Mar. 12/14 - Junel Romelus - 18 Years Old - Funeral

Monday afternoon was Junel's funeral. On the inside of the casket was printed L'eternel est mon berger - The Lord is my shepherd. In the months that Junel lived here after his amputation surgery he regularly attended Pastor Octave's church across the street from us. He would attend services with Marie. He trusted his heart to Christ and became a Christian. A few weeks ago, Pastor Octave made a special exception to the normal baptism protocol and baptised Junel at his bedside.... He was encouraged by everyone to not fear death. That he now belonged to the Lord. We bought him a small radio so that he could listen to Christian music and radio services. What was imprinted on the casket was a testimony to his family that the Lord is our shepherd. Junel did not have a Christian upbringing. When a bulge started growing on his leg the family first thought it was a sprained ankle. As it got worse they started visiting a "hougan" (witchdoctor) for treatment. They were told by the hougan that someone had cursed Junel. The mother believes that one of his sisters set out some powder because she was angry with the family. She felt that only the hougan could help. During the funeral his mother again followed her voodoo customs and placed powder on the casket. She did this so that Junel could not raise from the dead and become a zombie. In Haiti non-christian people believe that people can be raised from the dead to serve as zombies. She believed that this powder would deter people from opening Junel's grave. Pastor Octave was ready to pray final words at the gravesite and when he saw what Junel's mother did he turned around and walked out of the graveyard instead. This afternoon Junel's mother came to the house to say that she wanted the clothes that Junel was wearing when he died. She had asked Pastor Octave to save the clothes for her. I asked her if she was going to use them for magic at a hougans. Non-christian people in Haiti believe that people don't die of sicknesses. They believe that people die because somebody was angry at a person and performed magic from a "bokor" (evil witchdoctor) to cause the persons death. It is then up to the family/friends to seek revenge against the perceived person at fault of death. It is an endless cycle of revenge. It was good to read "The Lord is my shepherd". Following Christ is life. Junel is in heaven. Please pray for Junels' family.