Pray for Haiti
In my time on the ground just a week after the 7.3 earthquake in Haiti, there was a consistent message that I heard from the Haitian people – pray for us.
While they did need things like food, water, medical supplies and medicines, the thing they said that they wanted the most was prayer. I’m not sure I should be surprised by that but I think I was a little. In the face of having so many physical and emotional needs it seemed that the people understood that more important than any of these needs were their spiritual needs. So I ask you to please continue to keep them in your prayers.
In the last weeks nearly everyone that I have talked to that has spent any time in Haiti has experienced God’s miracles. I continue to received reports of the miraculous. Here’s a few that I have received I wanted to share with you:
In all of Haiti’s history, there has always been Carnival. Haiti is known for its Mardi Gras celebration that last days, costs the government lots of money, and harms many people. The news will glorify the festival, saying that it is a cultural celebration. But, they don’t understand the devastation that Carnival leaves in its wake. Carnival is a voudoo service—it is worshipping Satan. In the act of worship, practitioners will spend their last dime, harm themselves, or willingly let possession take place. There are always people that die and many others are injured. But, the news will only show the dancing and singing and partying. People come from all over the world to celebrate Carnival in Haiti. Carnival was to be this week. But, for the first time, Haiti’s government has cancelled Carnival. Instead, the president has called for 3 days of national prayer. That is a miracle, my friends. That is what we have been praying for since coming to serve in Haiti. What an opportunity this will be to stand up for the name of Jesus. The nation of Haiti will be spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in fasting and prayer. For our community, we will be uniting the local churches to pray and fast together. The community chose to use our worship center as its meeting place. They chose our facility without us knowing about the decision. We are so glad that we are able to provide the setting for the services. Pray that JeanJean and the other leaders will be able to guide people to Christ for their comfort. Our prayer has always been that God would fill up the worship center with people who are looking for Him. The community is encouraging those who go to church and those that don’t to join together to pray. We hope that many new people will be exposed to the gospel and that people’s faith will be strengthened. May the whole nation be as the jailer in Acts 16:30 that experienced the earthquake in the prison and called out to Paul, “…what must I do to be saved?” I have been convicted that God can use a major disaster to become a major turning point for Haiti. Please consider praying and fasting yourselves on these days. Haiti is still desperately in need of your prayers.
And
Wow!! The first day of the prayer and fasting service was wonderful. It was one of the best experiences of my life. There was such a spirit of unity and praise. The pictures can’t even begin to show how many people were packed into the worship center. Actually, my camera died after these pictures. More and more people came as the day progressed. I have no idea how many people were there. Our worship center is a big, open building and there was no walking area at all. People spilled out into the lawns. All the churches united to give the service. Justin, JeanJean’s brother, told the assembly that this was a glimpse of the universal church that we will see in heaven. There was a lot of singing and praising; prayers of confession, adoration, supplication, and thanksgiving; testimonies that would make you cry, and many good Biblical messages from local pastors. JeanJean taught on the reason for fasting and prayer from Isaiah 58:1-12. He encouraged the people to rejoice that the president of Haiti, Renee Preval, has cancelled Carnival and given Christians the chance to make a new Haiti. That was a common theme among the pastors—let us look forward to a brand new Haiti that will look to God for their leadership and not look to Satan as their leader. I wish these pictures and this poor attempt of mine to describe the service could be better. I wish you could have all been there in person to experience the joy and faith of the brothers and sisters in the service. There was not a sense of discouragement or hopelessness like the world might expect. No, God gave His people a peace that is beyond understanding. The people prayed for you, too! They prayed for all the people that prayed, cried, donated so much, who just remembered them. And one more thing that was prayed for was for the future government. The presidential election will be coming up—pray for a godly leader. We have 2 more days of prayer to look forward to. I’m going to try to send you a link to a youtube video that I attempted to upload. I’m not the best at this, but hopefully you’ll get it in a later email. God bless you!!!
You also can view the video that was passed along to us showing some of the singing. Please honor the request of the Haitian people by keeping them in your prayers during this difficult time in their history.
Pray for Haiti
In my time on the ground just a week after the 7.3 earthquake in Haiti, there was a consistent message that I heard from the Haitian people – pray for us.
While they did need things like food, water, medical supplies and medicines, the thing they said that they wanted the most was prayer. I’m not sure I should be surprised by that but I think I was a little. In the face of having so many physical and emotional needs it seemed that the people understood that more important than any of these needs were their spiritual needs. So I ask you to please continue to keep them in your prayers.
In the last weeks nearly everyone that I have talked to that has spent any time in Haiti has experienced God’s miracles. I continue to received reports of the miraculous. Here’s a few that I have received I wanted to share with you:
In all of Haiti’s history, there has always been Carnival. Haiti is known for its Mardi Gras celebration that last days, costs the government lots of money, and harms many people. The news will glorify the festival, saying that it is a cultural celebration. But, they don’t understand the devastation that Carnival leaves in its wake. Carnival is a voudoo service—it is worshipping Satan. In the act of worship, practitioners will spend their last dime, harm themselves, or willingly let possession take place. There are always people that die and many others are injured. But, the news will only show the dancing and singing and partying. People come from all over the world to celebrate Carnival in Haiti. Carnival was to be this week. But, for the first time, Haiti’s government has cancelled Carnival. Instead, the president has called for 3 days of national prayer. That is a miracle, my friends. That is what we have been praying for since coming to serve in Haiti. What an opportunity this will be to stand up for the name of Jesus. The nation of Haiti will be spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in fasting and prayer. For our community, we will be uniting the local churches to pray and fast together. The community chose to use our worship center as its meeting place. They chose our facility without us knowing about the decision. We are so glad that we are able to provide the setting for the services. Pray that JeanJean and the other leaders will be able to guide people to Christ for their comfort. Our prayer has always been that God would fill up the worship center with people who are looking for Him. The community is encouraging those who go to church and those that don’t to join together to pray. We hope that many new people will be exposed to the gospel and that people’s faith will be strengthened. May the whole nation be as the jailer in Acts 16:30 that experienced the earthquake in the prison and called out to Paul, “…what must I do to be saved?” I have been convicted that God can use a major disaster to become a major turning point for Haiti. Please consider praying and fasting yourselves on these days. Haiti is still desperately in need of your prayers.
And
Wow!! The first day of the prayer and fasting service was wonderful. It was one of the best experiences of my life. There was such a spirit of unity and praise. The pictures can’t even begin to show how many people were packed into the worship center. Actually, my camera died after these pictures. More and more people came as the day progressed. I have no idea how many people were there. Our worship center is a big, open building and there was no walking area at all. People spilled out into the lawns. All the churches united to give the service. Justin, JeanJean’s brother, told the assembly that this was a glimpse of the universal church that we will see in heaven. There was a lot of singing and praising; prayers of confession, adoration, supplication, and thanksgiving; testimonies that would make you cry, and many good Biblical messages from local pastors. JeanJean taught on the reason for fasting and prayer from Isaiah 58:1-12. He encouraged the people to rejoice that the president of Haiti, Renee Preval, has cancelled Carnival and given Christians the chance to make a new Haiti. That was a common theme among the pastors—let us look forward to a brand new Haiti that will look to God for their leadership and not look to Satan as their leader. I wish these pictures and this poor attempt of mine to describe the service could be better. I wish you could have all been there in person to experience the joy and faith of the brothers and sisters in the service. There was not a sense of discouragement or hopelessness like the world might expect. No, God gave His people a peace that is beyond understanding. The people prayed for you, too! They prayed for all the people that prayed, cried, donated so much, who just remembered them. And one more thing that was prayed for was for the future government. The presidential election will be coming up—pray for a godly leader. We have 2 more days of prayer to look forward to. I’m going to try to send you a link to a youtube video that I attempted to upload. I’m not the best at this, but hopefully you’ll get it in a later email. God bless you!!!
You also can view the video that was passed along to us showing some of the singing. Please honor the request of the Haitian people by keeping them in your prayers during this difficult time in their history.
