We just returned from an 8 day mission trip to Haiti. On this trip we stepped into a level of authority and inheritance that we as a church and ministry have never quite encountered. Every aspect of the trip was “pre-arranged” by the Holy Spirit and we were just along for the ride. While there we were able to minister to several different churches, a group of about 200 pastors and leaders as well as conduct a 3 day crusade in a rented soccer field with several thousand people. Healings and miracles occurred, pastors representing hundreds of churches were equipped and encouraged and the power of Voodoo was broken in a public display! It was awesome!
WHY WE WENT TO HAITI
Last year in 2009, two of our young people, Elijah and Jada Drysdale participated in a mission trip with another church. The primary aim of that trip was social in nature, teaching sewing and computer classes to the kids in Pastor Jean Paul’s orphanage. While there, Elijah and Jada were able to share some testimonies about what God is doing in our church with Pastor Paul’s church, encourage Pastor Paul that we can all move in the power of God, as well as pray for several sick people. The impact of their testimonies and the healing of many people they prayed for created a hunger in Pastor Paul for “more” of what they shared. Elijah continued communication with Pastor Paul over several months and Pastor Paul invited a group from our church to come and teach the 200+ Pastors in his Bible school, as well as minister in a large outdoor crusade.
Pastor Paul
When it became obvious that this trip was going to happen and the scope of the trip began to come together, I met with Elijah and we together determined that either Pastor Marc or I should go and help train pastors and conduct the crusade. Dates were set, (May 28th - June 4th) inquiries were made and things were coming together. On Tuesday, January 12th we had a staff meeting at the church and discussed the trip almost exclusively. We reserved plane tickets with our travel agent, priced the trip and spent the better part of the day in the office making fliers, overheads and web pages to advertise the trip. At our Pastor’s lunch, we discussed the trip the entire time and prayed, asking the Lord to give us a heart and burden for Haiti, making it clear that this was something we were to do. We had never received anything from the Lord regarding Haiti before and we wanted to be sure. So after a long day of working on nothing BUT our trip to Haiti and with the map of Port-au-Prince still up on my computer monitor, I clicked on Drudgereport.com to check the news before I stepped out of the office for pre-outreach prayer at 5:30pm.
Of course, this was the day the massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people and causing an untold amount of damage to Port-au-Prince and the outlying areas. The earthquake had JUST occurred and we had spent ALL DAY working on the trip, BEFORE the quake! I began to shake all over with a terrific sense of God’s Sovereignty and Providence. There is NO WAY that Haiti could have been more front and center in our prayers and thinking before the quake. It’s just not possible. I called Pastor Marc and we both agreed that the Lord was behind this trip and had a wonderful plan for Haiti and we were to be a part. In spite of the devastation of the quake, God had a plan for that country and wanted HIS Kingdom to come and HIS will to be done in Haiti.
We were going and it was pre-arranged.
THE NEED IN HAITI
It took two days after the quake to reach Pastor Paul. 238 of his church members were killed in the quake, yet the 56 orphans in his home were completely spared due to them serving a late meal. They spent several weeks looking for survivors in the rubble, burying church members and mourning their loss. After several weeks I spoke with Pastor Paul for the first time. I told him that we had received an offering for the work and asked first of all if we could come earlier than we had planned and secondly what we could bring. His response amazed me. He simply said, “Bring the Word of the Kingdom, we need the Word”. I said, “Yeah, but we have some money and can bring supplies, food, water, whatever you need.” He said again, “Bring the Word! That’s what we need, the Word of God!” Three times during that conversation he turned down physical aid and simply asked us to bring the Word of God’s present Kingdom and the power of God. This impressed me. Here are people as desperate as any on the planet and they were hungry for the Word of God.
Pastor Paul understands that all the finances and international aid in the world will not fill the void caused by generations of Voodoo worship and political corruption. The ONLY hope for Haiti is Jesus and His Kingdom destroying the work of the enemy.
Tent city where 2 million now live
PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
Haiti isn’t a place you go on a whim, especially after a natural disaster of biblical proportions. With the humanitarian crises alone, you are also dealing with one of the epicenters of demonic power on the earth! It is commonplace in Haiti for Voodoo priests to walk in extreme power, killing, maiming and destroying lives at will with their black magic curses. I heard David Hogan speak on a recording recounting some of the experiences they have had with the demonic. These stories are extreme for us in the west and stretch our ability to even believe them with stories of shape shifters, death curses and the like. He said in this recording that the witchcraft they are dealing with in Mexico is second only to the witchcraft in Haiti!
So we took the trip very seriously. We made a conscious decision to not be flippant about the devil and his schemes. We would not fear him, but we would not walk in presumption either. On a trip like this presumption can get you killed. So we prayed. We fasted. We sought God and we entered into that Psalm 91 secret place of the Most High God. To think that the enemy would let us equip several hundred pastors in the power of the Gospel and conduct a large open air crusade with miracles, healings and the Gospel of the Kingdom without a fight would be ludicrous. The enemy would do everything he could to stop the message from going forth and the power of God to be released. I prophesied to the team, warning them that we would have at least 1 encounter with Voodoo priests. On the last night of the crusade, several of them showed up to mess things up.
It didn’t work.
To be continued…
WHY WE WENT TO HAITI
Last year in 2009, two of our young people, Elijah and Jada Drysdale participated in a mission trip with another church. The primary aim of that trip was social in nature, teaching sewing and computer classes to the kids in Pastor Jean Paul’s orphanage. While there, Elijah and Jada were able to share some testimonies about what God is doing in our church with Pastor Paul’s church, encourage Pastor Paul that we can all move in the power of God, as well as pray for several sick people. The impact of their testimonies and the healing of many people they prayed for created a hunger in Pastor Paul for “more” of what they shared. Elijah continued communication with Pastor Paul over several months and Pastor Paul invited a group from our church to come and teach the 200+ Pastors in his Bible school, as well as minister in a large outdoor crusade.
Pastor PaulWhen it became obvious that this trip was going to happen and the scope of the trip began to come together, I met with Elijah and we together determined that either Pastor Marc or I should go and help train pastors and conduct the crusade. Dates were set, (May 28th - June 4th) inquiries were made and things were coming together. On Tuesday, January 12th we had a staff meeting at the church and discussed the trip almost exclusively. We reserved plane tickets with our travel agent, priced the trip and spent the better part of the day in the office making fliers, overheads and web pages to advertise the trip. At our Pastor’s lunch, we discussed the trip the entire time and prayed, asking the Lord to give us a heart and burden for Haiti, making it clear that this was something we were to do. We had never received anything from the Lord regarding Haiti before and we wanted to be sure. So after a long day of working on nothing BUT our trip to Haiti and with the map of Port-au-Prince still up on my computer monitor, I clicked on Drudgereport.com to check the news before I stepped out of the office for pre-outreach prayer at 5:30pm.
Of course, this was the day the massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people and causing an untold amount of damage to Port-au-Prince and the outlying areas. The earthquake had JUST occurred and we had spent ALL DAY working on the trip, BEFORE the quake! I began to shake all over with a terrific sense of God’s Sovereignty and Providence. There is NO WAY that Haiti could have been more front and center in our prayers and thinking before the quake. It’s just not possible. I called Pastor Marc and we both agreed that the Lord was behind this trip and had a wonderful plan for Haiti and we were to be a part. In spite of the devastation of the quake, God had a plan for that country and wanted HIS Kingdom to come and HIS will to be done in Haiti.
We were going and it was pre-arranged.
THE NEED IN HAITI
It took two days after the quake to reach Pastor Paul. 238 of his church members were killed in the quake, yet the 56 orphans in his home were completely spared due to them serving a late meal. They spent several weeks looking for survivors in the rubble, burying church members and mourning their loss. After several weeks I spoke with Pastor Paul for the first time. I told him that we had received an offering for the work and asked first of all if we could come earlier than we had planned and secondly what we could bring. His response amazed me. He simply said, “Bring the Word of the Kingdom, we need the Word”. I said, “Yeah, but we have some money and can bring supplies, food, water, whatever you need.” He said again, “Bring the Word! That’s what we need, the Word of God!” Three times during that conversation he turned down physical aid and simply asked us to bring the Word of God’s present Kingdom and the power of God. This impressed me. Here are people as desperate as any on the planet and they were hungry for the Word of God.
Pastor Paul understands that all the finances and international aid in the world will not fill the void caused by generations of Voodoo worship and political corruption. The ONLY hope for Haiti is Jesus and His Kingdom destroying the work of the enemy.
Tent city where 2 million now livePREPARING FOR THE TRIP
Haiti isn’t a place you go on a whim, especially after a natural disaster of biblical proportions. With the humanitarian crises alone, you are also dealing with one of the epicenters of demonic power on the earth! It is commonplace in Haiti for Voodoo priests to walk in extreme power, killing, maiming and destroying lives at will with their black magic curses. I heard David Hogan speak on a recording recounting some of the experiences they have had with the demonic. These stories are extreme for us in the west and stretch our ability to even believe them with stories of shape shifters, death curses and the like. He said in this recording that the witchcraft they are dealing with in Mexico is second only to the witchcraft in Haiti!
So we took the trip very seriously. We made a conscious decision to not be flippant about the devil and his schemes. We would not fear him, but we would not walk in presumption either. On a trip like this presumption can get you killed. So we prayed. We fasted. We sought God and we entered into that Psalm 91 secret place of the Most High God. To think that the enemy would let us equip several hundred pastors in the power of the Gospel and conduct a large open air crusade with miracles, healings and the Gospel of the Kingdom without a fight would be ludicrous. The enemy would do everything he could to stop the message from going forth and the power of God to be released. I prophesied to the team, warning them that we would have at least 1 encounter with Voodoo priests. On the last night of the crusade, several of them showed up to mess things up.
It didn’t work.
To be continued…
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