Help me understand.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:14-21
A few weeks ago after church, I overheard a few women talking at the visitor’s center in our Fellowship Hall, and one said ‘Mardi Gras’. Having lived in Haiti, that term and also ‘Carnival’ raise a red flag in my memory bank as they both are synonymous with vodou in Haiti. It caused me to wonder what it was like in PAP between the vodou followers and the gangs who were controlling most of PAP. During Lent, the vodou Rara bands marched in the streets on the weekends displaying the power of the devil for all the Christians to see and hopefully fear. The attached photo is of one group of vodou followers as they marched in the street outside my apartment building.
So, I emailed a Haitian friend of mine living in PAP and asked if the Rara bands were marching in the streets with all the chaos happening there. He told me ‘no’, they were not. Everyone is afraid to set foot outside of their house because of the gangs. Evil vs evil. Put a snake on a pole.
Evil gangs are persecuting the evil vodou followers. It has to be incredibly demoralizing for the local vodou priest when the power of the local gangs is more powerful than that of his evil spirits. We believers face challenges daily and turn to our Heavenly Father for help. The vodou priest has no where to turn when even satan will not listen. In the mess and chaos that fills the streets in Haiti today, there is an opportunity to save a lost soul. There is a blessing waiting for somebody facing a dire challenge. Bring them the message of Hope. Be the witness of the Truth and Light. Easter is coming very soon. Christ our Savior, defeated the evil in this world.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay