One Voice. With Joy.

I just spent an hour with Junior, and I feel my heart could burst.

I wish you could have sat with us, family--it's almost just not fair that I get to sit and listen to his heart and all you get is a pale version typed out by me.  I barely know how to share with you the things he told me.  

On Tuesday, he went to the family meeting to discuss all the details for the funeral.  He said the whole time he felt so out of place.  Everyone talked of the great powers and magic his father had done over the years.  Everyone talked about the ceremonies and curse-casting that would make up his funeral.  Junior said he was feeling more and more frustrated and angry, realizing how the family worshipped Ti-Paul and how darkness would just continue to be celebrated.

As they discussed which witchdoctors would do which parts of the service, Junior said he couldn't stand it any more, and got up to leave.

"They wanted me to stay and eat, all of us eat together...and I was so sick and overwhelmed and sad and I just didn't want to take ANYTHING from them.  I didn't want them to give me anything.  I left, so righteously angry...SO ANGRY that in my father's death, we were going to keep SHROUDING people's eyes.  Keep continuing them in the darkness and lies my father dedicated his life to giving them.

"So I went to my room and I cried and stewed and prayed and I couldn't even sleep, and at 2 am, the Lord spoke to me.  He told me, Junior, you will do it.

the mormon temple where the service was held

"And I told the Lord that they wouldn't let me do it, and that all the plans had already been made, and that I was the outcast son, and half my siblings don't even know my name, and I asked the Lord again, Seriously?"

"You have my authority, the Lord told me," said Junior.  "It has been given to you.  And that's it."

I didn't know until now that when Junior called us before dawn on Wednesday, telling me that he would be doing the funeral, that he hadn't even TALKED to his family yet.  He hadn't seen them!  

Talk about faith.  

God told Junior to do it, and Junior called me and many others and told us he would be doing it, telling me "the funeral has been given to me", and asked us to get Matt to Port-au-Prince and asked for help and prayers...all before he had even mentioned the thought to his family.

"What if they had said NO, Junior?" I asked him in disbelief today.

"Uh, God had already given me the authority, Stace.  It didn't matter what they said.  God told me I was doing it, so that's what I told you!"

So he set everything up with us for Matt to go, and THEN headed to his family to tell them that he would be doing the funeral.  He said he stood before them, and said, "You will not be doing any of the things you planned yesterday.  The witchdoctors will not be doing the funeral.  I will be doing it, and my family is coming."

And he said everyone looked at each other and immediately said, "Oh.  Ok."

I mean...whaaaaa?  That's as crazy as a pebble dropping a giant, for heavens sakes.

Then he shared with me a story from long ago, just a few years after he became a Christian.  He said that he was sharing with Greg, the good friend who introduced Junior and I, about his burden for his father and the other two witchdoctors in the area.  

crowds trying to get into the temple, flags hiding the service from view

Ti-Paul led them: one of them was a man Ti-Paul was discipling named Anel, and the other a particularly ruthless man whose signature was (still is) eating the people he cursed and killed.  Junior and Greg put together a prayer plan for these three men, and Junior pulled it out of his Bible even today, 10 years later.  

He says that that day, he and Greg committed to praying for those three men, one of two things: that their lives, transformed and given to Jesus, would be the door through which many would come to know Him, or that if they did not convert, that it would be their deaths that God would use for His glory.

A few years later, after years of prayer and work, Junior led the youngest of the three, Anel, to the Lord.  "It was then that the persecutions of my father really intensified," Junior told me today, a story I've never heard him share before.  

Ti-Paul's grave, in the middle of the temple

"I worked with him and shared with him and discipled him, and he converted and grew in the Lord and started a church in his home for his family and left Voodoo and my father completely.  But from the moment Anel converted, my father became nasty to me.  My father has been a terrible man to many people, but I am sure that there is no one on this earth my dad persecuted more than me, because of this conversion.  I had not only left him, but now I was taking from him."

Then Junior shares with me that yesterday, when they were all packed into that temple, around the grave, all three of the men he's been praying for all these years were there.  His dad, dead in the grave, Anel, now a pastor of a church in the same area, and Serge, the cannibalistic witchdoctor still left in the zone.  

Anel and Junior

All the witchdoctors and assistants who had been preparing the temple for the grave and burial hadn't come to the service in the mormon temple.  THAT'S why it was so important to Junior that he and the guys be in the temple and have the chance to share the Gospel.

"Stace, my father influenced SO many people for darkness.  And I have prayed many times that if my father remained blind unto death, that I would have the chance, through the doorway of his death, to share His Light to ALL those same people.  And yesterday, I did.  We did!"

the temple where Ti-Paul worked and lived, where Junior grew up, and where Ti-Paul is buried

"And when I finished, Anel came out of the crowd to the edge of the grave.   He is now a pastor of a church, and with such boldness, Stacey, he shared with everyone his testimony, and of the discipleship of Ti-Paul, and then the discipleship I had given him, and the miraculous change in his life.  It was powerful!"

As for Serge, for the first time, Junior was able to share the Gospel with him, and it wasn't until every person had heard that the guys prayed and left the chaos.

Inside Ti-Paul's temple, voodoo drums and talismans and potions all cast to the side for the grave to be dug

"I am not sad ANYMORE, Stacey," Junior told me today.  "I had hoped my Dad would come to the Lord.  But instead, it was his death God used to give me, his son, the chance to share the Truth with every person who had followed his lies.  I'm nothing but grateful.  God paved the way, made it happen, and gave me the desire of my heart."

When they all got back today, I walked out to the truck.  A few weeks ago, the cover and cage we've always had on the back of the truck to provide shade for passengers cracked our truck bed, and we had to take it off.  

The entire truck was covered in a thick layer of dust, and dry vomit was caked all over the floor.  

images of St. Jaque and St. Barbara inside Ti-Paul's temple

Belo, dear Belo, vomits the entire trip, every trip, EVERY SINGLE time he travels.  Every single trip we've ever taken together.  And if you've been to Haiti, you know people HATE to be in the sun.  Avoid at all costs being in the sun.  It's insanely hot, and no one wants to be any darker, and everyone hates to arrive somewhere dirty and sweaty.

As I looked in that filthy truck bed this afternoon, it really hit me for the first time that our guys voluntarily, for the sake of their brother and the Gospel, sat in that truck bed for 6 hours in the blazing hot sun, choking down the dust, one of them vomiting, at last minutes notice.  

I was deeply moved.  Again.  

Matt was, too.  "I told them I was so sorry, and you know what they said?  They said, 'Pastor Matt, we're bondslaves of Jesus.  It's nothing.  It's a joy."

And there you have it.  

Voodoo temples.  Witchdoctors.  Politicians.  Demon possession.  Fighting.  Drinking. 100 degrees.  Complete and total strangers.  Cannibalism.  No money.  No prestige.  Risk of harm.  Not their battle.  

and None of that even MATTERS.

It is a Joy.  Because of Christ.  The only Voice that matters.  The only Authority.

THAT'S WHAT I WANT.  

One Voice, With Joy.  

No. Matter. What.

Praise the Lord for the chance to be a part of this, for the opportunity to share it with you, and for the way His new reality--dawning on the lives of many for the first time--is MINE.

Jean Marc, Simeon, Jodenel, Belony, Leandre, Berthil, Gesner, Simeon, and Junior, with Joy!

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

the battle

There are many things churning below my surface today, but the one that keeps rising are thoughts of David.  

Ever since Vilmer reminded me that the battle here is not ours, but at the feet of God, my perspective has been peering over that battle field with the cowering Israelites and the mocking giant.

Goliath's challenge to Israel in the name of his pagan gods was not ultimately in defiance of King Saul, nor the Israelites, nor David.  And it was not for self-preseveration nor for ego defense that David went out.  David rose and went and fought that "All the earth may know there IS a God in Israel, and that the battle is the Lords."  (1Samuel 17)

And as that giant's challenge reached the feet of our God, it was His to fight, not Israel's.  Not David's.

Nobody thought David, a boy coming with sticks and stones, could defeat Goliath.  And they were right.  Even David knew he couldn't.  "I come at you today in the name of the Lord you have taunted" David declared, and his effort, a pathetic pebble from a scrawny kid, in the hands of God, sunk in and defeated.

You know, when I asked just a few days ago for help for Emmaus, I was asking you well-established business people, you churches.  I was like Saul, most comfortable to have the situation addressed by a strong soldier sporting some shiny armor.  

And praise the Lord, I know there is indeed help coming from that field.  Frankly, I wasn't asking you, young sister, to talk to your high school classmates and raise up your minimum wages.  I wouldn't have asked you, retired women, to generously doll out your widow's mite.  I never would have uncomfortably approached you, fellow Haiti missionary, to fork over your precious and much needed tax return.

But all that's exactly what has happened.  What felt like Goliath a few days ago has arisen many Davids with many pebbles, and again--the battle, the challenge--is STILL NOT MINE to approach, but His.  And He is.  And He's using His children.  And as we've seen from David's story, it is enough.

And I wasn't ASKING for the funeral to be given to Junior.  I wasn't ASKING for the Gospel to be preached in the midst of utter darkness.  I wasn't asking for a David in the midst of a battle.  I was just hoping God could use Christ in Junior, in some small way.  And yet the battle, I'm reminded, is the LORDS.  And He can do with it what He wants.

And Junior never should have asked.  And his family never should have agreed.  And Matt should be here right now, not on the road to Port.  And the guys should be polishing off their breakfasts, not piled in the cab and in the back of our truck in the scorching sun on the dusty road, heading to Port with him.  And you, guy that doesn't know us and doesn't know Junior and doesn't even know Haiti, you never should have listened to that still, small voice and found the $500 this whole thing is going to cost and sent it off to Haiti.

In my battle, none of that stuff ever would have been.   

But the challenge of the world, of Haiti, of Satan, of man...they're not challenging ME.  It's HIS.

And even when 1 man stands before hundreds, speaking the foolishness of God before the wisdom of men, God works in that man.  God works in Junior.

And even when 10 men (yep, I said ten.  Junior. Matt. Berthil. Jean Marc.  Leandre.  Gesner.  Jodenel. Simeon.  Belony.  Samson) stand before a thousand, that all the earth may know that there IS a God in Haiti, God rises to the occasion.  Comes out to meet the challenge.

When Goliath called, and mocked, and taunted, and challenged, his voice did not echo over the empty valley forever.  There were many many people who were fully aware of the fight who God could have used.  But they just plain didn't believe the battle was actually HIS.  Just plain didn't trust Him enough TO be used by Him.  OUCH.

It's true, they also didn't take any risks.  They may have been the "smarter" ones.  

But they entirely missed out on being used by Him.  And were NEVER heard of again.  And David, he was given the label, the legacy, the stories I long for greater than any other tagline: a man after God's own heart.


TODAY there is a quiet battlefield, in a small valley, on a small island off of Florida.  And for many years, silence has echoed in response to much taunting, many lies, much challenging.  

But there are some small boys.  A witchdoctor's son.  A pasty foreigner.  A tiny man who used to beat the drums. A tailor.  A preacher.  A soccer player.  A poor man who lives to serve children.  A student.  A musician. An orphan.

And they're coming before the challenge not with sticks and stones, but with Bread and Water.  That all the earth, that every man, woman and child may know that there IS a God in Haiti.  That there is a freedom from chains.  That there is a hope for a future independent from the past.  That there is a rebirth available to grown men.  That there is a Light in the Darkness.

Today, they stand.

I am with them.

Gesner

Belony

Samson

Simeon

Junior and Jodenel

Matt

Leandre

Jean Marc

courageous

Turns out when Junior needs family, he has it.  I continue to be blessed by the realization of what a stellar group of students God has brought Emmaus...what a precious gift!

Matt, Berthil, Leandre, Samson and Jodenel are all heading out from the Seminary at 6 am tomorrow morning.  Leandre and Jodenel are Junior's roommates, Berthil and Samson his good friends, and all of these 3rd and 4th year students are ready to join Matt and Junior in leading this Christ-focused, witchdoctor funeral.  Wow.

We're working to tie together the details and find a place for them to stay, the funeral is at 2 pm Thursday afternoon, Junior is so encouraged, and I'm asking you all to please be praying for these 6 men as they work to minister in this very unique, very exciting, very personal and very complicated situation.  

Praying for the Lord to open, shut, lead, silence, speak, protect, direct and move.  To be the I Am.

"I told Junior this morning on the phone," Vilmer just told me, "That he must be courageous.  This is not witchdoctors and the government and friends and family challenging Junior.  They are challenging GOD.  His brothers and sisters are telling him that his father is in Mala, an eternal place for those faithful to voodoo, and they are telling him that they will all go there too.  

"This is breaking his heart, and here is a chance for God, in the face of being challenged, to present to them through Junior that there IS a different way.  There is another choice.  A different path.  He must be courageous!  

"Ah, we must stand with him in Spirit and in prayer!!  Send our brothers!  We will stand with him.  When God is challenged, He works!"

Thank you for standing with him, too.

urgent family prayers

I have a post in the works, but suddenly here this morning we have something far more urgent for your prayers!

Junior left Monday for Port-au-Prince for the funeral of his father, which is tomorrow (Thursday).  We spent some time talking and praying with him before he went, knowing that he would have little to no support, would be asked to attend a voodoo focused funeral service, etc.  We prayed for this rare and heavy ministry opportunity for him, and he went.

This morning, he called both excited and emotional.  After much prayer, he approached the sister (the eldest of the 31) who is preparing everything for the funeral.  As is normal for someone who has been a well-known and powerful witchdoctor for decades, the local government was covering all the details for this service, dozens of witchdoctors are expected to attend, many government officials, and hundreds of followers.  The service was to be laden with voodoo tradition and as is common, fear and lies...two of the things Satan commonly uses.

Junior asked her apprehensively last night if she would be willing to throw out that whole plan, and let him do the funeral instead.  

I don't know why, but for whatever reason, she and the siblings--none in Christ--agreed.  The service couldn't be in a church, but if Junior wants to make all the arrangements for the service, he has permission.

"You know I'm going to preach the Gospel, right?" he warned.

They know.

Here at Emmaus we have 70 men and women, his family, who could sing and lead and preach and come around him...but it is TOMORROW, and it is in Port-au-Prince.

But, this is obviously a major opportunity to preach the Gospel to a VERY non-Gospeled crowd, many of whom have been so entrenched in the opposite of Christ for so long, I'm sure they have never had the chance to come near it.

He called to ask Matt to come and preach, and as nonsensical as Matt preaching a voodoo priest's funeral in Port-au-Prince tomorrow seems...Junior is family.  Though he is surrounded by 30 siblings and hundreds of cousins, nieces, and nephews, right now...he has none.

Please pray with and for us as we try to think this through and work things out, as we look at any possibility of having several people involved, and as we try to figure out how to make it possible.

What a door Junior's Father seems to have opened through the death of this once powerful, feared man...Junior's father.