PRAY FOR HAITI
The government is broken and gangs have taken control of much of the capital and larger cities. Life is dangerous and getting needed supplies very difficult. Pray for safety for pastors as they lead their churches, for schools to be able to stay open and safe, for food and medicine for those who need help.
ICA Haiti Schools
Education is a high priority to the churches of the Independent Christian Alliance Churches of Haiti. Children in Haiti are not guaranteed an education as they are in the US, so the churches often build and staff elementary and high schools for the purpose of educating the next generation of citizens as well as future church leaders.
This education comes at a cost and many of the country’s poor cannot afford the tuition, school uniforms and school supplies that an education requires. That is why Independent Christian Alliance churches seek to provide education opportunities when they can. At the present time there are 14 schools (12 elementary and two secondary “high” schools). There are over 1,750 children in these schools.
The Mission has established a school sponsorship program where a person/family can “adopt” a student and help with the costs to provide that student with the opportunity for an education. At the present time there are almost 350 students in need of sponsorship so that they can continue or further their education.
The cost for sponsorship is $25.00 a month and covers the student’s tuition, uniform and school supplies. Among those students that are in need of sponsorship are these five: Carlens Mathurin (age 7), Ordely Joseph (age 9), Ramson Glode Paul (age 6), Christelle DeVole (age 6), and Raphael Joseph (age 4).
If you would be interested in sponsoring any of these children, please contact Rev. Terry Major (68 Talbott Ave., Martinsburg, WV 25405; oridwanyks@gmail.com) and he will forward you the picture of that student and support information for sending your monthly contribution to ICA. Feel free to contact ICA directly if you would be interested in sponsorship of older children.
You can also find more information about this program as well as providing meals for students under the “sponsor a student” tab.
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
Reverend André J. Louis, Founder of the Church of the Independent Alliance and former vice-president of the Protestant Federation of Haiti, died January 25, 2021 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
André J. Louis was born in Leogane, Haiti April 29, 1936. He attended school in Leogane from 1944 – 1961. From 1961-1964 he attended college and pursued a degree in Ethnology from 1964-1968 getting his BA in Anthropological Sciences.
After this, Reverend André J. Louis received the Lord’s call for ministry. On the strength of his call, he set up an evangelization movement which enabled him to open a church with the fruits of his labors and God’s blessings. After the founding of this church, he realized that he had to have the proper training to carry out his ministry. This is why he left for Canada to attend Prairie Bible Institute from 1968 to 1971. After working to garner financial support in Canada and the US for building a ministry he returned to Haiti and founded The Independent Alliance Church with a heart to grow the evangelical church not only in Carrefour, but across the nation of Haiti. He also started a Bible Institute to train future pastors and church leaders.
With the idea of perfecting his theological training to better fulfill his ministry, he decided to go to the United States for higher studies. From 1989 to 1991, he enrolled at the prestigious Fuller Theological Seminary to obtain the master’s degree. From 1991 to 1994, he continued his studies at the same institution from which he obtained his doctorate in theology.
In the 1980s, Reverend André J. Louis was confronted with a great dilemma: the poor people of his assembly and those of the city where he lived suffered injustices of all kinds; their rights were violated, they sometimes paid fines for unjustified reasons and sometimes put in prison. Faced with such a situation, he realized that he must do something to help defend them. Thus, from 1981 to 1985, he attended the Faculty of Law and Economics of Port-au-Prince, where in 1988 he obtained a license in legal sciences. This license gave him the opportunity to become a legal voice for the voiceless. When the people he defended could not afford the legal costs, he used the money from his pocket to do so. And he always did it with joy.
Dr. André J. Louis has held several other positions in the defense of the gospel:
1) He founded an organization called CONAMISE (National Council of Evangelical Missions) to stand against government overreach into the churches and the work of the gospel. 2) He participated in broadcast radio programs on several radio stations such as Port-au-Prince radio, MBC radio, Mega radio in the United States and Caribbean radio. He also broadcast Haitian tales on Lumière radio. “Aide Aux Âmes.” is the name of its broadcasts on Port-au-Prince radio, BMC radio, Mega radio in the United States and Caribbean radio. Through his broadcasts he was able to refute false doctrines and he also taught people the biblical foundations for God’s salvation in Jesus Christ.
God truly blessed the work of Rev. Andre Louis. During his ministry, he planted 27 churches which are scattered throughout the country of Haiti. Through these churches (and preaching stations), thousands of people have fled the slavery of Satan to the one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Reverend André J. Louis was very interested in the education of children and the vocational training of young people. With this in mind, he founded 5 nursery schools, 12 primary schools and 2 secondary schools. At the beginning the majority of primary schools were free because of generous mission support. It is only recently that a small annual amount is required to cover certain expenses. He opened a vocational school, but it had to close after several years of operation.
Reverend André J. Louis cared about orphaned children and those whose parents are unable to fulfill their obligations to them. That’s why he founded an orphanage to take care of them and take care of their education. Many raised and educated through the orphanage have become intellectuals and professionals in great demand in the labor market. Through the generous giving from Canadian donors, he opened a space called Maison des Veuves (widow home) to accommodate elderly women without husbands or children. In this place, these women are fed, clothed and received health care.
Rev. Jean Marie Mardy: “My father and the mother of Dr. André J. Louis are brother and sister. In other words, he was my cousin. However, he was more than that to me because he played the role of father, mentor, counselor and teacher. There is not a stage in my evolution that has not had his imprint, his trademark. After God, I owe him a lot. He sowed a good seed in me and in people of many generations. This seed is durable and everlasting. This is why we say that Dr. André J Louis is not dead, because a man does not die when his memory is perpetuated in others.”
Rev. Andre Louis is survived by his wife Ghislaine J Louis; children, Ramy, Handel, Jerry, Darlhen and Wyslande Louis; adopted child Nadege Louis. Also many cousins, nephews, nieces, ministry fellows and mission partners.
Independent Christian Alliance Church and it’s leadership want to thank you for your support and prayers through the years of Pastor Andre’s leadership. The board of the mission hopes and prays that you will continue to pray for and financially support the ongoing work of the mission to preach the gospel across the nation of Haiti, to educate children as well as educate and train gospel preachers for the churches of Haiti. The orphanage and widows’ house ministry also continue (by God’s mercies and your support).