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Word from the Mission Field

This story is continued from the morning scripture about “Repent and Confess.”

We left off on our story about “Bouje,” one of our Haitian workers, stealing gasoline. He had been using small “empty juno drink containers,” to siphon the fuel out and then, put the fuel into two five-gallon buckets. He was caught at our front gate about 1:00 in the morning, with his hands on two five-gallon buckets of gasoline, his body greased like a pig, his get-away-donkey on the other side of our wall… and oh, yes, did I forget to tell you he was “naked,” and had a red Voodoo headband on. I guess he figured that the “Voodoo stuff” would make him “invisible.”

He did not “repent,” when he was “caught with his pants down,” so at about 2:00 a.m. we were headed to the police station at the next town, Ganthier. I had taken a picture of Bouje, butt-naked with his hands on the two five-gallon-buckets of gasoline. When we arrived at the police station, they said, “what makes you think he stole this fuel?” “What?” I showed them the pictures I had taken and so they locked Bouje up. We thought that was the end of the story… until the next day.

His poor mother was one of our church members. She came crying, begging us to have the police let him go. By this time, he had been sent from Ganthier to the next town, Croix des Bouquet. We told his mother what happened. Bobby said, “It’s not too late for him to say, “I’m sorry, I stole the gasoline but I’ll never do it again.” His mother went down to the police station. Bouje refused to confess and say he was sorry. The Judge issued a warrant for him to be taken from Ganthier to Port-au-Prince. Again, his mother came and begged for a chance. We told her the same thing, we had told him, say, “I did it and I am sorry.” But he refused. Besides, the Judge had already signed the paper to take him “downtown to the big prison in Port-au-Prince.”

His mother came and begged again… but he still would not repent. However, we felt so sorry for his mother, that we decided to “forgive him.” We had to “pay the judge off,” to reverse the papers against him. He actually signed the paperwork to let “Bouje go free.”

We figured, “well, he will come and say “thank you, Pastor Bobby. I did it and I am sorry.” But, he never did. His mother lived in a little mud hut not far from our orphanage. She paid rent to a businessman who parked his motorcycle outside her hut, for safe-keeping. Bouje went home, “wired up the motorcycle,” and took off for the Dominican Republic… never to be seen by any of us again. All the chances he had… all he had to do, was say, “I did it and I’m sorry.” But he couldn’t repent.

God gives us so many chances to say “I’m sorry, and I won’t do it again.” But, sometimes we are just like the “butt-naked thief.” We have too much pride to repent and those “small sins,” grow into bigger sins. Today, no matter what you have done wrong, make it right. “I’m sorry and I messed up and I won’t do it again, Lord.” He is waiting to forgive. Today, he is your savior but tomorrow, He will be your Judge. He loves you, and Bobby and I love you! Sherry

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