By Missionary Michel Poirier

Brother Michel and his wife Ruth serve in Quebec, Canada, but travel to Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic to serve French-speaking Haitian refugees fleeing from the war there. In addition, he helps with BMA work in French-speaking countries of Africa. 

In 1999 Larry Geraldson came to Quebec during a Maximum Impact evangelization and ask if I want to be part of the BMA. We already planted three churches in Haiti by that time, and he asked what he could do to help us out. I said “You could put some gas in my car for visitation!” Through that, he invited me to go to Little Rock, Arkansas, to a symposium meeting, then he call me back to Arkansas to appear before the committee at the national meeting. And before I knew it, I was on board with BMA work. 

Haiti

The first work in Haiti began in January 2010 after the earthquake there in Port-au-Prince. Dr. Izard invited me and my associate, Michael Barton, to work there for three weeks to help and translate for the BMMI medical unit as they helped Haitians with their health problems. We met in Port-au-Prince and began working in the mountains where there was a family of twelve living in a house that was leaning dangerously.

The family did not want to be in Tent City, even though there were aid stations, but wanted to show us their house where they used to live. The father had died under the house during the earthquake, leaving the family of ten children without a father. It was a very small home and only one part of the roof was still hanging by one little brick. As we walk in, they asked what they could do to help us. I told them, “The only way I can help you is to find Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you were to die right now, where would you spend the eternity?”

The mother said, “I know I’m not going to heaven, and my children, too.” I told them, “If you are interested to know Christ, confess him right now and invite him through your heart.” And the mother and children did that. One after the other, they confessed Christ. After going from house to house for several days, inviting earthquake survivors to a meeting, 75 people agreed to work right there in 2011 to start a meeting of believers. 

From that first work, a church in Segur was established in 2013 with Pastor Eclesiastes, who also ordained two men. The church has grown to 300-400 Haitian believers and has a primary school, kindergarten to eighth grade, and founded a Bible institute in 2014. In the city of Onaville, there is also a great need for someone to work with around 70 Haitian believers, also refugees. Thirty miles east of Segur, that work started in 2016 and now has a kindergarten to sixth grade primary school with three teachers in each building. Finally, in Cesselesse, a church of 100 people meet thirty minutes from Port-au-Prince with Mario Maerissie as their pastor.

Dominican Republic: Workers for the Harvest 

Our goal was not to start a Spanish-speaking work with the Haitians who were coming to Dominican Republic to be safe from violence. But we pray for the Lord to call someone to work with French-speaking Haitians in Onaville that fled the country. Others were interested in having a Spanish work as well. So me and Pablo ask God, “What do we do now? We have people interested to go to church and no place to send them.” 

I called (Regional Coordinator) Brother David Dickson and ask if he might have anybody to help start a Spanish work in the city of Boca Chica (Dominican Republic). David Dickson got him in touch with Pastor Jhon through Regional Coordinator Ramón Paulino to go to Boca Chica to teach the young family that got saved. Since then, the family was excited and they need to go to church. We could not just have them listening online or preaching, but we want them to have a place to worship.

Pastor Jhon was already preaching just to a couple, but now a young family also wants to hear the gospel, so it was a great news that Pastor Jhon could leave his church for a night during the week and preach and witness in Boca Chica to that young family. 

Pablo, my associate who is Spanish and from Chile, translated for me because I don’t know the language. During the daytime, we witness down at the pier at a resort (in Boca Chica) and call it our “office.” People have to walk to the pier to get to the corridor, so everyone that goes by heard about the gospel. So we preach to them, and through that we met the lady cleaning our room. 

Hunger For the Gospel

We were out (of our room) one day and left a gospel tract on our night table that said, “The Most Important Question of Your Life.” She took that tract and read it and felt so guilty. Later she said, “I want to apologize. I took one of your papers on the table and read it.” I said to her, “No, it’s okay.” It is there for you to read. She said, “My name is Hélène, and if what it says is true, my mom needs to hear this.” 

Two days later, she ask if we could come tonight to her house. When we got there, we met her mom and her four children. As Pablo is translating everything I’m saying, we developed a friendship and Hélène got saved then her mother Francisca the same week. We were so excited. But the work didn’t stop there. 

Six weeks later, the other lady that cleans the room asked what we are you doing here. I said, “Well, we’re missionaries and just witnessing as part of our work with the Haitians.” She said, “Oh, we need a work like that, too!” The door is open to start our work in the Dominican Republic for Haitians who fled the violence, and we praise the Lord for the response every time we visit.

We work with Haitian refuges and go on the street, witness, and have meeting at night. Every time, three or four people follow, and by the time we’re done, we got 25 to 30 people assisting, and it’s always exciting. But our time is not long enough to get them rooted. By the time we’re reaching people, we have to go back home.  Pastor Jhon goes to Boca Chica to teach the young family that got saved. Since then, the family was excited and they need to go to church. We could not just have them listening online or preaching, but we want them to have a place to worship.

Bus Rides to Church

So I paid the taxi for them to go to church and when we return – me and Pablo – my driver said, “I cannot take you two because it cost me a lot of money.” And this is when Pastor Romano, he said, “Pastor John will go and preach at their home and we’ll make possible for them to come to church.”

But during that time we pray for the people from Boca Chica, the Spanish people, our family, to go to church. The Lord spoke to one of the person that’s close to that family who had a bus. And he said to the family, “You only pay me for the gas to go to the church and come back, and that’s all.” The price was much better, and they’ve been going to church every Sunday morning with that bus, and they’re so excited.

It’s not the church in Boca Chica, which is only a cell group, but they’re able to hook up with Pastor Jhon’s church in Santo Domingo, forty minutes from Boca Chica. I go there every six months. They’re looking forward to us giving them food spiritually, because they don’t have anywhere else to go. There’s BMA training for church planting and other material they can use.

When we were having a meeting at the Spanish family in Boca Chica, they wait for us, we have a meeting, and then we go down the street inviting people.  We preach on the street every night of the week. From Monday to Sunday, every night is taken.

And during the afternoon, sometimes we have counseling. A lot of people have questions and problems, so we counsel them for two weeks because it costs a lot of money.  We go with the money that we have to spend the time in there. When we’re done, that’s when we see if there’s possibility we can do something here. I pay for the bus as the Lord provides. 

We need the Lord to open the door for that because if we want to have Pastor Jhon preach, we would have to make more trips to the Dominican Republic to feed them spiritually. The neighbors see Pastor Jhon coming and teach the kids on Saturday morning every two weeks. That opens the door, and the family says, “What’s going on? Can I send my children there?” So the children gather just into a garage and sing songs.

Now the mom and dad want to go to church. They also hop in that bus. If you start with the children the adults will come! About twenty children gather on Saturday every two weeks and play games outside and sing songs and have Bible story. And on Sunday they can go to church at Pastor Jhon’s church.

What started to be an outreach for Haitians, we never intended to be a Spanish work. But the Lord had something else in his mind that I saw the great need of workers in the Dominican Republic. The people we talk to, where we eat, the ladies that cleans our room, the guard, they were all interested about the Lord’s work, but there is nobody there. 

Continuing Violence in Haiti

The last family there was robbed of everything they had when the gang came in and told the people never to come back or else they will kill them. Recently a worker went to get his visa stamp, but the border was closed because of a gunfight between Dominicans and Haitians, so he goes back at his house. There’s people getting shot, killed all the time, and police had to took me to the border. No one is safe. 

My ministry, it’s a little like Paul’s: Go to one place, spend some time, go to another place, spend some time. That’s what we’re doing. And now we have Spanish people that come to our church. So the prayer is that the Lord will call somebody in Boca Chica to be there providing transportation to the people in Santo Domingo in Boca Chica. I see the Lord could do great work. 

We love to go to Haiti, but is not safe at all. Our people and church in Onaville that started in 2016 are not there anymore. The building is under the gangs’ takeover, stealing chairs and tables, all the equipment, the house we use when Ruth is with me. It’s all ransacked. We only have left a compound, which nobody couldn’t go in there because of the gangs. The last family there was robbed of everything they had when the gang came in and told the people never to come back or else they will kill them. Me and Ruth cannot go back to Haiti. It is locked. But the Dominican Republic, we can go back anytime the door is open to preach and teach the Haitians.