As the DC-3 cargo/passenger flight took off from Ft. Pierce, Fla., on Oct. 1, I prayed that God would watch over us and guide our steps as we embarked on our journey to northern Haiti. That was the last time I felt any real anxiety about this much-anticipated trip to visit the Haitian Church of the Brethren (l’Eglise des Frères d’Haiti) and to see a mobile medical clinic in action.
“For we are strangers no more, but members of one family.” With these words, borrowed from a popular Brethren hymn, Miami (Fla.) Haitian Church of the Brethren pastor Ilexene Alphonse summed up the spirit of Atlantic Southeast District’s first Multicultural Festival.
“The only hope many people have is the light of God in the church,” said Ilexene Alphonse, describing the desperate situation of the Haitian people. Living as the church in Haiti right now is “stressful and it is painful, but the most part is that everybody, they live in a limbo. They are never certain about what will happen,” he said. “There is the constant fear of being kidnapped.”
Eglise des Freres Haitiens Miami members traveled to Haiti in July. Twenty-eight people made decisions to follow Christ, 7 couples were married, 12 people were baptized, and 13 children were dedicated.
The Miami (Fla.) Haitian Church was established by Miami First Church of the Brethren in 1982. This coming month of March, the congregation will celebrate its 40th anniversary.
When we at Eglise des Freres Haitiens in Miami, Fla., decided to ship a container to Haiti, we had no idea how it would play out. We didn’t know how much it would cost and whether we would have enough money to ship. We didn’t know whether we would have enough supplies to fill a 40-foot container. We didn’t know anyone in Haiti who knows the custom system, with the connections to help us. But we didn’t give in to the fear and concerns that we have felt. We stepped out in faith and God made it all possible.
Ilexene Alphonse is manager of the Ministry Center and Guesthouse of Eglise des Freres Haitiens, where he serves as a program volunteer for the Church of the Brethren’s Global Mission and Service program. He sent this letter to the Church of the Brethren in the US.