Day 3... Ansefelour

Acts 17: 24-25... The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

1 Corinthians 3:16... Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

Every night at the mission, we had a time of worship and a little message from one of our students. All the staff from the mission and any other teams there came. The night before this day, we talked about how we, as children of God, carry the presence of God with us, through the Holy Spirit. 

In the Old Testament the presence of God himself dwelt inside the Most Holy Place--a room! There was a tent prepared that traveled with the Israelites and the high priest was able to enter this holy place only once a year. But because of Jesus--the great high priest (Heb. 4:14-16)--the old law has been broken and we now enter into the new covenant! To follow God we don't have to perform any sacrifices or follow any rituals... but instead, we receive the Holy Spirit--24/7 access to God himself! Wow!

This was an awesome encouragement into our trip for day 3. We went to a nearby town called Ansefelour. Inside this town was one of the largest Voodoo temples. Voodoo is the religion practiced by the majority of Haitians. When we arrived at Ansefelour, we hiked up a  mountain.

At the top of this mountain was a monument. A little over 200 years ago, there used to be a monument of a cross at the top of this mountain (put there by the French). The Haitian people (African slaves) were at war with the French, trying to gain freedom from France. Right before they went to battle, they made a covenant with the Devil that if he gave them victory over the French, they would serve him for 200 years. They signed the covenant in pigs blood and the next day they beat the French. They believe that after this, there was a lightning bolt that struck the monument, destroying the cross and from heaven fell a black doll, named Saint Anne (sound familiar? -Satan). They carried the doll down the mountain and placed it in the temple. To this day the black doll sits in the prayer room in the temple and is worshiped. Wild, huh?

So we walked down the mountain and were able to enter the temple. I didn't really know what to expect, especially considering the events of day before (praying over a demon-possessed woman). As we all sat in the waiting room, we sang praises to the Most High God and asked for his presence to fall upon this dark place. We were then taken into the prayer room in small groups. My group was the first to enter. We walked into a silent, somber room full of darkness. There were about 6-8 people sitting in chairs facing the black doll. They burnt candles and incense to St. Anne. We went to the back and began to pray. It was a really powerful time of prayer and after a couple minutes one person stood up and left. Within the next 2 minutes every single person got up and left. WOW! The presence of God entered that room, light came and darkness had to flee!

This was a huge lesson I learned that continues to transform my view of God and who I am as a child of God. I carry the presence of God with me at all times, like a dove on my shoulder. 1 John 1:5 says that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Therefore any place where light comes, darkness is exposed and has no choice but to flee!! 

Super Powerful!!