Sunday, September 19, 2010

Meeting the Former Haitian Ambassador to the USA

On Sunday, Sept. 19th, Carol and I went to a Haitian church and met the former Haitian Ambassador to the USA. He had just resigned his post on August 1st so that he could run for President of Haiti, but they threw out his candidacy based on a technicality.

He is a fascinating person. He grew up at the mission campus of a Baptist denomination in the South of Haiti. He then emigrated to the US as a teenager and became a journalist for the Wall Street Journal in 1965 where he worked for many years. He broadcast anti-government protests into Haiti from the US which earned him a death sentance from the Duvalier regime. Later he helped to found Radio Lumiere, the biggest evangelical radio station in Haiti. He was also the first Haitian president of the Baptist denomination that he grew up in and is an ordained pastor. Now at At 70 years old, he feels he wants to give back to the country that gave him birth.

This got me thinking about the fact that those of us who are Christians are Ambassadors for God, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:20 . This is where "Ambassadors in Sport" got it's name from. As someone has said, our lives may be the only Bible people we meet will ever be exposed to.

Sometimes we will need to be brave and protest unjust governments and social structures like our new friend did when he protested against the Duvaliers. Sometimes we might have the opportunity to use our knowledge and experience to help many others and give back to the country that gave us birth, like the former ambassador.

I just pray that I will be a faithful ambassador for Christ, even twenty or thirty years from now. How about you?

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