Worship, praise and prayer rang out as usual on a recent Sunday at Eastside Baptist Church in Claxton, Georgia, but with a big difference. The nearly 40 people in attendance in the church sanctuary lifted their voices in their native language — Creole.
It was the first meeting of Eastside’s new Haitian ministry, and attendance was nearly double what was hoped for, says Freddy Gardner, associational missionary for the Tattnall-Evans Baptist Association.
Looking back at the process of getting the ministry started, Gardner clearly sees the Lord’s hand at work.
Building the relationship
The association hosts a free medical clinic for those without insurance. About a year and a half ago, Gardner recalls, the clinic started serving more and more Haitian patients. Gardner realized that a way was needed to reach and help the large influx of Haitian immigrants in the Glenville and Claxton areas.
Lorna Bius, a Mission Georgia mobilizer, connected Gardner with Wilbert Michel, pastor of the Haitian congregation at First Baptist Jonesboro. Wilbert Michel and his wife Guccy began translating at the clinic for the Haitian immigrants.
Wilbert Michel, who came to the U.S. from Haiti in 1980, has a heart to reach his fellow Haitians for the Lord. He says that Mel Blackaby, pastor at FBC Jonesboro, empowers him to do just that. Wilbert Michel and FBC Jonesboro support a school and church in Haiti and a Haitian church in Chile.
“We’re so grateful for churches like First Baptist Jonesboro,” says Bius, “who support God’s work among the nations by hosting language churches. It gives the opportunity for the body of Christ in different languages to not only grow where they are, but also help new congregations in their shared language to begin in other places. That was the case with the Haitian church in Claxton. We connected leaders in Jonesboro with leaders in Claxton, and things started moving.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Henry Durand and originally published by the Christian Index.
