Have you ever seen one of those comics where someone is sticking needles in a voodoo doll?This image resembles reality in Haiti, sort of.Edner, my extension agent, and I went to Camp Coq last week to work on a soil conservation demonstration.It's a four-acre field we've rented for five years to show farmers from the local Baptist church how to keep Haiti's torrential rains from washing away their soil.The field is on a mountainside.It's so steep I've nearly fallen off several times when I lost my footing.This time we were planting a fast-growing vine called butterfly bean and pigeon pea.The vine will cover hillside and protect the soil.Pigeon pea is a local crop.

To get to the field we drive a couple hours and park. We cross a small river and climb up a mountain for half a mile or so.On the winding path up the mountain, we came upon a voodoo doll.It was on the ground at an intersection with another path.Around it were scattered corn and sesame seed; an offering to the spirits.There was a piece of paper under the doll with meaningless scribbling on it.The doll, about four inches high with blond hair, wore a red dress and had white skin.There was also scribbling on its forehead. "Looks like someone's trying to kill someone," Edner said.

"Looks like they're after a foreigner," I joked, considering the blond hair.Dolls I've seen in the past have been homemade, much like a sock puppet.This one was store bought.Even witchdoctors are going commercial.

Edner didn't appreciate my amusement.To him, what lay on the ground was tantamount to homicide.Haitian Christians have a healthy respect for the power of voodoo.In Haiti getting on the wrong side of someone can be lethal.In the Far West, we used revolvers.In Haiti, they use voodoo.Many Haitians live in constant fear that someone might have it in for them.Katherine sees lots of folks with ulcers at her clinic. If you want to settle a score with someone, go to a Bokor (witchdoctor) and for a (considerable) fee, have the person cursed.The Bokor will do his ritual, scribble on some paper, and leave it with a doll on a crossroads in your enemy's neighborhood.You let word out subtly identifying the intended victim.When he or she discovers the doll, depending on how much money they have, they may either seek protection from another Bokor or die in fear.

So becoming a Christian in Haiti is really about getting saved.Saved from fear and saved from the powers of evil. We serve an all-powerful God, more powerful than voodoo spirits, and that's tremendous good news to Haitians.

I was dwelling on the power of the gospel as we continued up the path.There is one lone mud hut on our way to the field.There a peasant family lives.In the mountains, houses are isolated, separated by hundreds of yards as each represents a farm owned by a family.As we approached the hut we heard singing and recognized the tune as a popular chorus sung in Baptist churches.We always greet the women and children whenever we pass but this time we stopped to ask how they came to learn that Christian song.They had started attending church and had recently become Christians.We blessed and congratulated them and encouraged them to grow in their walk with the Lord.

As we planted our seed on the field throughout the day I mulled over the contrast of passing a voodoo doll and then a Christian family along the path.It was a microcosm of what mission is all about—bringing light into darkness, replacing fear with joy, and overcoming evil with good.It is an endeavor we are all a part of, and to me the work is very satisfying.

Wayne Niles