to be amazing leaders in Haiti, and I’m blessed to have met them.
Though Carrefour was great, we still wanted to explore
further outside the city and began to pray for open doors. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, we
got connected to a German woman named Martina living in Gonaives, an area about
three hours north of Port-au-Prince.
Martina invited us to stay at the children’s home where she lived, Mission
de Vie. We’d found that most non-profits
in Haiti charged lots of money for visitors, some orphanages charging as much
as $90 per night to volunteer. When we
asked Martina how much it cost to stay with her, she seemed confused as to why
we would even offer money. Her orphanage
was the first we’d seen that didn’t seem to depend on foreign teams for income. And though Martina was from Germany, she was
married to a Haitian, and there were no other foreigners at Mission de
Vie. Martina was gracefully and joyfully
immersed in the culture. I liked that.
Martina organized several meetings for us—praying for
sponsorship program parents, orphanage staff, kids, and youth. At the staff meeting, we threw our original
plan out the window and decided to simply wash the feet of all of the staff
members and pray for them one by one.
One woman’s stoic countenance cracked, and she began crying. As we prophesied over people, Connie was
overwhelmed by a sense from God and told one of the women, “I feel like you are
called to be a mother.” This didn’t seem
a wild notion for a woman working at an orphanage, but the woman sneered. Connie was a bit taken aback by her reaction
and wasn’t sure what to think.
Natalie pried further to see why she’d reacted like
that. Natalie asked the woman if there
was anything she needed prayer for.
Reluctantly, the woman offered, “I don’t know why, but my husband and I
can’t have children. Before this
meeting, I was crying out to God about this.
I told God that if your mission team didn’t say anything about me being
a mother, I wouldn’t listen to anything you told me.” We were a bit stunned.
Shortly after, her husband heard what Connie had heard from
the Lord, and he asked us to pray for both of them. We went to their home later on and prayed for
God to give them children. The woman’s
countenance had completely shifted from harsh and skeptical to soft and
welcoming. She hugged us goodbye,
blessing us and telling us to come back to Haiti soon.
At the end of our visit, Martina dropped us off at another
mission in Gonaives called Much Ministries.
We were greeted by an American couple known to locals as Papa Beaver and
Mama Kathy, the heart of Much Ministries. Beaver and Kathy started going back
and forth between Haiti and North America for ten years before making a permanent
move to Haiti in 2011. They now work in
an extremely impoverished community called Jubilee. There’s a garbage dump, several shacks, muddy
roads, sewage streams, and salt flats.
You can choose to see the brown ugliness of it all, or you can choose to
see the beauty. Papa Beaver and Mama
Kathy choose to see the beauty.
Kathy’s vision entails taking things that others consider
trash and making them into something beautiful.
She started collecting trash from the rubbish dump in Jubilee and
teaching the local women how to turn it into beautiful jewelry. Years ago, she told the Haitian women of
Jubilee that one day foreigners would be fighting over what they had. The Haitians laughed at Kathy. Not too long after, they began to sell the
jewelry and stunning art they’d rescued from the dumps and transformed into
masterpieces. Foreigners began coming to
visit the project, and some literally fought over who got what--all wanting to
buy the stunning art. The Haitian women
who had once laughed at Kathy stopped in awe.
Mama Kathy smiled; she’d seen the beauty in Jubilee all along.
Kathy named their line of jewelry and products “Second Story
Goods.” She said their materials have
been rescued from the trash, but now they are being used for something
beautiful. They are on their second
story. And this story is a good one.
People like Kathy and Beaver will change the nation of
Haiti. They already are. Martina and Karly and Bobby and Helen as
well—they are vital agents for the kingdom of God and are calling forth great
change in a small but mighty nation.
I suppose the line of Kathy’s products sum up the heart of
Haiti best. Truly, this nation is on its
second story. The first story I heard
about Haiti was poverty and strife. But
its second story will be transformation, prosperity, and hope. I am so honored that God brought me to Haiti
at such a significant time and connected me to such amazing people. I am so humbled that He let me and my
teammates sprinkle fuel onto this country, and I can’t wait to hear news of an
explosion really soon.
