Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Although proclaimed to be a Catholic country, voodoo is very much a part of Haiti. It is very common to see voodoo inside some of the Catholic churches. There are many symbols that serve to describe different things. For example, the house of a “witch doctor” will be marked with a flag. The color of the flag describes the different gods they serve:
A white flag: water gods
A red flag: vengeance
There is also a blue flag, but we are not sure what it means. However, the red + white flag is the most evil. Pastor Donny also explained to us how people get married to spirits, and voodoo seems to be more prevalent in areas outside of Port au Prince.
We witness one of these houses on Monday on our way to the first orphanage. The house, which was in close proximity to the orphanage, was marked with the red flag, and had a rope tied around a tree. The rope, Pastor Louis explained, serves as protection for them. And if someone who means harm to them crosses that rope, evil will be brought on to them.
For that reason, we are even more encouraged to know that Pastor Louis and Donny alone have planted 42 churches and three more are in progress—23 of which are sponsored by SRC. We know that God is doing an amazing work through His ambassadors here in Haiti. For those of us who have been here in the past, it is so encouraging to see that voodoo is not as prevalent on certain areas, such as Cambry.
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