Travelers log - Day 3 in Haiti - voodoo temple

Until recent years, there had been 5 voodoo temples in the village of Gramothe prior to the building of Mountain Top Ministries. As recent as 2002, ritual voodoo drumming could be heard across the mountain from the temples all through the night. People were frightened when Willem cleared a road up the mountain that passed directly by the temple. The villagers refused to go in or near the place that housed dead spirits and an active voodoo priest.

When MTM broke ground for church, the voodoo priest began summoning demons which, in Willem's word, "frustrated him since they wouldn't come to him". As the area turned toward Christianity, voodoo began to disappear. The priests left and four of the five temples were destroyed.

One temple was intentionally left in plain view to remind people of where they came from and where they are today. A building that frightened the villagers so much that they didn't even want to even pass by it is now a tranquil empty building where local children play games. It no longer holds the people captive by fear.

A teenager sitting on the wall of the now defunct voodoo temple.

Willem (left) and residents near the temple.