Touching Lives
On a previous trip to Haiti we attended Pastor Maxeau Antoine’s church in the middle of nowhere, named Eglise Evangelique Vallee de l’espoir or Valley of Hope Gospel Church. God called Pastor Maxeau to start a church in this area of rural Haiti. In October 2007, while in Haiti, we met some local people under a group of trees next to a banana field. They asked Pastor Maxeau to help them start a church. On the morning of Easter Sunday 2008 (5 months later) our team had the privilege of worshiping with these same people in this new planted church. We met in a borrowed 17’ X 37’ building with borrowed home made benches without backs.
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The church was packed with over 100 people praising the Lord and worshiping together. They held the church service in 90-something degree weather without electricity, air conditioning or even water for 3½ hours.
They sing and worship with great enthusiasm. Since everyone has to walk great distances to worship, they plan for church to go on for many hours. Laura, one of the teenage girls on our team, made the profound statement that “in my church back in Savannah people worship with their mouth but here these people worship with their heart.”
After the church service, we went about two miles down to a concrete irrigation ditch which provides water for the banana fields. It was about five feet wide and the water was about 18 inches deep, flowing very rapidly. The people dammed up the ditch so the water was about 24 inches deep at that time. Pastor Maxeau then baptized 9 adults by immersion as the congregation and our team watched from the bank.
It reminded me of how it must have been as John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan River. What a wonderful and meaningful way to celebrate Easter Sunday as we remembered the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, knowing that we will spend eternity together with Him.
“From every tribe and language and people and nation. You will make them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
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Evangelism Training Seminar
Also during this same mission trip, Pastor Maxeau and Donald Lyons conducted a six hour evangelism training seminar with 12 pastors and their church leaders at Pastor Maxeau’s new church.
There were almost 100 leaders eager to learn how to share the gospel with a lost world. Many had walked for over two hours to get to the seminar.
In the church parking lot were two bicycles, one motor bike, and two donkeys. Everyone else walked.
These pastors and leaders were trained and equipped with our EvangeCubes. They were taught to share the gospel with their own people. Then they sent out into the countryside. For over an hour they shared the gospel with everyone they met using the EvangeCube. They returned with great joy and enthusiasm reporting that 54 people accepted Christ in about an hour.
God is always faithful when people are faithful to witness for Him.
“Go therefore and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).
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