Whose Daughter is She?

I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti a few years ago just months after a devastating earthquake ravaged the impoverished island nation. The short time I spent there was life-changing. I saw the best and the worst of all the world had to offer. I saw desperate poverty and powerful faith coexisting as thousands of Haitians with little food and no earthly possession gripped tightly to the hope they had in Jesus that no earthquake could ever shake.

Each day my team would load up in the back of a truck and drive to our worksites and along the way, we would pass a small Voodoo Temple. Voodoo is still a dark and prevalent force in Haiti and many have turned there for answers instead of turning to Christ. The Voodoo Priest there was a large, intimidating man who would stare us down each morning as we passed by. He seemed to be a man full of anger and he apparently saw us (and our faith) as his enemy.

On our final day, we drove by, and he wasn’t there. Instead, there was a beautiful little girl who was maybe 6-years-old standing where he would normally stand. She was dancing and smiling and waving to us. She seemed so innocent and full of life and possibility. I smiled and waved at her, but as we drove away, the reality of what i had just seen began to set in and I started to become angry.

That little girl must have been the daughter of that angry Voodoo Priest who had made himself an enemy of God and Christians. In my mind, i started arguing with God saying, “Lord, that little girl doesn’t have any hope! She’s beautiful and innocent, but she is surrounded by darkness. She has no future! She will never know you! Just look who her father is!”

I’ve never heard God audibly speak, but I could sense in my Spirit Him whispering to me and saying, ‘Her father is not a Voodoo Priest. Her Father is the Living God and Savior of the World. That little girl is MY daughter and the plans I have for her life are as beautiful as she is. There is no darkness that my light cannon penetrate. There is no evil that my goodness cannot replace. There is no person who is out of the reach of my loving hand.”

I will probably never see that little girl again on this side of Heaven, but I believe that God has extraordinary plans for her life. For her, and for millions of children like her who are born in hostile situations, I pray that the love of God will break through and reach her. I pray that God’s people will rise up and be the hands and feet of Jesus to extend God’s Grace and Truth. I pray that we as Christians will be willing to go into the darkest places on Earth to rescue people, because that is exactly what Jesus has already done for us.