Mountain Climbing with JRC – A Miraculous Journey

Wow… I thank God that my life is not boring.  If it were any less interesting, I may have had a bit more time to tell you more about it…. oh well.  As usual, again there is much to tell, but I’ll choose one thing from two weeks ago…

On the week of July 5th, Jean-Robert and I set out to visit a child that we returned home in the area of Jacmel last year.  She was a restavek for about a year and suffered unbelievable physical, emotional, and psychological abuse.  Her Gran Moun (owner) was a former neighbor of her family that had moved to Port-au-Prince.  This woman convinced the little girl’s mother that she would take care of her, put her through school, and make sure that her life was rosy, but every single promise was a lie.  This woman put the little girl through so much hell that she ran away.  She was found by the police, who took her to social affairs, who dropped her off at a girls shelter that we work with, and Jean-Robert took the 9-hour trek (one way) over the mountains, swam a river in the rain season, and walked for miles to her house, just to see her happily home with her mother again.  Then he took the long way back home in the middle of the night.  (For the record: There is not a man on earth with more compassion than Jean-Robert.  I thought that I loved people until he introduced me to a new standard).

We had not seen the girl for more than a year because she lived so far away.  We went to visit her because she was due a visit, but also because we were hoping that she would be the perfect candidate for the story that CNN was working on two weekends ago.  If you have seen the report (and if you watch tonight) you will notice that this “perfect” story was not chosen (mainly because we were crunched for time and could not go that far out of the traveling alone), but our trip made for an interesting experience, nonetheless.

We made our first attempt to Jacmel on Tuesday, July 7th.  (Yes, I said first attempt.  There were three attempts total).  We needed a big SUV to make it up the mountains, but we only needed the car for one day.  Big cars are on high demand in Haiti, so the smaller, local rental companies are often reluctant to rent out a big car for one day, fearful of missing a longer contract… so they charge you big bucks for it.  Everyone was asking more than we could afford to pay.  Everyone but this one man, whom we had rented from many times before.  It was a pick-up truck.  The car had its flaws, but  to me, it seemed healthy enough to make the trip (I had never been up those treacherous mountains, so I relied more on JR’s judgment).  We had already spent too much time shuffling around to get a car, so we were in a rush to get up the mountains.  We took off quickly after a cursory check up of the car.

We spent a good two hours or so in stop and go traffic, so there was no way for us to know the first problem that we uncovered until it was too late.  Once we started getting out past Mariani and Gressier we noticed that the car began to shake as we went above a certain speed.  We contacted the renter to let him know the problem.  He through out some sort of wild explanation and asked us what we wanted to do.  But we were already so far out that if we waited or went back, the trip would have been canceled.  In hindsight, that should have been our choice.  We continued on cautiously.  Not less than an hour later, our front tire went flat.  We got out quickly to change the tire only to realize that our trusty spare was also flat and balding.  Not only that, the jack that was in the car was no good… it didn’t even have its proper handle.  Someone had really neglected the regular check-ups on this car.  This was my first experience with renting in Haiti, and these are things that you don’t think of in the U.S., but I should have known better here.

Thank God we went flat near some sort of stone/gravel mining operation, and one of the men who worked there went downtown to find someone who helped us fix our spare.  It took a long time, but he did it.  By then, it was too late to go up the mountain, so we headed home.  We got a refund later that week and the man who rented the car to us may be in trouble with his job for being so negligent.  I felt really bad that day because Joycelyne decided to take a break from her studies to go with us.  It was her first road trip in Haiti and all she got out of it was fatigue, hunger, and “tet chaje” (a headache).  I’m sorry Sweetie…  Maybe in December.

We tried to rent a car the next day.  We ran into the same problem as before… no one wanted to rent it to us for such a short amount of time.  We decided to go ahead and get it for three days (the usual minimum), but when we decided to do that, we lost that contract to someone who wanted it for five.  It was like losing an ebay auction at the last minute…  There were no more of the super-big cars that we needed…  Nothing was in our favor that Wednesday, so Jean-Robert went home and I went on to try to pick up a package at the airport for my new business (there will be more on that headache soon).

Early on Thursday, we went in and got a Nissan Patrol for 7-days (since our director was coming in the next day), and took off.  That transaction went much smoother.  We checked everything on that car.  I flipped things over, punched the tires, took pictures… everything.  It was in great shape.  We went on up to the mountains without a problem… except for the fact that it was a LOOONG bumpy trip, and we left at an hour in which all roadside food was cold. (Bumpy is an understatement… perhaps “jerky” or “jarring” would be more appropriate).  We arrived seven hours after our departure.  It took us a while to find the family, but when we did, they were very happy to see us.  (Well, at least they were happy to see Jean-Robert… they didn’t know me yet).

We made a very short visit, talked to everyone, ate some grilled corn, passion-fruit, and drank some coconuts and headed home.  By then it was already past 5pm.  We had a seven hour drive to make home… so we thought.  A few hours into our trip jerky trip up and down the rocky hills, a miracle happened…  We suddenly arrived on the main road.  Jean-Robert and I just looked at each other.  How did we skip two hours of hill-climbing?  I thought that I had fallen asleep, but Jean-Robert’s confusion justified my own.  We proceeded up the winding roads to Port-au-Prince, still wondering about all of the things that we didn’t pass to get to the main road.  It is possible that we got lost, but usually when you get lost you don’t gain two hours.  Also, these mountain roads have very few turning options and very few entrances and exits.  I don’t know how we happened to find the “right one.”

As we drove into Gressier the car started to shake the same way that the pick-up did.  It was late, it was dark, and we had no tools… We had no choice but to continue.  We moved on through Carrefour and just as we pass a police checkpoint, we lose our steering.  Thankfully, we lost it on a straight away, and the car practically “parked” itself out of harms way.  So get this… we are in front of a police checkpoint, so danger is minimal.  We ask the police officer what they can do for us and they offer to take us to a hotel.  Then, when the realize that we had a rental car, they told us that we couldn’t leave it there or we would only find half of it in the morning.  By “chance” the police officer knew a mechanic in the area, and in that moment (11pm) the mechanic was sitting near the street with some friends joking around (Port-au-prince is usually dead asleep by 10).  In no time, the mechanic got under the car, replaced a bolt that got lost in the steering system with a random piece of iron, and we were on our way home.  Even after the quick fix we arrived two hours early…

The next day, Jean-Robert and I awoke to the reality that we could have died several times the night before.  If we hadn’t found the “shortcut” and continued on the rocky mountains, the bolt may have dislodged faster.  Then, if we had lost steering while navigating the treacherous curves, we could have driven right off of the edge and into the sea.  If our car had lost steering a mile before the police checkpoint, we would have been in danger and we would have had no way home.  There would have been no one there to protect us, we would have never found a mechanic, and by that time, a hotel (if we could have ever found one) was out of the question.  The whole experience was Miraculous.

I don’t know about you… but I don’t believe in chance.  I’m starting to get used to this “my life is in His hands” thing.  It makes me feel invincible.

Embarrassing Confession

I have a confession to make… When I’m not the one playing music I tend to fall asleep during night watch services. It’s true… The first time I woke up to oil being smeared on my forehead. The man passed by me so fast that I was convinced it was an angel (the oil had a lovely scent). Sadly it was only Mario.

This past Friday, as soon as I woke up (only after napping for an hour or two) my dad sent me to take a picture of the boy who was blind. So I did… so I thought. Well today I found out that it was another boy and I missed the whole thing. Within that hour or two I missed EVERYTHING! I barely caught the tail end of it with the story that I posted Saturday. They prayed for the blind kid, a woman with breast cancer, several demons cast out… it was wild (so I hear). People heard that healing has been going on so they are starting to bring in the sick. No more sleep for me EVER! I’ve been praying for this for too long to miss it now.

Another great part about it was that my dad rested during the whole thing. He didn’t pray for a single person. In Haiti, people often trust the physical touch of the pastor more than the invisible touch of Jesus (like in many other places, but seemingly to a greater level). It also means that everyone is beginning to believe that healing is their job as a Christian…. It doesn’t take any amount of theological study, it just takes Jesus in You. Thank God we can all have him. I’m so excited about this right now! Like I said, revival has not ended. It has barely begun.

P.S. When I say “prayed for” sick people, its not exactly true. We are learning the original paradigm of taking authority and sending sickness away. Find one place where Jesus PRAYED for a sickness to go away. Let me save you some time… you won’t find it. The closest thing to praying for the sick that you’ll find is in the book of James, and we have reason to believe it is contextual and/or subject to translation difficulties.

Ever Seen a Blind Man Dance?

EVER SEEN A BLIND MAN DANCE?

I haven’t either… cuz now he sees! I love seeing this kid around. He’s a great reminder of the power and the greatness of God. You should have seen him dancing to celebrate God’s great feat in his life. There were many other healings in the past couple months, but his was my favorite… partly because I got to watch as it happened right before my eyes. Amazing!

Last night marked the “end” an AMAZING two months of seeking God as a body. It was a beautiful finish, but far from the end of the revival. I have never seen so much dancing in my life! Except for the time 3500 people packed into the school for a nightwatch service. Oh yeah… and during last year’s revival… and probably about a week ago. Let’s just say Haitians love to dance. Especially when God is working in the middle of it all.

The annual revival/crusade always ends with a convention that draws people in from all of the other 17 churches affiliated with our ministry. The church is usually over-packed to begin with. Last night, even with the second floor complete, cleared out, and lined with blocks and 2x4s for seating, the building was way beyond packed, with people even sitting outside the church to listen. When the worship leaders took the stage, people immediately climed down from their crammed seating areas to squeeze into a tighter mass down in front where they could dance.

On Saturday, I officially swore in as a “Scout d’Haiti.” Our group serves our local area, but specifically the church. That means in the middle of the celebration, I was “at work” doing a little crowd control, making sure that no one got hurt up front… but it is hard to keep me from dancing in that kind of atmosphere. There was so much joy for we had much to celebrate. As we sang and danced before the Lord, He came again with a few final touches of healing and deliverance. It was truly a beautiful “end.”

As I alluded to, spirit of revival continues in our hearts. Aside from the hundreds of salvations and 80 baptisms (also a beautiful service), an amazing work of transformation has been done in the hearts of the congregation. There is a Godly hunger that will never go away, and as we contend for God’s presence and fire in our lives, He continues to work in us to change us for the better. Debts have been canceled, relationships and families restored, attitudes and perspectives lifted, and each work leads to a greater sense of liberation.

With that attitude we entered into a new stage of revival. This morning, the congregation woke early to “sit by the Pool of Bethesda.” For the next several months, we will gather together every morning to contend for more divine healing. Tomorrow I begin to teach some of “my kids” about their inheritance in God. My desire is to have them working with God’s divine power in such a way that the adults must sit down and learn from them. God is definitely doing a new thing here. Be on the lookout for more updates and testimonies.

Not-So-Blind Man Walking…

Just a short conclusion to yesterday’s post…

This morning I saw the young man that WAS blind. I saw him walking… without holding on to anyone. Yesterday, when they guided him to the front, he put his back to the crowd because he didn’t know where they were. Today he was walking without help. Praise Jesus!

Well, apparently when the wild “Sel Jezi Ka Fe Sa” chant rose up, we got so excited and happy that we forgot to take care of another important item of business (oops!). God took care of it though. This evening, eyes wide and clear, the young man came forward (yes, walking alone again!) to make his peace with Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Redeemer of all creation. Jesus opened his physical eyes… so he went searching on his own to let Jesus open his spiritual eyes.

You who are reading this and don’t have Jesus in your life… God is real, and Jesus, his son did everything the Bible said he did. As you see here, He still does it today. He lived, he died, he rose, and now he has an amazing offer for you. Don’t go another day without Him. Only Jesus can connect you to God and give you true purpose and true life. Sel Jezi ka fe sa. Message me or find your nearest Christian friend.

Just an Average Day of Healings and Stuff

I spent the last 20+ hours in what turned into one continuous service. On the schedule was Revival 4pm, Night Watch till 5am, then continued fasting and prayer till noon. Practically everyone was there at every event… one after the other. The day was full of miracles and deliverance.

I ended up preaching last night instead. What God did in me while I spoke is another story that maybe one day I’ll be able to explain but for now I don’t really have words. Before I preached, we were worried about Dad’s voice. He hadn’t been able to talk without straining for more than a day. Those of you who have heard him, knows that he REALLY uses that voice. No amp necessary. Minutes before stepping up to preach I prayed for him and laid it in God’s hands. I told God that I would accept one of 2 miracles: either my dad get’s healed or God makes me fluent in creole really fast. Frere Chacha also prayed for him. When we stepped up to the microphone, sure enough his voice was the same. We contined by faith. Less than a minute later, only after a few phrases his intense, megaphone, lumberjack voice was back and God’s beautiful message was preached. It was definitely a message of God, as it continued to be preached until we let go at noon today, both directly and indirectly. I have a feeling it will be coming back too… especially after the last miracle at noon (keep reading).

After the service the whole army marched down the street to the school for a night of fasting and prayer. The school courtyard was packed, the rooms were packed, the second floor balcony was packed, and we even had people dancing on the roof (unfinished 3rd floor). There was not much else to say about this event except that God was definitely there with us. There was a lot of singing, laughing, crying, weeping, shaking, and delivering. AMAZING! At exactly midnight something came over the whole crowd all at once and we broke out into a chorus of:

“Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Sel Jezi ka fe sa!
Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Sel Jezi ka fe sa!
Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!
Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!”

Translated, that means “Only Jesus can do this! Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!” It was one of the most intense worship experiences of my life. The whole school was jumping, every bit of concrete was shaking. I have video, but it was dark… it couldn’t possibly capture the experience anyway.

Around 1:30 we broke off to seek God silently on our own (awake or in a dream, haha!) and at 4:30 we were all up again. Eyes wide, voices clear, praising God again as we marched to the next destination (the church at the corner). Once again, it was packed (though not as packed). That is where we stayed until noon. Praying, worshipping, hearing the word and testifying. There were many, many testimonies. Many. God worked hard last night.

At 11:55, right before we had our closing prayer, a young teen was led to the front. He was blind. (the word “was” is very important here). At first I didn’t hear why they brought him forward, but when I heard my dad praying for him to see I had to get in on the action. After we prayed we began to show him objects. He had been blind for a few years, but for the first time in years he was able to make out objects, shapes and colors. He also saw his big sister’s face for the first time in years. Praise God! Soon after he said his sister’s name the crowd broke out again: “Sel Jezi ka fe sa! Woy, Woy, Woy, Woy!” It was truly a sight to see. (I’ll be uploading that video on youtube soon under “sel jezi ka fe sa”)

The boy was not completely healed on the spot. I saw that his pupils were quite large. But we are pressing in to see his complete healing, believing that the next time we see him he will register our faces clearly. That last miracle also preached the message that God gave me all over again. God wants us to continue to believe for more… for bigger things. This was one way of him saying “stay hungry.” Imediately after that miracle, a man came and prophesied the very thing that God was saying to us: “we’re about to experience things that no one has ever seen.” He came that do to deliver that message, even before the healing took place. Once again the message was preached… stay hungry.

When dad spoke this morning, he gave us signs that the “true” revival that we have been looking for for years has officially started. The first sign was extreme signs of repentence. After the week of preaching about repentance people began to decide that they couldn’t come back without being reconciled to people they needed to forgive or ask forgiveness from. People started reaching way back (years) to fix these problems. There were stories of people being reconciled after many, many years even when the person who was offended had forgotten. Many tears have been shed in the process, and many sins have also been forgiven and forgotten.

On top of that, people from everywhere are already calling to get a touch of the fire we have found. The day before yesterday, we were on at least 5 radio stations in the U.S. and we continue to get tons of calls with testimonies of deliverence and healing (from NY, Boston, Miami, Canada, Pennsylvania, etc.), and more prayer requests for the church to cover. Some of the testimonies match specific prayer requests that we had received and prayed for. Praise God!

How did I find myself in the middle of this? I can’t think of a thing that I did to get to experience let alone participate. It’s amazing. All I did was simply follow my Leader. Sel Jezi ka fe sa. Sel Jezi ka fe sa!