What do you believe?

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Satan? Do you believe in angels? How about demons or evil spirits? Do you think they can be on the Earth? Before I (Theresa) came to Haiti, I would answer yes to the first three. I didn't want to believe in demons, I mean how could I? They aren't real, right?!? You read about them and the aweful things they do, but you just put that all in the back of your mind, just tucking it away. At least that's what I did. I was one of THOSE people, oh there's no such thing as demons or evil spirits! But now, after living in Haiti, I will answer yes to all those questions. Here's my story of why yes...

This past Saturday Watson and I took a team into the mountains. Now, we have taken teams into the mountains before, but not to do what we set out to do on this day. We were going up there to evangilise! I was excited to do this as I have gone on prayer walks with groups before, but never in the mountains! I knew we would pray for people and give out some much needed bibles and maybe, just maybe, have somebody come to Christ. Little did I know that God had even bigger plans for this day. Oh, did I mention that this group was made up of 10 teenagers and 7 adults. Along with Joe (who is familair with the mountains), Watson, Loveline, Miranda, Ariel, and myself, off we went. We seperated into 3 groups- Loveline taking the girls and married couple with her, Watson taking the guys, along with the youth Pastor and Miranda & Ariel, and Joe taking most of the adults and myself. It was kinda of odd how we split, I know, but it was all HIS plan.

We started out just like I thought we would. Went to a house, asked if they knew Jesus (they did), asked what they needed prayer for and prayed over them. After doing this with several people I asked Joe to ask the young lady that was leading us around if she knew anyone who didn't know Jesus. She did!! So, off we went to a middle aged woman's house who didn't know Jesus. Here it was, finally the moment that we had been waiting for, and it was WONDERFUL! She was spoken to in a simple way, nothing complicated. She was ready to change her life and she did!! Mesi Jezi!! Thank you Jesus! Now, for those of you who haven't been to Haiti, when white people are walking around, you tend to get a following that goes with you the whole time. So, with that being said, we had a farmer who had been following us around and after this lady accepted Jesus, he started chatting with us. He had some ailments, his wife has some problems, and he is raising 2 of his grandchildren. He thought is was great what we were doing and he was happy that we were there to tell people about Jesus. We offered to go to his house and pray for him, he agreed. While there, he was asked if he know Jesus, and he said he knew who Jesus was but wasn't a Christian. So, the group told him everything that Jesus had done for him and he understood, but wasn't ready to make that commitment yet. Ok, but at least the seeds are planted and he accepted all the prayers we could pray for him. On to the next house. This was a young lady who didn't know Jesus and again God worked through us and she is now a sister in Christ. Mesi Senye!! By now I was thinking, this is great, 2 people accepted Jesus today! This couldn't get any better! OH, but God doesn't disappoint as our day was not over! We moved on and came to a young mother that happened to be the wife of Joe's friend. She said she knew Jesus, but right now she had a voodoo curse on her. Uh-oh, I've heard this before and it can't be good. She proceeded to tell us that sometimes she can't walk, other days she can't use an arm, and other times her head or stomach hurt. She just had all sorts of things going wrong with no explanations. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, just take her to a doctor and they'll figure it out. Well, that's not always the case, especially here in Haiti. I looked at different members of the group and then to Rod (Team leader with his wife), he said "this is real isn't it", and I agreed. I told them that she probably does have a curse and we need to pray over her to help erradicate whatever is ailing her. I knew it wouldn't hurt! We gathered around, laid hands on her, and Rod began to pray. After about 30 seconds, she let out what was like a mix between a cough and gasp and immediately the child in her lap began to cry in terror. Someone removed the child to calm her down. Rod continued to pray, she did this 3 more times ( I'm getting goosebumps as I write this), and as he was praying I started to get a tingling sensation all over my body. This sensation went out my hand that was touching her and then a warm, calming sensation came back through the same hand and into my body. I also felt lead to pray and prayed for her to have peace. When we were finished, she was trembling, but ammittedly felt good. Did all her problems leave? I don't know, but, I know something left that young woman's body on Saturday. And, I know the Holy Spirit was there working hard too, because I felt it. Afterwards,one of the other ladies said she felt the same sensations I did but was afraid to admit it because that was the first time she ever felt it and didn't want to sound crazy. THAT, was the Holy Spirit and GOD was amazing on Saturday!! Of course he is everyday, but somedays it's more in your face than others!

The other groups had awesome stories to tell as well...
One teen girl prayed out loud for the first time ever. She said she didn't realize she could pray so well and the words just flowed eloquently out of her mouth. The boys prayed for a witch doctor. Yes, you are reading correctly, a witch doctor! On that day his father became a Christian too, so again, some more seeds planted. Maybe when we return to take some more bibles up there, the witch doctor will have changed his ways! The youth Pastor baptized a man in a parasite infested creek. Props to Logan for not even thinking twice about getting in a Haitian creek! A young boy stopped the group and said that HE wanted to know who Christ is right after his brother accepted Christ. They also challenged the young boy's brother to start a bible study. We will be returning to check in on everyone because follow up is key.

So...
I believe in good and bad spirits. I believe that there is a spiritual struggle everyday here on earth. I believe that with God all things are possible because GOD is all powerful. Satan and evil spirits may not be in your face everyday like this, but they can use things in your life to distract you from your walk with God. What do you believe?