Did Haiti Make A Pact With The Devil?

Did Haiti make a pact with the devil and was this the reason they have suffered.
"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another,”
Rev. Pat Robertson
I. Did the Haitian people make a pact with the devil?
Bois Caïman (Haitian Creole: Bwa Kayiman) is the site of the Vodou ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14, 1791. The stated purpose of the ritual was to attempt to overthrow French rule, which was based on slave labor. This occurred during the French Revolution and not during the rule of Napoleon the Third (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) so Dr. Pat Robertson’s story is not a true story.
According to the official "History of Haiti and the Haitian Revolution", in 1791 the following events occurred:
A man named Boukman, another houngan (male priest of the voodoo religion), organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire. However, the French quickly captured the leader of the slaves, Boukman, and beheaded him, bringing the rebellion under control.
It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. The ceremony was first documented in 1814 by Antoine Dalmas in his book History of the Saint-Domingue Revolution.
This was a pagan ceremony and was based on the beliefs common in Africa. It was not a “pact with the devil” since it was not done from the framework of the Christian faith. Like most pagans there was a religious ceremony which sought for magical strength and victory over their enemies by making as sacrifice. This had more to do with the idea that the “spirit of the warrior” which was in the ceremony would come into those who drank the blood. Christianity unfortunately was identified with slavery and oppression.
II. Is it right to think that people who suffer disasters are worst sinners than those who do not suffer such disasters?
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (Luke 13:1 ESV)

And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? (Luke 13:2 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3 ESV)

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? (Luke 13:4 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5 ESV)
III. Does God judge us for what our ancestors did?
The word of the LORD came to me: (Ezekiel 18:1 ESV)

"What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? (Ezekiel 18:2 ESV)

As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. (Ezekiel 18:3 ESV)

IV. Christian Response to Dr. Pat Robertson’s comments

Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas said, "It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. … Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham and president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, said he also disagrees with Robertson's assessment.

Graham's group is working in Haiti to provide humanitarian relief and, Graham said, he plans to go to the country in the coming days. "He must have misspoken," Graham said of Robertson. "But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."


IV. The faith of Haiti

Religions:
Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo
The Struggle of Haiti
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted apparel exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. HOPE II, passed in October 2008, has further improved the export environment for the apparel sector by extending preferences to 2018; the apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haitian exports and nearly one-tenth of GDP. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly a quarter of GDP and more than twice the earnings from exports. Haiti suffers from high inflation, a lack of investment because of insecurity and limited infrastructure, and a severe trade deficit. In 2005, Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for reengagement with the Bank. Haiti is expected to receive debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative by mid-2009. The government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability. (CIA Factbook)




V. Responding to the need by sending funds to Samaritan Purse

The first Samaritan’s Purse cargo plane arrived in Haiti Wednesday with emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday. The initial shipment included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team.

Our team is comprised of veterans of many disaster responses, but even they were shocked by what they encountered when they arrived.

“The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is desperate and tense, and there is tremendous suffering.”

Three more flights with personnel and critically needed relief supplies landed Friday. Staff arriving included our team leader, two water engineers, and eight medical personnel to join Dr. Gettle.

Samaritan’s Purse deployed a disaster response team just hours after one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean in decades to help with water, shelter, medical care, and other emergency needs.

“The damage is staggering in a nation where three out of four people live on less than $2 a day,” Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said. “The people of Haiti need our help like never before.”

We are partnering with HCJB Global, a medical ministry out of Ecuador that will be sending six doctors to join our medical advisor. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is deploying chaplains from its Rapid Response Team to help our team meet spiritual needs.


http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/#

Why believe the gospel?

Acts 3:12-19
12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.


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Meditation

In the book of Acts we find that the early church was able to support their witness of Jesus being the Messiah in four ways.

Apologetics – There was good reason to believe the gospel. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was proof that he was the Messiah of Israel and chosen by God to be the Lord and Savior.

A dynamic community of love – The early church began caring for the poor like no other community before them. They began breaking down the barriers of human society. Eventually Jews of all different stripes, Samaritans, Gentiles, rich, poor, weak, powerful, young, old, men, and women would be in a loving community and worshiping together in a way that the world had never seen. The unity and love of the church was evidence that Jesus was alive and His life was manifested in this new community of love.

Miracles – As we see in this text here God allowed the Apostles and others to do miracles done in the name and authority of Jesus the Messiah to demonstrate that the powers of the age to come were now appearing in this age. In the age to come the sick will be healed and now in Jesus the Messiah the powers of the coming age are being released into the current age. The miracles were not just acts of power they were confirmation that Jesus the Messiah had in some way restored the Kingdom of God that the first Adam had lost.

Martyrdom – The witnesses to the resurrection were willing to die to demonstrate the amount of conviction they have that Jesus was the Messiah and had been raised from the dead. This willingness to die over the truthfulness of their testimony and the change of life they experienced after the resurrection still remain witnesses of the reality of the resurrected Jesus the Messiah even to this day.

The crippled man who begged had been healed by Peter focusing on him. Now the crowd is focused on Peter and John. They are not even focused on the healed man. Instead they are looking with awe and wonder at the apostles. The Greek word for this staring is atenizō, (3:12, 3:4). The term is commonly used in Acts for an almost trance-like encounter with transcendent glory (see 1:10; 3:4, 12; 6:15; 7:55).

Peter wants them to turn this worshipful gaze from them to Jesus the Son/servant, the holy one, the righteous one, and the author of life. This man was healed not because of the power or piety of Peter and John but because of the power and piety of Jesus the Messiah who they had crucified and declared a blasphemer. They must repent of this lie and turn to now surrender to Jesus as the true Messiah of Israel and the God given Savior to bring to them the forgiveness of their sins. They can have all of their failure to love God and others as they should wiped clean, even their rejection of the author of life, the Messiah Jesus.


Christological - This particular miracle was very much in line with the promises of Messiah coming and bringing in the Kingdom of glory to earth. The prophet had predicted

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God. ...He will come and save you.'
Then the lame shall leap like deer...
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:3-6).

The lame were now leaping. The Kingdom of God had been restored in Jesus the resurrected Messiah. Now it was time to believe and repent that our sins might be wiped out.

Moral – Don’t worship the messenger, worship God.

Eternal – When we see our Lord Jesus the Messiah in heaven we will be focused (atenizō) on him forever. We will be in an encounter with Him in His transcendent glory and filled with joy and peace


Prayer – Lord, support the witness of your church today with your power that we might see people believe and repent. Give me boldness to witness! Amen


Contemplation – The Kingdom of God is at hand!

Action - Who do I know that has not yet believed and repented? How could I be the body of Christ to them today? Could I pray for them today? Could I say a word, do a deed, or express an attitude that would give witness of Jesus being the Messiah to them today? How could I bear witness that Jesus is the resurrected Messiah today? Could I make real the love of Christ today to some one in a real and deliberate manner?