Eglise des Freres Haitiens Miami members journey to Haiti – Information
By Jeff Bossart
Motivated by the continued political and financial disaster in Haiti, members of Eglise des Freres Haitiens Miami (Haitian Church of Brethren in Florida) organized and supported an eight-person staff that traveled to Haiti July 16-25. Because of the insecurity in and round Port-au-Prince, the staff centered its work on St. Raphael, a group in northern Haiti a couple of two-hour drive from Haiti’s second-largest metropolis, Cape Haitian. At St. Raphael they have been obtained by the native Church of the Brethren and accompanied by a number of members of the nationwide management of the Eglise des Freres d’Haiti (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti).
Every day started with dwelling visits to the church, the place neighbors have been knowledgeable of the revival companies that night. In the course of the week, 28 individuals made choices to observe Christ. A mass wedding ceremony was held final weekend for 7 {couples} who lived collectively however weren’t formally married as a consequence of monetary difficulties. The Miami staff introduced the marriage attire and rings for the ceremony and arranged a grand wedding ceremony reception to conclude the service. Many Haitian church buildings don’t can help you be baptized or be part of a church in case you reside with somebody however will not be married. This additionally precludes people from singing in choirs or dedicating youngsters in church. The marriage service was held on Friday afternoon, adopted by baptisms on Saturday and a youngsters’s dedication service on Sunday morning. A complete of 12 individuals have been baptized and 13 youngsters ordained.
Click on above for bigger footage of the marriage. Photographs by Ilexene Alphonse.
An surprising blessing got here throughout the door-to-door visits when a witch physician and voodoo practitioner gave his life to Christ. He then faraway from his dwelling all objects associated to Devil worship and burned them. A second spotlight of the week was the morning of the baptismal service. A bystander whose spouse was baptized struck up a dialog with Ilexene Alphonse, pastor of Eglise des Freres Haitiens Miami. He confessed that he had been contemplating changing into a Christian, and Alphonse invited him to make that call and be baptized. The person accepted the invitation and was baptized together with his spouse.
This was the second missionary journey organized by the Miami Church, the primary being in 2019. They plan to make this an annual occasion in collaboration with the management of the Eglise des Freres d’Haiti. The reduction effort can be an ongoing Church effort as members acquire clothes and footwear to ship to Haiti.
— Jeff Boshart is supervisor of the World Meals Initiative (GFI) of the Church of the Brethren. Study extra about this service at www.brethren.org/gfi
