In the 1930's, there
was no evangelical witness in the village of Pignon, Haiti. My
grandfather did not know anything about the Gospel and was involved in
Vaudoo (voodoo) and had children with a lot of women in the village. My
father told me how grandfather would wake my father and his siblings early in
the morning to face the sun and worship, often offering sacrifices to
Satan.
However,
in the 40's, through the ministry of a missionary, my grandfather
trusted Jesus as His Savior. His life was changed and he introduced his
children to a life of prayer. Now he would wake them up in the morning
to pray to the true God. My father accepted Christ. One missionary
family discipled my father and at the age of 15 he was already working
as a youth pastor.
From birth, my mother and father always taught me the Word of God. We always woke up early in the morning for family devotions and in the evening before we went to bed we would do the same. At the age of five, I already knew what the Gospel was and asked Jesus to come into my life.
| |
Life in Haiti was very
difficult. My parents had 9 children and made 15 dollars a month with
my father working as pastor of a church. My mother moved with us to the
city of Cap-Haitien, a city that was 36 miles from Pignon, when I was
6. We had no money so we traveled there at night on a donkey. On the
way, my dad taught me the value of trusting God. That night my father
taught me a verse. Mark 11:22, “Jesus answered and said unto
them: Have faith in God.” My father told me to trust in the
Lord every time I would feel hungry in the city. When we arrived, we
went to the office of the principal of the school where we took an
entrance test. The principal spent some time talking with me. Later,
she told my dad that she had fallen in love with me and wanted to grant
me a scholarship to attend private school. I praise God for that now;
seeing that this step was just the beginning of the adventure He was
taking me on in miraculously providing an education for me from primary
school through seminary. My dad stayed in Pignon to pastor the church
and came to be with us twice a week. Most of the time, he had to walk
or ride a donkey. My parents kept our spirits up during those hard
times. They taught us the value of serving God and giving our lives to
Him.
I was baptized by the
time I was 12 and was always interested in the different activities of
the church. In my teen years, I taught Sunday School to the younger
ones, sang in choirs and was deeply involved in evangelism. Though my
parents did not have money to send me to school, our lives became a
life of daily miracles. God always supplied all our needs. Right after high
school, I met a family from Morgantown, West Virginia who brought me to
the U.S. for college. I went to Washington Bible College. After my studies there, I went to Dallas Theological Seminary for a Master of Theology degree. My years in college and seminary trained me to effectively preach and teach the Word.
The Lord has blessed me with a family and five children. I would like to be used in their lives to show them the way to God just like my parents did for me.
|
|
