We have started language classes on Thursdays, and this week we had a little surprise on the trail home. We haven’t talked about it before, but there is a house along the trail that is used for voodoo worship. Actually, the house is almost visible from our front step. There is a particular tree that is also used for voodoo worship and there is a huge one in front of this house. We can see the tree. Well, carnival season must be coming close because as we came close to this house we could hear laughing and singing that just gave us an uneasy feeling. We know what was going on, but really hadn’t expected it. In our four months here, we have seen very little activity here. But tonight was a different story!
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| The voodoo tree and house. Two trails cross at this point |
We didn’t have a lot of choice but to walk right through the
middle of the group and tried to be friendly but not wishing to spend any time
there. Much to our disappointment, we
recognized some of the faces in the group but didn’t hang around long enough to
really check it out. There was a fire
going and there were a couple little stick things put up with decorations on
them. There seemed to be plenty of
alcohol available and you could tell they were preparing food so we expected it
to last into the evening and night.
Yes, it lasted into the evening and night. It seems like the darker it got the louder they became! There wasn’t the usual pounding of drums, more of a rhythmic chanting in a leader/response mode. Then they’d get to the chorus and they’d all sing together.
A Haitian friend was with
us and he couldn’t understand any of the words. He did tell us about 3
‘oungans’ (what we’d generally call witch doctor) in the area. We didn’t know there were that many
around. We were surprised to learn that the step-son
of one of these ‘oungans’ was in our home on January 1 asking for a Bible. How we wish we would have had one to
give!!! A lot of the sounds were more
just like moaning and groaning interrupted fairly often by screeching and wailing.
The sounds reminded us of stories we’ve heard about the worshipers calling out
for evil spirits to appear to them, and in some cases spirits would appear and
‘mount’ a person and they would go racing off into the night screaming and
wailing. There were several children there too.
A group from Canada had visited on Tuesday and given out some party
horns. We could hear some of them being
blown, so we know there were some of our school children there. That in itself is cause for grief! Every
once in a while you’d pick up a strange smell of something being burnt. We spent the evening in prayer, crying out to
God to block the presence of any evil spirits and for the salvation of those
who were participating. It’s not that we
were afraid because we know that these spirits are powerless against the Spirit
of Christ! We were just saddened for the
people and sickened by the thought of what they were worshiping. We were aware that there was a very active
voodoo influence in the area, but this is the first activity we’ve seen. It’s the time of year for the increase of
this kind of activity. Carnival here
coincides with Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
This year Mardi Gras starts on Feb. 12 and will go for 3 days. Here, there are groups that meet and chant and
sing in the streets, moving around the city building energy for carnival and
trying to strike fear into the people.
We’re not sure how it all goes up here in the Mts., but we’ll keep you
updated on what happens. We’re not sure
how late they went, but they were still going strong when we went to bed about
10:00. I was awake at 3:00 and all was
quiet, but there were still people hanging around in the morning. There still seemed to be some kind of
activities going on inside, but there are no windows in the place and it was
too dark to see in the door. They were
still chanting and singing, but had lost a lot of their energy and most of the
people. Outside you could still see the
ornaments and piles of feathers where it looked like chickens had been plucked. Maybe
some of what we smelled was them burning off the pin feathers. I’d like to think that over the thought of
sacrifices being offered! The whole
thing was just pretty gross!
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| This is another thing we've encountered concerning the spirit world. A family member in a house near this place in the trail passed away in early December. Now they leave these dishes with food for his spirit when he returns. |
We’re making plans for some activities in our church up here
over carnival to worship and pray.
Hopefully, we can offer an alternative that represents Hope and
Life! Join us in prayer as we prepare to
engage the enemy!
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils
are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means
hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not,
that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names
are written in heaven. Jesus
Christ (Luke 10:17-20)
