The Real Problem with Haiti

Saturday began just like any other Saturday. We got up, got dressed, made coffee, had breakfast, and started doing some cleaning. That was when things got "weird."

There was a LOUD noise coming from the street, it sounded like hundreds of people were walking past the orphanage. We went out on the balcony, and sure enough, that is exactly what it was. For a good hour, a solid stream of people went past us up the mountain. I would estimate the number between two and three thousand people. Some on foot, some in vehicles, some on horses, and some on stilts, yes, you read that correctly, stilts. Mind you this was not a parade, but more of a pilgrimage.

As it turns out, it was some sort of a voodoo celebration day, and everyone that went by was involved in a voodoo ceremony. In the video you can see many of the men dressed in red, and the women in blue dresses with a red cloth belt. That is the witch doctor and voodoo priestess dress code. You can also see all of the baskets piled high with fruit, vegetables, and other foods that were given as sacrificial offerings. In a country that is literally starving, people would rather waste it in a sacrifice than give it to a malnourished child.

Jennifer and I had both seen this sort of thing before, but for our kids it was a first. We explained to them that this was the very reason that God brought us here, there are so many that do not know Christ, and we are a light to them. I told the kids that these people not only don't know God, they actually don't like Him, maybe even hate Him, and their affairs that day were a slap in the face to the Almighty.

This is the real problem with Haiti. This is what keeps Haiti in bondage to Satan, people who openly and proudly march down the street professing their allegiance to voodoo.

I've been driving in Joplin before, and have pulled up behind a car with a "Wiccan" sticker in the back window. That alone has given me the shivers. I can't even tell you what I felt like watching all those people march past us. It was incredibly sad, heartbreaking, and very, very dark. I want these people to turn from their futile gods and embrace the one true God. Only He can give them abundant life.

(Sorry the videos are such large files, hope no one is still on dial-up)