The Miracle

Je Bondye ap gaden, Tout kote nou pase.... “God will watch over you wherever you go.” (A Creole worship song)

Training Camp in Haiti

“Scott, I am not good. Lilie—she lost our baby last night”. My friend Bouzy, a Young Life staff member in Haiti, had come to pick me up my final morning there. We had just finished a very successful training camp for volunteer leaders. We had over 150 leaders there and it was a really great camp, the camp helped leaders feel more called to ministry and more equipped to reach teenagers and help them grow in faith. It was a big success and we were celebrating. But the morning after camp Bouzy looked tired and broken and then he explained why. His wife Lilie had been 3 months pregnant, they had previously suffered two miscarriages but were hopeful this time would be different--and then the night after we returned from camp she began bleeding, a lot of bleeding….

I was reading through the book of Acts while in Haiti. In Acts, you can see over and over again how God moves and intervenes to help the church grow—the Holy Spirit comes and the disciples preach in different languages, Peter and John heal a cripple and proclaim Jesus to a stunned crowd, Paul sees Jesus on the Damascus road and turns from a persecutor to a missionary, Peter is freed from prison by an angel, and on and on the miracles go. But it’s also interesting that these miracles take place in the midst of great difficulty and persecution and the problems don’t go away. Steven and James are

small group at camp
 

martyred, the church scatters because of persecution, Paul is beaten and arrested multiple times, and on and on the hardships go as well. Terrible things happen and yet throughout Acts it’s clear God is still in control and He’s doing something special.

I felt like I was seeing Acts in action in Haiti. It’s not hard to see the difficulties-- deep poverty is part of it--with almost 80% of the population living below the poverty line and an average income of about 800 dollars, it is by far the poorest country in our hemisphere.  Violence and crime is part of it as well; gangs, political protests and riots are part of the normal reality of Haiti. Young Life leading is challenging because parents don’t want their kids anywhere outside the home besides school out of a fear of what might happen. Corruption, poor education and poor health care are all part of it too and many people in Haiti look for answers through voodoo and witch doctors—they’re desperate for help and anything they think might offer it.

Teaching at camp

And yet God is control and He’s doing something special. We had over 150 Haitian leaders at the camp and they are all really passionate about helping teenagers follow Jesus. This is often because of all God has done to rescue them. One example of this is Gethro. When he was a teenager Gethro became very sick. His parents assumed he had been bad and God or some gods were punishing him so they blamed him, Gethro felt both judged and abandoned by them. Gethro’s brother assumed he

Gethro

had an evil spirit in him—so in a common voodoo practice he gathered some friends to ‘beat’ the evil spirits out of Gethro by punching and kicking him. Gethro was very hurt and very confused by his brother’s actions. Gethro was desperate, but he kept dreaming that he should let a local pastor pray for him; even as he felt totally alone, God was speaking to him. He finally met this local pastor and he began to learn about Jesus’ love for him and it changed his life. God healed him from his sickness and Gethro wanted to serve the Lord, so he joined Young Life to help preach Jesus to teenagers who were lost like he was. Today, Gethro is the area director in his town of Maissade and leads a team that serves a lot of teens who come from families like his— they are scared, confused and lacking any understanding of who Jesus really is. Gethro is a great reminder that God is in control and doing something special in Haiti.

The training camp with leaders like Gethro’s team was both amazing and powerful. We slept on bunk beds and cots and even pads on the floor wherever there was space so we could all fit. We had

Breakfast....yum?

One of our night meetings

spaghetti for breakfast, took open air showers and knocked mangoes off the trees for fresh snacks. It was rustic but beautiful. Perhaps best of all were the worship times. We worshipped together in a way that was fully Haitian and full of joy. The band had drums
and guitars and back-up singers and a rhythm I’ll never have and it was beautiful.  One of the songs we sang over and over—every day—was Je Bondye Ap Gaden, which says ‘God will watch over you wherever you go’. And all of us lifted this song up in praise and as a reminder of the Lord we serve.

Our hillside teaching spot

It was the largest training camp we’ve ever had in Haiti. Together we learned more about Jesus and his call for us to make disciples, we discussed how to show love to teenagers, how to best disciple and equip others and how to lead as servants in order to help transform Haiti from the inside out. It was a rich and beautiful time, and we left filled by the Spirit, more prepared to minister and lead and really excited about what God is doing in Haiti.  

And then it was the morning after. “We lost the baby”.  The words were so full of pain. I didn’t understand why this would happen-- again. I felt so inadequate to comfort or help Bouzy as he wept. And I didn’t know where God was in this moment. Je Bondye Ap Gaden—really? It didn’t feel like it. Soon after, Bouzy received a call from Lilie and needed to leave-- she’d reached their doctor and they could finally go see him. Before he left, another Haitian leader and I hugged Bouzy and we prayed for him. There really was nothing else we could do. So we cried to the Lord together—for our hurting brother, for Lilie, for the baby, for God’s peace and healing for them. As we finished the prayer, Bouzy left and I sat there sad and a little stunned and still asking God why—and right then, off in the distance, I heard what sounded like a cheap car radio playing a song I knew. I don’t know many songs in Creole, so it stood out: it was Je Bondye Ap Gaden. At first it felt almost ironic, but then it struck me like a brick—at just the right moment, God used it to remind me that He was still there. The words washed over me, stronger than ever before: “God WILL watch over you wherever you go”. That was really my prayer for Bouzy and Lilie and my deepest prayer for all our brothers and sisters in Haiti—to know that God is still with them, watching over them and walking with them in the midst of all the many challenges they face every day. Hearing the song at that moment didn’t make everything suddenly okay, but it gave me a lot more peace and encouragement in that moment; it was a real reminder that God is with Bouzy and Lilie and the rest of our Haitian leaders in all that they go through, even this.

Lilie and Bouzy

But it turns out the song at just the right time for me wasn’t the miracle, the real miracle happened next. Bouzy and Lilie saw their doctor, they cried with him and told him what had happened. He THE BABY WAS OKAY! Bouzy and Lilie were stunned, frozen in disbelief for a time, and then they began to rejoice (and as Bouzy says, they really haven’t stopped since). They were so sure of what had happened—but it didn’t. Je Bondye Ap Gaden, miraculously.

decided to take an ultrasound, but they all knew what he would see since they’d been through this twice before.  But when he took an ultrasound, he didn’t find the expected- he found the miracle.  

Life in Haiti is still hard, the poverty in Haiti is still very real, Lilie still needs care and prayer as the pregnancy continues and the challenges for this country and our leaders still seem overwhelming most of the time. But I’ve been reminded to keep resting in the fact, like in Acts, that in the midst of all this God is in control and he’s doing something special. Je Bondye Ap Gaden.