A Hilltop Experience

Tonight I spoke to The M who is in Haiti with our boys. This is the story she told me.

Yesterday, some of the team found a village up the hill near the hotel. Several of them met a "man of peace" as described in Luke 10:6 and had some great conversations about God with several of the villagers there. Two of the women there decided to become followers of Christ that day, and the team promised to come back and follow up.

The M was not present for this, however, because she was sick yesterday. She stayed in bed eating antibiotics and making "runs" for the bathroom. But today, gratefully, she was better and was able to join the team as they returned to the little mountain village.

They walked from the hotel up the rocky road that rose and rose up the hillside. The M said that today she saw the beauty of Haiti as she took in more and more of the countryside as they climbed. At last they reached the village at the top where the hill forms a little plateau covered with carpet-like grass. The M, the team leader Vincent, and a translator found the two newly-Christian women and sat down to talk with them in the shade for a while. They had some written material to guide them in the basics of Christianity - think of Vacation Bible School for adults in French Creole - if you can think of that.

As they read over concepts like creation, separation from God (a.k.a. the results of sin), God's love and forgiveness, she could tell that their level of literacy was not allowing them to fully understand. So true to her form, just like I have seen her do before, she pantomimed, effervesced, and smiled her way into their hearts, going over the concepts with patience. She pressed her open Bible against her chest to illustrate God's words to us soaking into our hearts and transforming our minds. She probably called them "sugar" and touched them a lot, I don't know. In the end, the ladies decided they wanted to be baptized.

The "man of peace" (MOP) had been receiving some training of his own about being a shepherd to other believers. At least I think that's what she said (I'm a little fuzzy on the details). He and the team gathered at the carpet of grass on the hilltop. Since no bodies of water were available, the MOP produced a couple of plastic milk jugs filled with water for the baptism! The team formed a circle as the first lady knelt in the center and the MOP performed the holy sacrament.

"I baptize you in the name of the Father... glug glug glug... and the Son... glug glug glug... and the Holy Spirit" he said as he poured the water over her head. It ran over her head between the rows of braided hair and cascaded down her smiling face filled with the peace that passes understanding. What a beautiful, beautiful thing. The team celebrated her with applause and prayers for her blessing. The second lady followed after that. It was an awesome day.