NEWSLETTER OF FEBRUARY 2010
Dear Beloved in Christ,
You know that on January 12, this year, a violent earthquake 7.03 hit Haiti that caused a lot of deaths, injuries and damages. I gave you at the beginning a very
moderate report about the event. It is time now to send you a more elaborate one:
The earthquake struck the country at 4:57 PM. I was in our house with many
people who rushed out to leave it. We had with us a group of 9 American
missionaries from Pierceville, Kansas, from Montezuma, Kansas, from De Ruyter,
New York, and from North Carolina who came the same day to Haiti to help put a
roof to the church of Mariani. They also had to undergo the ferocity of the
catastrophe. It was a cruel experience, for them. But they were for us here the
angels of the Lord: they help save my house. The seism struck the house so hard
that everyone knew it was going to fall. But those angels of the Lord jacked up the
house all around.
In general, according to the news, there were about 222,500 deaths, 250.000 injured, about one million people without a shelter who now live on the streets. Most of them don’t have any tents. When it rains, they don’t have a place to keep from being wet. So, the need for tents is one of the priorities along with food for right now.
The devastations caused by the seism are immense. They are enormous in the churches, the schools and the houses.
The people who attend churches that collapsed don’t have a place to worship now on Sunday; those whose churches are partly damaged tried to meet somewhere on the yard of the church; others on Sunday have no place to meet. This is a tragedy for the Christians here.
The Independent Christian Alliance Church underwent a lot of misfortunes during the earthquake in the Churches, schools, and homes as follows:
1. Deaths: 1 in the church of Carrefour-Dufort, 2 in the church of Grand-Goave, 2 in the church of Fauche, 2 in the church of Corail-Lemaire, 3 in the church of Carrefour,
2. Collapsed and Damaged Churches and Schools - The churches and schools in Port-au-Prince, Gressier, Leogane, Grand-Goave, Petit-Goave, Miragoave, La Gonave, Jacmel, Baraderes, etc., are hit very badly by the earthquake. Most of the buildings that held them were collapsed or damaged so that many churches have no places to meet for their services, some schools don’t know where to keep their students at the reopening of the schools that were closed since the Christmas and the New Year Holydays.
The Independent Christian Alliance Church has been hit in its structures this way:
The total Collapses of churches and schools of Leogane, Carrefour-Dufort, Brahobe, Bouzillette ; the severe breaking et damaging of churches and schools of Mariani, Decouze, Corail-Lemaire, Corail-Pere, de Picmy, etc. ; the massive occupying of the yards of our churches and schools by people expelled from their houses by the seism. My own house is damaged so much that the whole household has to sleep outside. Now it is raining and we have to be under a tent and prelates.
However, though the earthquake brought with it a lot of mishaps, it also carried some good things : many people became conscious that there is a God who is their maker and whom they ought to serve and worship. Here are some of the conversions made in the following churches:
Mariani: 15; Fauche: 26; Leogane: 27; Carrefour-Dufort : 117 ; Corail-Lemaire: 229; Grand-Goave : 262.
We don’t have all the reports about the earthquake yet. In due time, we will give more information as we will receive them.
This gives an idea on the problems and needs we have here in Haiti. Some people are discouraged about those devastations that fell upon Haiti. We are sorry regarding what happened. At the same time we rejoice for the fact that the Lord is using this bad situation to bring people into His kingdom, and make you and I vessels to help share the ministry of Jesus Christ found in Luke 4: 18
Please join us to provide to the needy: food, tents, water, to be able to build churches, schools to lodge church people and students and help me repair my house..
As far as we know, we lost two supported students: Emmanuela Cenat and Dimeco Henri. We will replace them by other students whose pictures will be sent to their supporters.
Pray that the Lord might help and comfort the broken-hearted and sustain us to help and serve the needy as He supplies for them through His own.
May the Lord bless you in the name of Jesus.
Joyfully yours in His Service
History of the ministry
After being saved as a result of my mother’s being delivered and healed from the power of Voodoo sprits in Haiti, Andre J. Louis felt the call to the ministry of preaching the Gospel. He went to Prairie Bible Institute at Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. Graduated in April 1971, he returned to Haiti in September 1971 with his wife Gislaine Thevenin and his three children, Jean Ramy, Evens Handel and Ferl Jerry. Unfortunately his wife Gislaine Louis on September 29, 2007, went to be with the Lord and is now rejoicing in heaven with the saints.
In September 1971, Andre and Gislaine started a Church in a small room of their home 8’X10’, with 11 people including the members of their family. They began to hold services, and Andre had Bible studies with a few people, and could not get out of the ground, for not many folks were interested in his teaching and preaching which were not too demonstrative with signs and wonders. But around 1973, Ms. Rosana Dorceus was sick, had stomachache that made her suffer a lot. Her stomach became very big so that everyone was concerned about her. She was led to the Lord by the missionary ladies of our very small Church. We prayed for her many times, she was not healed until on a Sunday evening service, I prayed for many people by laying on hands on them. Ms Dorceus went home after she was prayed for. On the following Wednesday evening service, people were giving their testimonies. Ms. Dorceus stood up without the big belly she used to have and began by testifying, saying after she went home that night after that prayer, she went to the bathroom and passed through water 3 small dead snakes and three other smalls creatures whose English name I don’t know, but we call marocas in Creole.
Ms Dorceus was delivered from six evil spirits that took the shapes of small snakes and other creatures. The word went around and people who knew about her condition and that she was going to die came to the Lord when we witnessed to them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since then, the ministry started to pick up. When we preached, taught, people listened and got saved. The small room became too small to hold so many new converts. The Lord opened doors from foreign friends who sent their supports and we were able to buy a land at Carrefour where we built a Church that we entered in January 1975. Now we are averaging over 1,000 members in it.
Contrarily to our understanding to be the pastor of one church, the Lord opened doors for us to start new Churches in other areas in the country. This way we have been able to establish 53 churches, but due to the lack of fond, we could not continue with all them. About ten of them left us.
