Dirt On My Knees

Haiti 3.9.13

Prayer walking through the town of Gressier, Haiti was not what I had played out in my mind.  My expectation was to walk and pray, having no interaction with the locals.  However, I was thrilled when our guides led us to the area of the village where we had played soccer with the children last summer.  Once I saw those familiar faces, I knew we couldn’t walk by without visiting for a while.  I got to see Jessica again, a teenage girl who had braided my hair.  She is a strong, fierce young woman.  She recognized me and that was cool.  I had the chance to speak to a man who we had seen at a distance, but had intrigued my imagination for the nine months since I first saw him.  Each time we passed through this same little neighborhood adjacent to “Mosquito Stadium”, he was always sitting on his front porch, painting something.  He was the artsy-type, with wild hair and wisdom in his face.  I always wondered what he was working on, so today, feeling bold on my third time through this section of town, I got up the nerve to speak to him.  His name is Mario, and he is a self-taught artist.  He has learned English from people like us who have visited.  He is uneducated but naturally talented.  Today he is sketching perfect blueprints for his little shop that he dreams of opening on the main drag of the village.    The plans are precise, with straight lines, angled doors, and a cobblestone exterior.  He showed us his metal arts that he is making, little fruit-shaped magnets, hibiscus wall hangings, and an elaborate mermaid scene.  He is working ahead on heart-shaped gifts for Mother’s Day. 

Not far from Mario’s house, we run into a woman who attends the church.  We will call her Tasha, and she invites us into her home to pray.  When we entered her home made of wood and tarps, it is neatly kept with mosquito netting hanging over the two beds.  There are high shelves around the perimeter of the room to keep their few possessions.  She has seven children, and they all live in this one room of maybe 150 square feet.  She had been wearing a low-cut tank top, but quickly covered herself with an oversized t-shirt as we entered her home.  She wants us to pray for her to be married.  It is her dream.  The man who lives there with her is not her husband, and not the father of all of her children.  We make some small talk about how nice her place is, but she’s getting down to business:  she kneels on the rocky floor in prayer.  We all joined her on our knees and the Holy Spirit showed up.  I tried to pray but couldn’t choke back the tears.  It was an honor to be in that place with her.  I asked for God’s blessing on her and prayed from the book of Joshua over her family—“as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  It felt like a weak prayer but it wasn’t about me anyway.  God was there and God knows her heart.  We hugged and promised to see each other again at church the next day. 

When we returned to the Joy House, I told our leader, Norma about this experience at Tasha’s house.  Norma knows this woman well, and told me the most unbelievable tale of her life.  Some months ago, Tasha had been at the church, weeping and praying at the altar at one of the Crusades. Norma ministered to her for a long while, and sensed a real battle raging in Tasha’s life.  The next morning, people in the community reported that Tasha had stripped herself and her children naked and was running through the streets screaming all night.  Norma took a translator out into the village to find Tasha.  They didn’t find her at her home, but as Norma turned to leave, Tasha was coming down the street with her hair sticking up and a wild look in her eyes.  They entered Tasha’s home—the same place that we prayed on our knees today—and Norma spent hours with this woman, who was now very agitated and restless.  Any attempt to touch, hug, or pat Tasha would cause a fierce withdrawal.  At one point during an extended time of prayer, Norma said that the Holy Spirit revealed to her, “She doesn’t want to be a Christian.”  Norma stopped praying, looked at the translator and repeated those words, “She doesn’t want to be a Christian.”    The translator began to speak in Creole for Tasha, because she does not understand or speak English.  However, as he began to explain to her, Tasha growled, “I know what she said.”  Norma knew at this point that she was dealing with a demon, and that Satan knows no language barriers.  Tasha revealed that she had been involved with several men, one of whom was immersed in the Voodoo culture.  What Norma was witnessing was the demonic manifestation of a curse that this man had placed on Tasha.  The enemy was fighting for Tasha’s soul as the Lord was drawing her near.  Tasha was being tormented, and Norma left that home with no resolution for Tasha.  Weeks later, Tasha showed up at the Joy House wanting to speak with Norma.  The same restlessness began again as Norma began to speak to her about Jesus.  Tasha squirmed in her seat, rocked back and forth, bounced her leg.  Again, for a long time, Norma spoke truth about the Gospel to her, and Tasha expressed a desire to surrender her life to Christ.  Still, there was this war raging within Tasha.  Finally, as Norma prayed, she said, “I bind Satan in the name of Jesus and through the power of His blood.” Immediately, Tasha calmed, the restlessness ceased, and she was still.  It was done.  The demon had to leave at the mention of the Name above all names.  Now, Tasha is active in the church and has had a 180 degree life change.  She has cut ties with the man who was no good, and desires to be married to this man who is also involved in the church.  Norma is planning Tasha’s wedding for this July, during the next Joyful Weddings celebration.  Rewinding in my mind the significance of what I now knew, I could see the evidence of God’s work in Tasha’s life in the few minutes we had spent with her.  Whereas once she stripped naked, today she covered herself as we entered her home.  Whereas once she violently rejected any physical touch, today she welcomed us with an open embrace.  She took the lead in prayer, her home was peaceful, and mostly, I could see the brokenness in her spirit that pleases the Lord. 

Later this evening, I looked down to see dirt on my knees---a really awesome reminder of that blessed time of prayer that we had with Tasha on her dirt floor, and a really awesome reminder of how our God works.  “I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst…I will block her path with thornbushes;  I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.  She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them….therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her….I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; I will betroth her to me forever, I will betroth her in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth her in faithfulness and she will acknowledge the Lord.” (Hosea 2).  God said it way back then, and it’s true today: He allows the wilderness times of our lives to bring us into desperation.  That’s when He pursues us in love and compassion, speaks sweetly to us, and brings us into covenant with Him.  This truth is being lived out in Tasha’s life.  It has happened before our eyes, in living color.  It is beautiful and amazing, a joy and a privilege to witness.  I don’t want to wash my knees; the dirt is a representation of this lesson I’ve learned about prayer.  Instead I’m writing this to remember and to share with you.  Don’t be afraid to pray with someone in your life because you’re afraid of getting “too messy” in their situation.  One day you’ll realize what God is doing in that life and you’ll cherish having dirty knees, too.