A new opportunity to share God’s word in Haiti

In Haiti, I met a “crazy” man – one for whom I had prayed to encounter.

We had been in clinic for two days, yet I had not had a single opportunity to share the Gospel with a person who did not know Christ. It bothered me so much that I asked my supervisor to explain the clinic tickets were allocated among the community. Why were we reaching only the believers in our efforts? 

For the most part, the decision was left to the pastors of the local churches; nonetheless, I found myself searching the word of God and praying earnestly for an opportunity to reach the lost. Never had my heart so yearned to share His light. 

The very next day, during our lunch break, a seemingly incoherent man approached the clinic. He yelled in our direction in his native tongue – Creole – while holding weird fixtures in his hands and, again, pointing them in our direction. My mind raced back to the conversation that we had on spiritual warfare and the alarming prevalence of Voodoo practiced in Haiti. Needless to say, I was terrified. 

To add to the confusion, none of the translators would share with us what he was saying. We could only gather that the man was formerly a Voodoo priest and was known among the natives as a “crazy” man.

I joined hands with a few of my fellow team members and I prayed – prayed for peace, understanding and the sanity of this man’s mind. In that moment, I felt led to touch and pray with him. Still very much apprehensive of doing so, I reached out to our advisor and asked if she would join me in prayer with him. 

The underlying premise was that it was acceptable in this case to pray from afar. As the man rested his tongue, I continued to observe him from afar and the respect that he had for the pastor of the church. I left that day without touching and praying with this man only to realize that God had sent me exactly what I had prayed for, yet because it was outside of my comfort zone, I had missed that opportunity to share. 

I was convicted of my own self-righteousness and reminded that this type of occurrence is all-too-familiar in our daily lives. We pray for opportunities to share God’s word, but too often we miss those opportunities due to our unwillingness to be uncomfortable. 

This man was harmless, yet not a single person would touch and agree with him because he acted outside of that which was normal. Did he not deserve just as much as anyone else to receive the word of God? Moreover, was it not the presence of God that continuously attracted him to that particular place of worship? 

I went to God again in prayer that night, asking him for forgiveness as well as a new opportunity to share His word. This opportunity was granted the following day.

I meet a young woman who had never accepted Christ. At the completion of her daughter’s visit, she revealed to me that she wanted prayer for a relationship with Christ. I reassured her that salvation was God’s promise and He was waiting for her with outstretched arms. We prayed a prayer of confession together and she accepted Christ that day. I prayed God’s blessings upon her life, her daughter, and her descendants for years to come. I will never forget the joy in my heart in knowing that one day I will meet my dear sister in Heaven.

I noticed upon returning home that one of our BSM leaders had shared a quote that was very much reassuring of my experience in Haiti. 

“But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.” 

- Francis Chan

Marjada Tucker, a student from Rice University, served as a Go Nowi missionary in Haiti on the Rice Mobile Medical Team.