A Bottle of Dasani Water in Jesus' Name

Yesterday was a wonderful day for us here in the mountains of Haiti. Yes, indeed. With the pastors' conference beginning today, yesterday gave us time to go up high on the mountain to visit a school and church with Brother James Spruill, who was instrumental in planting the church and building the school there over fifteen years ago.

After meeting with the precious children at the school house, the four of us here from the States set out for a hike up the mountain nearby. In the second bend of the trail we met a young farmer man from the village. He was very kind and though he spoke broken French (Creole) and I spoke broken English (Southern), our hearts seemed to melt together immediately. He looked thirsty to me, so with the Lord's divine nudging, I gave him my new bottle of Dasani water. When I presented it to him, I said (in my southern broken English of course) "I give you this bottle of water in the name of Jesus." He accepted it with a big smile. It seemed he understood me exactly.

As we prepared to move on beyond the young Haitian man to continue our full-circle journey back to the church house, the young man delightfully reversed his direction and decided to just walk along with us. Maybe he thought we needed a guide or security along the way? Or maybe he was attracted to the presence of Christ within us and among us? Anyway, he just fell in line with us, and we fell in love with him.

Whenever we passed the humble homes of the locals along the mountain pathway, the young farmer man would politely smile and say something to cause the people to greet us with instant openness. Pastor James seemed to think perhaps the young farmer man played guitar at the local church we were there to visit. So the other three of us just took him into our circle of wonder, love, and praise like would a family member.

 For about an hour or more the five of us walked along -- taking pictures, sharing stories, and laughing aloud together. The young farmer man still traveling with us was obviously glad to meet our acquaintance. He seemed to bask in the Holy Spiritual community the other four of us were without a doubt just taking for granted as Jesus-believers.

 Finally, we all arrived back at the church house and school yard. Our pleasant, mountain-journey had reached its conclusion. The young farmer man seemed surprised when I gave him five American dollars and said "Thank you, brother!" He had, after all, taken at least an hour away from his daily duties to make our trip special and though five dollars seemed like a lot of money to him, later I realized that me calling him "brother" may have been the greatest surprise to his ears.

We went into the church house to cool off and the young farmer man just came right in with us. When we entered we asked the local Haitian pastor, Jean Alix, (who had not been with us on the hike) to help us communicate language-wise with our new-found farmer friend. We at last learned through translation that our unknown friend's name was Aristan.

 

Then the pastor asked him, "Are you a member of this local church?" Aristan answered, "No. I am not even a Christian." The pastor asked him, "Would you like to pray to receive Christ? Would you like to be spiritually saved?" Aristan's eyes moistened up as he answered sincerely, "Yes, I would!"

 

With wonderful surprise in our souls, we all gathered around Aristan agreeing together as he prayed prayers of repentance for the very first time (and in his own language). Yes, the young farmer man we had met on the mountain asked Christ to be His Savior. What a wonder-filled moment!

 

To use a phrase of the Haitians: "Mercy Jesus!" It means "Thank You, Jesus!"   

Though I had someone take my picture earlier with Aristan (about the same time we met him, yes, right after I had given him my bottle of Dasani water), after sharing a wonderful embrace and crying a few tears of joy with one another, we had our picture made together again. Next, I took the rubber bracelet off my arm with God's five-word promise from Isaiah 49 engraved on it, "I will never forget you" and placed it on Aristan's arm. Pastor Jean Alix translated the bracelet's written message aloud to our new brother, Aristan.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was indeed a double-blessing day for me.

 

(1) I realized something of what Jesus might have been saying when He spoke these words in Matthew 10:42 (NLT) -- "And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded."

(2) And I was indeed rewarded. A precious Haitian soul that the Lord put on our pathway went from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Let us never underestimate the power of the Lord's presence within us and among us as we walk the pathways of this world He died to save.

"MERCY JESUS!"

Today, I am truly humbled, totally speechless... and surely...

Grateful