Burning the Voodoo Temple

Then there is this from my brother-in-law in Haiti.  He has a Wesleyan background, doesn't mind being called an Arminian, and is unquestionably given to the dramatic.  But I don't think he's a liar.  I believe the Lord has truly called him to minister there.  Here is one of his recent reports;  I don't know exactly what to make of it.

We Burned The  Voodoo Temple !

            Sunday May 20^th, A****** E****** a witchdoctor from ******** came up to visit one of his wives in *******. While in ******, he visited the church we planted in ******. At the end of the service he came forward and gave his life to Jesus Christ. Knowing his life was to change drastically, he asked several of us, pastors, to come to his home and his voodoo temple to help him make the break from voodoo. On Thursday, 24 May, we drove to ****** and met ******. He led us to his house where we met his family and several of his children. He then led us into a special room of the house set aside for ceremonies. A dozen or so of us formed a circle with ****** and we began to sing praises to God. We read the Bible from Isaiah 55 and I preached from God’s Word. None of ****** family is saved, so they heard the gospel for the first time in their own house, there in the same room that had been reserved for voodoo services. ****** pulled out all kinds of fetishes; bottles representing the presence of demons, handkerchiefs with spells, a voodoo drum, 2 gun shells folded up in fabric, and many more fetishes. The gun shells represented two zombies that he was using for protection from his enemies. Unfortunately, we didn’t know the bullets were there until after they exploded in the fire. There was a huge land crab hiding in the middle of the pile of fetishes, which really shook the pastors up. They called it djab, which means devil, and took it as a sure sign of the presence of an evil spirit. The pastors were glad I had my big pocket knife along; as I put the crab out of its misery and added it to the pile of fetishes we were preparing to burn. As we dragged out all the fetishes, ****** was so excited about burning everything that had to do with Satan; he even brought out the table the fetishes were sitting on and insisted we burn that too. We started carrying the things away from the house so we could burn them without smoke bothering anyone when ****** ran out angry and told us to burn everything right in front of the house for all the neighbors to see.

            When we finished burning the fetishes (and after the bullets exploded) ****** led us to his badji, as they call the voodoo temple. We walked as a group, quite a distance, in parade like fashion into a muddy area away from neighboring houses singing hymns the whole way. When we arrived, we saw a small yard enclosed by a bamboo type picket fence painted in blue and white. The place where they would meet for their services was a small structure covered by a tarp enclosed by the picket fence. There were several flags mounted throughout the badji, each flag represented one of the evil spirits that they would pray to. As we entered into the temple, a crowd gathered all around to see what would happen. Part of our group started singing as ******, Pastor ****** and I started tearing down the flags and breaking down the lean to and it’s blue and white picket fence. We tore down every piece of bamboo and wood used to build the badji, and piled it all up in the center of what used to be the courtyard of the temple, the same place crowds would gather to dance and worship Satan. We poured gas on the pile and lit the wood on fire. As the badji burned, ****** explained we were burning the temple because he had gotten saved and given his life to Christ.

            Please continue to pray for ******. As a new convert just out of voodoo, he has painted a target on himself and set himself in the firing line of Satan. He has just begun the battle of his new faith. Pray for the situation with his several wives, that God will give him strength and wisdom to do what he knows is right. Pray for him as he has lost his income and has no means to provide for his many children. Pray that he resists temptation to turn back to voodoo.

            Many have been praying for ****** who spiked a high fever (106 degrees) as soon as I left for ****** to burn the fetishes. While I was burning the temple itself, Dr. ****** checked on ****** who was having trouble with leg pain and severe neck pain and told ****** it looked like meningitis, but she couldn’t be sure yet. Just after the temple was burnt, ****** got the fever to go down after several cold baths. While on the road heading home, the fever broke and became controllable after with antibiotics and Tylenol. ****** is still on the antibiotics, but is acting more like herself.

            Thank you for your prayers and your concern for us here in Haiti. May God be glorified in all that is accomplished.