The Lord has been moving here in Gonaives in mighty ways since the start of the new year. Although I have not been writing on my blog very often, big things have been happening.
Each day in each class, we start with a 30 minute devotion time. Most days, my 2nd graders act goofy and are talkative. They are not usually very serious about our prayer and devotion. Today was different. As I read from the book of Daniel, they listened to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with interest. I saw in their eyes a hunger to hear more. I felt in my spirit that the Lord was working in their hearts. Together, we talked about the faith and courage that it took the three young men to stand for God when all others bowed down to an idol.
One by one, my children started to raise their hands to share stories of Vodou related things they see and experience in Jubilee regularly. They drew the connection that participating in Vodou is like worshipping an idol. One of my students, Ifocoeur, raised his hand. "My dad is a bokor (Vodou priest). My grandfather was a bokor and my grandmother was a mambo (Vodou priestess). I don't want my dad to do that anymore. I have an idea that came into my head. I have to go talk to my dad. Today. At 2:30 when school is over, I have to tell him to go to church and to serve God."
Ifocoeur happens to be one of my most spirited children. He usually distracts others during prayer and devotions. Today, he was completely serious. When it was time for prayer, his eyes were glued shut and his head was bowed. I looked at my children as we were praying and for the first time, they all had heads bowed, eyes closed, and were praying out loud to God. They didn't say any of the memorized prayers that they know. They spoke from the heart. They talked to God with their own words. Holy things were happening.
When we were finished praying, Madelene shot her hand into the air. When I called on her to speak, she very seriously said, "Katie, just now when we were praying I had a vision. I saw a big snake. It was scary. It was right in front of me." That lead us to more prayer and more discussion about spiritual warfare. We had a great talk about how Satan is always working to take us away from God and to try to distance us from Him. The battle is real. Day and night, it never stops.
My students had so much to share with me during Bible that we missed math class and we were late for library, but I knew that what we were doing was more important. When it was time for recess, Madelene asked to stay and talk with me some more. For 20 minutes, she shared with me many of the dreams that she has had. She has a reoccurring dream about Ifocoeur's mama being chased and killed by a giant snake. She shared about another dream in which she sees both Satan and Jesus. Satan has a bucket that is filled with fish while Jesus has a bucket that is empty. She and her cousin choose to go to Jesus even though his bucket is empty. Her other cousin chooses to go to Satan. After they make their choice, Jesus' bucket becomes full of fish and Satan's becomes empty. In anger, Satan chases the girls and no matter where they run, he is behind them until two angels appear and save Madelene and her cousin while the cousin that chose Satan is killed by him.
Just when I thought she was finished sharing, she went on. She told me of another dream in which she sees an ugly old lady who is hungry and thirsty. The woman asks someone for food and water but the person refuses her and sends her away. She continues on and finds another person. The second person gives her a huge plate of food and a beautiful big glass full of juice. When the old lady is finished eating, the person goes on to tell the old lady about the Lord. Then, the old lady turns into Jesus. I was able to talk to Madelene about Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." It was a beautiful time with her in which I was able to encourage her to pray about the dreams and visions that she has and to share them with people she trusts. She said to me, "I have many, many dreams, Katie. All the time!"
At the end of the day, Ifocoeur came to me and hugged me. He asked me to go with him to talk to his papa about Jesus. That lead us to have a nice long talk and time of prayer. We decided to take the rest of this week to pray together every day after school. We want to prepare our hearts for him to talk to his papa. Ifocoeur said to me, "Since this morning the Bible story that you read to us has been on my heart. I know that the things that my papa serve are not good. He needs to stop. He needs God. I have to help him." He prayed for the Lord to give him courage and strength to talk to his papa. He prayed that his papa would listen to him and not be angry with him for talking about God. Afterwards, I was able to pray over Ifocoeur that he will be a light for his family and Jubilee. That the Lord will give him the words that he needs to talk to his papa and that his papa will have ears and a soft heart to hear his little son.
After Ifocoeur left my classroom, I stood and cried tears of joy. I'm so excited to hear and see that God is speaking to them and that they are listening to Him. This is why I'm here. This is why I came to Haiti. Not so my students can learn to read and write. Not so they can grow up to find good jobs. That is all fine and good. But the real reason I'm here is to be a part of the change that is taking place in their hearts as they learn about and experience the love of God the Father. He is doing big things. I ask that you join me in praying for them.
"Aslan is on the move."
-C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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