Most of the worship songs we heard during our time in Haiti were sung in Creole. It was pretty cool to be left with only my smile, my rhythm, and my clapping to express worship to God. (I get so used to using my voice that I forget that true worship requires so much more than that.) One of the songs we heard often was a much more Haitian version of 'All Hail the Power of Jesus Name'. They added a pretty cool chorus in the middle of the hymn that, whenever it was sung, always seemed to lift the church to a higher level of praise. The tune was memorable, but again, not knowing the language I was never able to sing with the rest of the church. This special section of the song was apparently in a vernacular that was difficult for even our translators to convert into English.
Thanks to Amy Long, I was able to pick up a few words. One of the words in the song was Bondye, which is translated 'God'. The literal translation is 'Good God' (bon meaning good, Dye meaning God). It isn't that they are consciously adding 'good' to His name. But it does seem to be implied that for the Haitian people, this God is by nature good and the 'Good God' is worthy of that acknowledgment. I later learned that this is also true for other sayings such as 'Good-God bless you' when you sneeze, and 'my family is fine thanks to Good-God.' If you knew the plight of the Haitian people, then you might guess as to why I think this is such an amazing thing.
It is one thing to acknowledge that God is inherently good when your life is well, good. It is a whole other thing to have reasons to be less than happy about your existence and yet sing with joy 'I adore Good-God!. The conditions of normal Haitian life are hard to describe because in many ways, words will not explain it. I am not sure if I could accurately portray the scene of children bathing in a river with pigs, knowing that just a few steps away the same river is being used as a sewer and a washing machine. I am still trying to understand how a few days of rain can literally wipe a village in Haiti off the map. The majestic mountains and breath-taking ocean views of this land are always overshadowed by the lack of development in the townships, the sense of 'survival by whatever means' mentality, and the lack of hope and joy in the eyes of the people. That is, until they get to church where the people sing 'All glory to Good-God, I worship Good-God!'...their hands are up in the air, smiles on the faces, and voices of young and old are loud. In spite of the harsh reality, the members of Tiburon Church must declare that their God is good. He is good, not because their lives are good, but because He is good.
I wouldn't blame our friends in Tiburon if they did attribute God's goodness solely to their current state of living (and therefore would have a problem declaring that He is good). This is the primary way we sense that God is being gracious and kind...when things work out and right things are made wrong. It is the reason we go to impoverished locations and do more than just talk about Jesus. The Scriptures over and over again encourage us to add action to our faith and sweat to our confession, because this kind of living reveals the compassion and love of God. So don't get me wrong...I do not believe that the idea of 'Bondye' supersedes our need to partner and support our Haitian friends in every way possible.
But it cannot be denied that their worship is deeper and much more rooted in who God is than in what God does. It stands to reason that their faith could possibly be, as the Scriptures say in the letter to the Hebrews, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. Quite possibly, the lack of education and contact with the outside world has not kept the Haitian people from seeing God's presence among them beyond the material manifestations. I want that kind of faith and foundation in my worship. I wanna be able to confess daily, regardless of what my life looks like, that my God is good...inherently and eternally. All glory and all attention to the Good God.
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