Amen.

Are you dying to hear?  I've been dying to hear.

Just hung up with Matt, and they are all going to bed.  Exhausted, drained, fed and done.

And at peace.

It was a good day.  Matt kept saying "I got some pictures of it..." so I'll have more tomorrow, but for tonight's update...

When they got to Port, they found the house they're staying in, found Junior, all got dressed, talked through and prayed through the service, and headed to the morgue, where there was a preliminary viewing.  They thought the service was going to be there, but it was WAY too small for the hundreds already arriving.  With the time for the funeral rapidly approaching, a place had to be found.

One of Junior's brothers is the yard man for the huge Mormon Temple next door, and there we go.

This afternoon, the ten Christians shared the Gospel at the witchdoctor's funeral to almost 1000 men and women rooted in Voodoo in a Mormon Temple.  

Again, I'll share more tomorrow, but Matt said the service was great.

As people were gathering for the service, the guys got to meet lots of area witchdoctors, mambos (female witchdoctors), politicians, family members, followers and friends.

Matt was surprised to see Junior meet several men and women who are ALSO children of Ti-Paul (Junior's dad) for the very first time.  Some of Juinor's siblings are in their 70's!  Others, small children.  Junior was continually meeting "new" family throughout the day...being cast out from the family for the last 18 years has kept him from even meeting some of his own siblings!

"God's Spirit was just with us, Stace," he exuded tonight, "in a powerful way.  Belony was the MC for the event, and from the start of the funeral to the finish, he took every opportunity to teach the truth of the Gospel...with such humility and clarity and joy!"

Then Junior got up and shared his personal testimony, tributing his father for initially giving him permission to convert.  "The greatest gift I ever received from my father was the gift of freedom..."

I wish something awful I could have sat in that front row for that testimony this afternoon.

The whole time Belony and Junior were leading and sharing, there was a woman in the front row, demon-possessed, screaming, wailing, thrashing, eyes black and rolling, etc.  Berthil prayed, and ignored or accepted by everyone, she continued.  A few of the students sang a song.  She continued screaming.

While everyone seemed to almost be expecting demonic action, Matt--not all that accustomed to it while preaching in church--was unsure of how he was going to preach with this woman screaming and collapsing literally 2 feet from him.

Men, women and children not only packed out every bench, but filled every aisle.  Matt said there were even dozens of people standing outside of every window and door, listening, watching, wondering at the 10.

"It was like everyone was in a state of uncertainty," Matt said tonight.  "It was obviously SO different than what everyone expected to hear, and everyone was almost intrigued...spellbound."

When it was time for Matt to share, he stood and opened his Bible to Isaiah 6, praying, praying.  Matt said as he began, he felt the Holy Spirit meet him and pour through him in a way he's rarely experienced, with a great boldness, great love for everyone around him, and great authority.  With the students all sitting behind him, praying and supporting the Gospel going out, Matt started into the Word, Isaiah 6.  "In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne..."

The screeching woman immediately, immediately went back to the front bench, sat down, silenced, and sat, unmoving, the entire sermon, her mouth wide open and eyes fixed on Matt's face.

Matt said he talked first about the realities of life.  Of death.  Of grief.  Of sadness.  Of loss.  Of difficulty.  Of the place every single one of them found themselves today.   Of the world.  Of Haiti.  Of Ti-Paul's loved ones.

And then?  Then he talked about an entirely different Reality.

Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord for our entirely different Reality.  Praise the Lord for the entirely different 10 men and for Christ and boldness and His authority in them.

Unpacked the new reality, the entirely different.  Entirely different from everything they've ever known.  Halfway through, Matt realized these people had never even been in church, didn't even know how to respond.  They knew how to do darkness.  But needed some help recognizing light.

"If you hear Truth" Matt encouraged them, "...if your heart moves within you and seems to say, YES, that is TRUE, then you say, Amen!  Amen, may it be."

From that moment forward, Matt said he was overwhelmed with Amens.  Can God work in the hearts of men who have never met Him?  Does His Truth ring true even in the midst of lies?  Can Light be seen even in the darkest places?  With joy we say YES.

"I still cannot figure out WHY Junior's family let him do it, Stace" Matt told me tonight.  "Every prayer, every song, every word was given by one of us 10.  Nine of us strangers, foreigners.  I don't know why they let us do it, but they did."

The students finished off the service, Belony still unpacking the Gospel throughout, songs of praise sung boldly, loudly, and alone.

The spirit of disgust, of hatred, of anger, all seemed to have left the Mormon Temple while the men shared God.  Openly.  Freely.  Boldly.

Afterwards, Matt said family members of Junior and witchdoctor's he'd met beforehand who had refused to shake his hand, refused to look in his face, refused to soften, approached him afterwards.  One particular man, a brother of Juniors and also a witchdoctor, had been so seething and hateful towards Matt before the service, and then ran to him afterwards.  "Thank you.  You have convicted my deepest heart."

"It wasn't my finger that poked you, friend, but the hand of God."

"Yes."

The service over, most everyone headed home, and Junior led the 10 to the place of his birth, the house of his childhood, the head temple for the region where Junior both played as a toddler and saw horrific things, both slept and experienced nightmares, both lived and died, in many ways.  It was at this temple Ti-Paul was to be buried.

But today, cloth covered all four sides.  What was to happen inside was to stay inside, and was not for the Christians to see.  Not for others to see.

So with boldness, Junior entered, the 9 with him.  Everyone in the yard tried to stop him, but Junior quickly told them that there was NO place he could not be.  No place God could not go.

In the middle of the temple, surrounded by all the talismans and trinkets of Ti-Paul's life and trade, was a huge pit, still being dug by three men.  The siblings all came in, and on one side of the pit were the 10, and on the other side of the pit, the witchdoctors and leaders Ti-Paul had worked with.  Siblings all around.

Matt said within a matter of moments, it was complete chaos.

"God can't BE in here" the witchdoctors hissed.  "You can't bring your stuff in here.  You can't come in here.  You can't be a part of this.  You can't see this.  You will only mess stuff up.  You will all go, NOW."

Matt saw the boldness of Christ in Junior in a way he has never seen it before.

Junior stood before them all, almost shaking with boldness and anger, and countered back.  "I am his son.  I am in charge.  This funeral has been given to us.  We are not going anywhere, and God was here before we came."

Then Belony, who we already know to be greatly bold about the Gospel, began to share it, again.

The family began fighting over whose funeral this was, who should be sharing what and why, shots of whiskey began to be ceremoniously and yet chaotically taken by everyone in the temple but the 10 (alcohol is a rather large part of voodoo in Haiti, as well...), the coffin began to be carried in, while the hole was still being dug, being lifted over fighting family members heads, it was over 100 degrees in there, everyone was screaming and yelling...

And there were the ten, standing silently.

Matt said it was complete and entire chaos.  When things calmed down a little, Belony began again, this time to several priests/family members had had ENOUGH.  They started threatening and jeering at Belony, drinking, drinking, fighting, fighting, pushing, finally dropping the coffin haphazardly into the hole and cracking it.

"Get these religious ones out of here," the ringleader finally hissed, and Matt fully expected to be bullied out.

But he said as many fists were flying, not a one was at the 10.  As much fighting as was happening, none of it was in the face of the 10.

"I am very glad you brought that up," Belony said, boldly, calmly.  "You continue to call us the religious ones, and I know that many people call you that, as well.  I want to let you know, before all these witnesses, that we are not religious men.  We claim to be followers of Jesus Christ and nothing else.  We are nothing but followers of Jesus."

The fighting continued, the 10 waited, and as tension continued to mount, the ringleader barked again, "Are you finished, so we can get on with OUR ceremony?"

"Almost," Junior glowed.  "Father!", Matt said Junior poured out in prayer, "Forgive these people.  They live in such utter darkness, such confusion, such foolishness and such complete ignorance of You.  Forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."

"We are finished."

They piled into our small truck and pulled away while the curtains closed and the drums began to pound.

Victorious.  Because the battle is not theirs.  But His.

And we already know: He's victorious.

The Gospel was shared today, WELL and completely (Matt was so proud of our students...I am so overwhelmed by motherly/sisterly Godly pride) to almost 1000 people, probably 90% of whom are deeply engrained in voodoo.   People coming to hear more fear and darkness were surprised and touched by light and truth, instead.  God showed up mightily, and was at work...IS at work.

Our 3rd and 4th year students had the senior trip of a lifetime, embracing an opportunity to BE the Body of Christ for Junior and for each other, to sacrifice their time, their comfort, and realistically, their necks, to be faithful to sharing the Gospel.  They practiced, in the hardest context I can imagine, what they have preached and studied and learned.  They are Davids.

And Junior?  Junior has done nothing new.  He has lost his dad, but he had already done that.  As a 12 year old.  And he stood alone when he had to, but he has already done that.  Many times.  And He has given to God what is God's, which he has done over and over.  And he has cared not at all whether he lives or dies or eats or has, as long as He is after God's heart.  Again.  I am, with all the depth of the word, inspired.  Again.

And Matt?  Well, it's true.  There are a lot of great things he could do with the brain and articulation God has given him.  Others aren't slow to remind us what is being "squandered" through Matt being poured out in a place like Haiti.

But we have said it before and we will say it again.

There is absolutely no better, no greater, no richer, no sweeter place to be than smack in the middle of wherever God's asked you to be...

And today, that was preaching The Bible at a witchdoctor's funeral in a Mormon temple in Haiti.

Praise the Lord, He is Good.

That all the earth may know that there is a God in [the WORLD], and that all may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's."  1Sam17