Praying for Haiti

In light of the recent earthquakes in Haiti, I interviewed Christine Elsas, a student at Colorado Christian University who has served as a missionary to an orphanage in Haiti. When asked how we could be praying for Haiti in the aftermath of this disaster, she stated that a lot of people are asking the question, “How could this happen?” She feels that the earthquakes are already an answer to prayer.

Success in Haiti, says Christine, is different than success in the United States. Americans envision wealth, skyscrapers, and materialistic things, but the Haitians don’t need money, necessarily. They are run by corrupt leaders, and they need to be educated about proper nutrition. Christine also says that although the demographic reports say that people in Haiti are 80% Catholic, this is actually a Catholicism mixed with voodoo (a religion that is based on witchcraft).

Christine says that sometimes God does drastic things in order to get the attention of those who have strayed from Him. She says that the Haitians need a heart change that can only come from the Lord, because their entire mindset is ingrained in voodoo. She wants people to pray that missionaries would be sent who are willing to give the Haitians what they need and who will help in the Lord with love. She wants us to pray that God will open the heart of our nation to Haiti, because “the workers are few.” She also says that Haiti needs humble missionaries who do not have preconceived notions about what the Haitians need.

Christine says that God works in brokenness, and she hopes that the Haitians will be more open to Jesus after this disaster.

A recent news report from CBN by senior reporter George Thomas indicates that Christine’s hope is becoming reality. After telling the story of an 83-year-old Haitian woman who has been a voodoo priestess since she was 14, Thomas says that “the earthquake brought serious doubts about her religious practices,” and that she has made the decision to turn away from voodoo. She now regularly attends a Christian worship service. Pastor Camille, the one who took care of her after the earthquake struck, states, “‘So many people are accepting Christ…. Almost every day, right after the meetings some walk forward to proclaim their new faith.’”[1] So, we can see that this earthquake is not merely a horrendous disaster; it is a horrendous disaster that God, in His sovereignty, is using to bring newly humbled hearts into a loving relationship with Him.

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[1]“Turmoil in Haiti Turns Woman from Voodoo” <http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2010/January/Turmoil-in-Haiti-Turns-Woman-from-Voodoo/>