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By Jeff Boshart
Motivated by the ongoing political and economic crises in Haiti, members of the Eglise des Freres Haitien Miami (Haitian Brethren Church in Miami, Florida) organized and sponsored an eight-person team to travel to Haiti from July 16-25. Due to the insecurity in and around Port-au-Prince, the team focused on the community of Saint-Raphael in the north of Haiti, two hours from Cape Haitian, Haiti’s second largest city. They were hosted by the local Church of the Brethren in St. Raphael and were joined by several members of the national leadership of the Iglise de Fres d’Haiti (Church of the Brethren in Haiti).
Each day began with door-to-door visits in the community, where neighbors were told about nightly revival services. During the week, 28 people made a decision to follow Christ. Last weekend, 7 couples who were living together officially tied the knot due to financial difficulties. The team from Miami brought wedding dresses and rings for the ceremony and held a large wedding reception at the conclusion of the service. In many Haitian churches, a person cannot be baptized or become a member of the church if they live with someone but are not married. This also keeps individuals from singing in choirs or having children in church. The wedding ceremony was held on Friday afternoon and the baptism of children was held on Saturday and Sunday morning. A total of 12 people were baptized and 13 children were baptized.
Click above for larger images of the wedding. Photos by Ilexene Alphonse.
An unexpected blessing comes from door to door when a witch and voodoo witch gives his life to Christ. Then he took all the things related to Satan worship out of the house and burned it. The second focus of the week was the morning of the baptism service. A bystander whose wife was being baptized struck up a conversation with Ilexene Alphonse, pastor of Iglesias des Freres Haitiens in Miami. He confessed that he was thinking of becoming a Christian, and Alphonse invited him to make that choice and be baptized. The man accepted the invitation and was baptized with his wife.
This was the second mission trip organized by the Miami congregation, the first being in 2019. They plan to make this an annual event in collaboration with the leadership of the Eglise des Freres d’Haiti. The church’s outreach efforts are ongoing as parishioners are collecting clothing and shoes to send to Haiti.
– Jeff Boshart is the manager of the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI). Learn about this ministry at www.brethren.org/gfi
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