My Date With A Witch Doctor And Two Blind Boys

I’m so excited to share a special post written by my husband, Roger Gibson. You can follow along on our mission adventure from a man’s point of view on his facebook page here.

Roger shares: I’ve heard voodoo is the national religion of Haiti, but I never really believed it. Within the first four days of being in Haiti, I came face to face with a “real” witch doctor. I was with our missionary friend, Bill Campbell and their Pastor at the home of a family that we were building a new home. While we were there, the witch doctor that lived next door came over to say, “Bonjour.” Pastor Clebert whispered in my ear that he was a witch doctor, but when I looked at him, he didn’t actually look like a witch doctor. He was dressed very simple. Wearing tattered jeans, Hawaiian t-shirt, and a baseball cap. I was expecting a witch doctor to be dressed more like a … witch doctor. Wearing a grass hula skirt, chicken bones necklace, long dreadlocks, face paint and blood shot eyes. After I got past my disappointment of his wardrobe I wanted to learn more about him.

As Pastor Clebert walked toward the witch doctor, I quickly join him as he made his way over to him. As we walked up to the witch doctor, Pastor quietly said to me, “One of his girlfriends goes to my church.” As we approached the witch doctor, he instantly greets Pastor with a smile. Again, I wasn’t expecting a smile or a warm greeting. This was a meeting of good vs. evil. This was Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. I wanted to see the light sabers drawn and a battle of good prevailing over darkness. Instead, I got small talk and laughter. Pastor in between sentences would translate as the witch doctor was said, “bonjour” to me and welcomed me to the community. I didn’t want to hear “how are you” and “good to see you” shallow type of conversation. I wanted a showdown!

In the hype of coming face to face with evil I wanted to fight, but in my heart I could hear the Spirit very loudly say, “Be quiet. Just pray.” I was promptly reminded to pray for the witch doctor’s heart, for Pastor Clebert, and the unseen forces at war for his very soul. As I started to praying silently, Pastor changed gears and began sharing the gospel with the witch doctor. After much talk between the two, pastor turned to me to share with me that the witch doctor said, “His time is not now.” I blurt out to pastor, “How will he know when ‘now’ is? He could die tonight and miss the ‘now’ .” Pastor asked him that question and they went back and forth in Creole with me just standing there between the two trying to decipher by their hand gestures how the conversation was progressing. Finally, pastor tuned to me and said to me that he said he will know when the “now” is, but the “now” is not today. In my mind, I wanted so bad to witness the witch doctor fall down to his knees in repentance just like at the end of movie with the bad guy begging for his life and the good guy gives him a second chance. Instead, he would remain in darkness.

Special note: The photo of the little boy with red dreadlocks, is actually a child who has been dedicated to voodoo religion. When Haitian children are sacrificed as babies to witchcraft and voodoo, their hair grows in red. This is NOT a made-up story, it’s the real deal. Please pray for this precious boy to come to know Jesus as his personal Savior. We will continue to witness to his family in Pignon.

Arriving at Haiti Home of Hope orphanage I’m immediately swarmed and surrounding by kids. I have boys jumping into my arms, onto my back, and hugging my legs. The kids don’t let go they are holding on for dear life. As I try and make my way to the house I notice two boys quietly sitting on a bench. Instantly, I’m captured by the smile on their faces. This wasn’t just a smile, but a smile captivated by joy, happiness, and gratefulness. I changed my direction and headed over to the bench.

They are brothers, both blind, and have been living at the orphanage for about two months. Later, once we got settled and the other boys ran off, I learned that the boys were found naked on a dirt floor in their home that was made out of sticks and mud. Lemonez is 14 years old and weighed in at 38 lbs. and Cozo is 11 years old at 29 lbs.

Their family of nine was originally in the Haiti Home of Hope feeding program, but due to the lack of funds they had to cut the program for a short time. Once they got the program up and going again they noticed that a few of there families were missing. So, Bill and Jennifer Campbell went out to look for their “missing” families to check on how they were doing. Upon arriving at Lemonez and Cozo’s home, they immediately saw the circumstances … it wasn’t good. Picking up the boys, their father begged Bill and Jennifer to take them into the orphanage. He was an older man who was a widower. He just didn’t have the resources or the strength to take care of the boys. Without hesitation the Campbell’s took the boys up into their arms and put them in the back seat of their big 4×4 pick up truck and headed home.

The boys now have comfortable beds to sleep in, three meals a day, and a lot of fun. (I’m holding Cozo in the photo with Lemonez hanging on my shirt on the 4-wheeler.) Plus, they have Jesus in their hearts. They are so excited about what Jesus has done in their life that the first thing they want to do when they first meet you is sing. And, they sing really loud! That is what I want to see for the witch doctor, for the hopeless, for the fatherless. To be excited for Jesus! To be grateful. … thankful … happy … joyful for all he has done for us. Regardless, of the hardship we are facing right now or how many presents we have underneath the tree we can find love wherever we are.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalms 118:1

Year End Giving

We are currently raising support for the year 2012-1213 as missionaries with Simply Love. We have raised 30% of our support goal and thankful for our mission-hearted friends giving, praying, loving, and supporting our family’s mission adventures!

We ask that you prayerfully consider giving to our ministry, Simply Love as we serve on the mission field in Haiti, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia. We have our TOP 8 financial needs listed here for fundraising on the field.

You can subscribe to our Simply Love e-newsletter here or click on the icon email news on the home page.

Year End Giving: All checks must be postmarked by December 31st for 2012

tax credit. Contributions can be mailed to:
Simply Love Ministry
706 North Lindenwood Drive
Olathe, Kansas 66062

My Crazy Adoption bloggers “save the stamp” and donate online by clicking the following link:

• Simply Love Fund
• OPERATION:HAITI is our paypal donation link.