Lent, 2007
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Dear Friends, As we prepare ourselves to live a blessed Lenten season in meditation, fasting and prayer, I would like to share a story with you. This story is a testimony of faith, love, the power of prayer, and the triumph of God over the forces of evil. "Hello Dad! We urgently need your help. You have to make a decision right away. We cannot make it ourselves. That is too much for us." My interlocutor at the other extremity of the line is my daughter, Dominique, who is in charge of the scholarship program at our St Barthélémy School in Terrier Rouge. Dominique sounded very hopeless. You could tell in her voice. With my usual calm I asked her, "What is so urgent?" She answered, "One of the children, Eclyn, is very sick. He's at home and dying." I responded, "This is not a big deal. Tell the parents to take him to the hospital. Use the jeep of the clinic." "If it were so simple, we would have done it already. The problem is the parents themselves," she answered. "What?s wrong with them?" I asked. Dominique explained that the parents had visited many different medical doctors without success. The last one they saw - at a famous hospital in the area - declared that "the case does not belong to science." In the language of the people of Haiti, this means "a supernatural sickness"; the child is demon possessed. In order to save their progenitor, Mom and Dad decided to pay a visit to the witchcraft doctor, the voodoo priest. This is not the first time such a situation has occurred. In the middle of the school year we lost a child, Benedict, because his parents were very negligent in dealing with his illness. I did not want to take any chance this time. So I had a quick reaction. Brothers and Sisters, you are part of the happiness, of the hope which makes life possible for us. By supporting the ministry with your prayers and your generosity you have provided the 
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I told my daughter to go to the parents and convince them to take the child to the hospital. Dominique called back. "They are stubborn. They do not want to change their position and the child is getting worse and worse. Do something"! What could I do? I was 300 miles away. I could only count on God?s intervention. So I said a quick prayer. Inspired by the word of Jesus, I told Dominique to go back with her sister, Rachel, and some other people from the school to put some pressure on the parents to take the child to a friend of mine who is a pediatrician in Cap-Haitien. "Tell them not to worry about any expenses. Whatever his treatment cost will be charged to the school," I said. A human being?s life is priceless. In the meantime I was praying. Finally, the parents agreed to accompany Rachel to our friend's clinic. |
