When I lived in Haiti I was bragging to a Haitian friend that I could get around without getting into too much trouble. He quickly turned to me, and with a knowing smile, said that he would be happy to drop me off in a place called Cite Soliel to see how I would fare.
Cite Soliel is one of the most violent and dangerous places in all of Haiti. Started as a shanty town to house factory workers, it quickly became gang controlled and was a brutal place during the Aristide regime. Most Haitians will warn you not to venture into that part of town and many missionaries steer clear.
In late December we hosted a team from Don Shire Ministries who had decided to build a home for a widow and her three children living in Cite Soliel. The team had counted the cost and decided that showing the love of Jesus in such a dangerous place was worth the risk. The team wisely hired the ruling gang in their area for protection and this is where our story begins.
As the team began building the widow’s home, a young man whom a few of the team members had started conversations with, asked to show them an internet cafe that had been started but never completed by an NGO. This happens on the mission field, you are constantly asked to see other projects or needs that you are asked to help with. At first, this seemed like another need that would distract the team from their original goals, but then God began to move. The young man said that he wanted to start a buisness that would help him escape “the prison” he was living in. You see, this young man is the gang leader for that area. The allure of false power has trapped him in the small area his gang controls and he knows that if he tries to leave he will be killed by a rival gang or the police.
The team leader, sensing the opportunity to share the Gospel, asked him if he were to die today, where he believed he would go? The young man answered “I hear the voices of all the people I have killed and beaten in my head. I know my future is hell.”The next day, he met with the team leaders again and as they were talking he reached back and pulled out his 9mm pistol, placed it on the table, and said that he would give up all of his guns if the team could get him out of Cite Soliel.
While we can’t end this story by telling you this young man became a believer, we can tell you that his mother came to Christ and the seeds of the Gospel were planted in this young gang members heart.
As I write this story, I am reminded of Luke 14 where Jesus explains that following Him is costly. Counting the cost of disciplelship isn’t often preached in our churches on Sunday, but this young man is counting the cost and I believe he fully understands the very real cost of following Jesus. I also believe that God can change a town, city, and nation when a young man like him is willing to lay down his life for the sake of knowing Jesus.
I am excited to see how God uses this young man, how God uses the Haitian pastors willing to share the Gospel through Bible study in the darkest parts of the city, and how God uses the missions teams committed to sharing the love of Christ with the least of these.
The Lord is moving in Cite Soliel. Through people willing to face danger, lay down their lives, and tell everyone that Jesus is worth it all.
