Troy Don't Do No Voodoo...
We went out on a "mission from God" the other day. We traveled way out into the country to rescue a little old man on the verge of death. He was up in the mountains and had gotten sick. He could not seem to shake it and ended up with pneumonia. He was alone and not eating or drinking. We got the report about him from his son, Mr. Borel, who lives where we do and works for Judy. She decided we would go get his sick father and bring him here so we could put him in the hospital.
We drove for about an hour and a half. The regular road, if you could call it that, stopped an hour into the trip. We were driving along the coast on a dirt road and it was amazingly beautiful. We finally made our way into the thick to the base of a mountain. We stopped next to a creek and we were told this was as far as the car would be able to go.
Seemingly, Borel's father would be just on the other side of where we were, and needed only to be picked up and brought out to the car. Troy got out with our friend to go get him. They had a stretcher and off they went. We waited with the car.
They traveled off into the woods and two hours passed before we saw them again. They ended up scaling the entire mountain to get to where Borel's father was. It took them an hour and a half of climbing directly upward. Troy's leg muscles were screaming for mercy, but on they went. Mr. Borel just kept pointing to the next house and heading toward it. It never seemed to actually be the house though, and then he would point to a new one and head that way. Troy had been wearing flip flops so they had to come off once they hit the vertical incline. He moved along with the stretcher on his head and the flip flops sitting on them. He was a sight to see I am told. The only white man for 100 miles bare foot and carrying stuff on his head. Actually, the only thing about any of that that would have been strange to anyone who happened to see him was the fact that he was white.
When they finally came to the correct place, the man was incoherent and rail thin. Troy immediately laid hands on him and prayed. The major concern was that they would be able to safely get him down the mountain. They loaded him up and started to carry him down. Each house they passed along the way seemed to be some distant family member. One by one people came out to help them carry the stretcher. Eventually, there were enough people that Troy and Mr. Borel were not needed. They simply concentrated on carrying themselves down the mountain.
Along the way a witch doctor lady came out to join in all the fuss. She saw what was going on and started to walk with the group. She is apparently the only medical help in the area. She was wearing a top hat and had scarfs hanging all over her, which is pretty much official voodoo uniform. Troy ignored her until she became overly proactive. She came up to the stretcher and while saying some gibberish he obviously did not understand, she threw old candy wrappers on the little old man in the stretcher. Troy had had enough right there. He grabbed the candy wrappers (which were shiny and to a simple people would seem special) and threw them off of Mr. Borel's father. Then he turned to her and said in a very forceful voice, "Shut Up, in the Name of Jesus." She stopped right where she was and did not utter a peep. She was literally compelled to shut up. She had no way of actually understanding the words he spoke to her, but there is no such limitation in the spirit. They moved on and Troy said everyone became absolutely silent. He had no idea if they were happy about what he had done, but he had come to get his friends father, and he was not about to sit idly by while she played with the devil. Closer to the truth was that now they were afraid of him. They seemed to have gotten over it by the time they got to the bottom of the mountain. Judy said that by then they were seeing more as an angel then a man.
They made it down the mountain and we loaded him into the car. He started talking once we were on our way. We got him out of there in as delicate a fashion as we could provide with the roads being what they were. He held Troy's hand the whole way here. It was amazing. We got him into the hospital and instructed them to keep the IV's flowing. He was very dehydrated. The next day he was able to drink some juice and eat some crackers. He has started to complain about everything which Judy says is a good sign that he is getting better. She also said that he prayed a prayer of salvation since he got to the hospital.
I know that if we had not gone and picked him up, He would have died up there on the mountain all alone. God had no intention of letting that happen. I beleive He loves that man and He wanted something done about his situation. It was a physical feat that took a group of people to be able to accomplish and there is no way it could have been done without the car and the stretcher.
These are the kind of days that happen on the mission field. Sometimes your just working around the house. Sometimes your rebuking witch doctors and saving lives just because you care enough to pick them up. I can't explain how real our lives are to us now that we have made this move to follow God. Our old lives seem like figments of our imagination, like they weren't real. It is by no means easy, but it is worth every hardship to make a difference.
People all over the world need help and there is no reason not to take part in helping. Granted you may want nothing to do with climbing a mountain and being the one who is rebuking the witch doctor, but then find the people who are and help them do it. I don't mean that in a self-serving way. Help anyone who is doing it. None of us can do it alone.
There is no pay check sent out at the end of the week when your spending your time frustrating the devil, but it's still totally worth it!
We drove for about an hour and a half. The regular road, if you could call it that, stopped an hour into the trip. We were driving along the coast on a dirt road and it was amazingly beautiful. We finally made our way into the thick to the base of a mountain. We stopped next to a creek and we were told this was as far as the car would be able to go.
Seemingly, Borel's father would be just on the other side of where we were, and needed only to be picked up and brought out to the car. Troy got out with our friend to go get him. They had a stretcher and off they went. We waited with the car.
They traveled off into the woods and two hours passed before we saw them again. They ended up scaling the entire mountain to get to where Borel's father was. It took them an hour and a half of climbing directly upward. Troy's leg muscles were screaming for mercy, but on they went. Mr. Borel just kept pointing to the next house and heading toward it. It never seemed to actually be the house though, and then he would point to a new one and head that way. Troy had been wearing flip flops so they had to come off once they hit the vertical incline. He moved along with the stretcher on his head and the flip flops sitting on them. He was a sight to see I am told. The only white man for 100 miles bare foot and carrying stuff on his head. Actually, the only thing about any of that that would have been strange to anyone who happened to see him was the fact that he was white.
When they finally came to the correct place, the man was incoherent and rail thin. Troy immediately laid hands on him and prayed. The major concern was that they would be able to safely get him down the mountain. They loaded him up and started to carry him down. Each house they passed along the way seemed to be some distant family member. One by one people came out to help them carry the stretcher. Eventually, there were enough people that Troy and Mr. Borel were not needed. They simply concentrated on carrying themselves down the mountain.
Along the way a witch doctor lady came out to join in all the fuss. She saw what was going on and started to walk with the group. She is apparently the only medical help in the area. She was wearing a top hat and had scarfs hanging all over her, which is pretty much official voodoo uniform. Troy ignored her until she became overly proactive. She came up to the stretcher and while saying some gibberish he obviously did not understand, she threw old candy wrappers on the little old man in the stretcher. Troy had had enough right there. He grabbed the candy wrappers (which were shiny and to a simple people would seem special) and threw them off of Mr. Borel's father. Then he turned to her and said in a very forceful voice, "Shut Up, in the Name of Jesus." She stopped right where she was and did not utter a peep. She was literally compelled to shut up. She had no way of actually understanding the words he spoke to her, but there is no such limitation in the spirit. They moved on and Troy said everyone became absolutely silent. He had no idea if they were happy about what he had done, but he had come to get his friends father, and he was not about to sit idly by while she played with the devil. Closer to the truth was that now they were afraid of him. They seemed to have gotten over it by the time they got to the bottom of the mountain. Judy said that by then they were seeing more as an angel then a man.
They made it down the mountain and we loaded him into the car. He started talking once we were on our way. We got him out of there in as delicate a fashion as we could provide with the roads being what they were. He held Troy's hand the whole way here. It was amazing. We got him into the hospital and instructed them to keep the IV's flowing. He was very dehydrated. The next day he was able to drink some juice and eat some crackers. He has started to complain about everything which Judy says is a good sign that he is getting better. She also said that he prayed a prayer of salvation since he got to the hospital.
I know that if we had not gone and picked him up, He would have died up there on the mountain all alone. God had no intention of letting that happen. I beleive He loves that man and He wanted something done about his situation. It was a physical feat that took a group of people to be able to accomplish and there is no way it could have been done without the car and the stretcher.
These are the kind of days that happen on the mission field. Sometimes your just working around the house. Sometimes your rebuking witch doctors and saving lives just because you care enough to pick them up. I can't explain how real our lives are to us now that we have made this move to follow God. Our old lives seem like figments of our imagination, like they weren't real. It is by no means easy, but it is worth every hardship to make a difference.
People all over the world need help and there is no reason not to take part in helping. Granted you may want nothing to do with climbing a mountain and being the one who is rebuking the witch doctor, but then find the people who are and help them do it. I don't mean that in a self-serving way. Help anyone who is doing it. None of us can do it alone.
There is no pay check sent out at the end of the week when your spending your time frustrating the devil, but it's still totally worth it!
posted by Troy and Grace Elliott at Thursday, January 11, 2007
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