By Mickey Noah
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – While the deadly Haiti earthquake has dominated the news since Jan. 12 – and rightfully so -- there’s another full-blown Haitian disaster brewing in the United States and Canada, a catastrophe with far more serious and longer-term effects.
Some 3 million Haitians have immigrated to the United States and Canada. Only 1.5 percent of this 3 million are members of a Southern Baptist church, while another 3.5 percent are members of other evangelical denominations. That means 95 percent of Haitians in North America may not know Christ personally. Mark Hobafcovich thinks that’s an eternal, spiritual disaster of the highest order.
That’s why Hobafcovich, a consultant on the North American Mission Board’s urban church planting team, invited 14 of the Southern Baptist Convention’s top Haitian pastors and leaders to a NAMB summit recently to strategize new ways to reach Haitians with the Gospel in North America.
“Actually, the conference came about because of the earthquake,” Hobafcovich said. “About 26 of us were holding a one-day meeting in Florida to discuss how to meet the needs of the influx of Haitians into the U.S. in the wake of the earthquake. An outcome of the meeting was the need for a second, broader meeting to discuss the spiritual state of Haitians overall.”
The obstacles to reaching Haitian people with the Gospel in North America can be traced back to the poor island country itself: the impact of non-Christian spiritual beliefs on the Haitian culture, widespread fear, poverty, social issues, distrust, corruption and disunity among the people – just to name a few.
“Voodoo is widely practiced in the Haitian culture,” said Hobafcovich. “It’s ingrained in the psyche of the Haitian people and Catholicism was unable to stamp it out. It’s clearly wrong and unbiblical. We Christians have a hard time comprehending why Haitians don’t see that, but they can’t because it’s who they are. Unless there’s a major transformation, starting with individuals who say it’s wrong, nothing will change.”
But ironically, there is a silver lining, he says. Because of the spiritual component of the Haitian psyche, they are receptive to spiritual things.
“I think that’s why we’ve planted so many Haitian churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, almost 400,” Hobafcovich said. “But the bigger challenge is to reach the second- and third-generation Haitians in the United States, who are as American as anyone else. But there’s no one reaching them. We need to train churches and laypeople to present the Gospel to them in a meaningful way.”
In addition to Southern Baptist efforts to reach Haitians – there are only 45,000 Haitian Southern Baptists in 381 SBC churches – other denominations following suit are the Pentecostals, 30,000 members in 800 churches; American Baptist Convention, 10,000 members in 100 churches; the National Baptist Convention, 5,000 members in 15 churches; all other Baptists, 1,000 members in 15 churches; and all other denominations, 15,000 members in 200 churches.
But out of 3 million Haitians in the U.S. and Canada, this adds up to only 106,000 Haitian members of 1,511 Christian churches being reached with the Gospel.
Haitians in North America live primarily in South Florida, especially Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, the New York/New Jersey area, the Northeast, especially in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maryland, and in Montreal, Quebec.
The group of 14 Haitian pastors recently meeting at NAMB reached a consensus that 400 new Haitian SBC churches must be planted by the year 2020.
One of the pastors, Fritz Fontus lives six months of the year in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and the other half in Haiti. Fontus – also an architect -- has had a vision to develop a village of homes, schools and a cultural and evangelical center for low-income Haitians in Annedirogue, an area in north Haiti unaffected by the January earthquake.
“It’s a beautiful spot near the ocean,” said Fontus. “I received this vision four years ago. We need a development like this because the people of Haiti are ignored by the top authorities. You routinely have nine people or more sleeping in one room. This is not decent living. We plan to rent the houses for a small amount and after 10 years, the house becomes theirs.”
Fontus said creation of the Haitian Mission Network resulting from the NAMB conference is important because “we Haitian pastors have a tendency to work alone, which is not good. We must start working together for the glory of the Lord.”
Fontus, also the author of 14 books, says Southern Baptists must concentrate on Haiti’s young people and children. “We must teach them how to earn their own living so they won’t be dependent on others. And when it comes to the voodoo, under which our people live in fear, we need to teach them that in Christ, they finally can be free.”
Jean Baptiste Thomas is a pastor in New York, who left Haiti in 1965 to come to the United States and start a church. Now his church has 1,500 members in New York City and 13 branches in New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Kentucky and California.
With 500,000 Haitians in the New York City area alone, Thomas says just finding Haitians in large American cities is a major challenge.
“Where are they? You don’t see the Haitians walking around. They’re not in one place or in one neighborhood like other groups. You have to go looking for them in the markets, in barber shops, in the transportation stations. But once you find them, you can maintain contact through social programs in the church,” Thomas said.
Thomas believes that the lingering impact of the earthquake will drive more Haitians to come to the United States and Canada.
“The situation down there is so bad that not many people want to stay. We see a lot of new Haitians coming into our church. Many are unconverted members of families already in our church. They’re looking for something. It’s the best time to show them Jesus Christ.”
In addition to Fontus and Thomas, others participating in the Haitian SBC pastors summit at NAMB were Joseph Gaston, Jacksonville, Fla.; Frederic Cheriscat, Irvington, N.J.; Christian Cesar, Philadelphia, Pa.; Jean Saintulme, Washington, D.C.; Wadler Jules, Miami, Fla.; Emmanuel St. Juste, Stamford, Conn.; Benoit Dalce, Montreal, Quebec; Dieudonne Raymond, Boston,, Mass.; Duthene Joseph, Spring Valley, N.Y.; Jean Serge Cassamajor, Atlanta, Ga.; Seneque Saintil, Suwanee, Ga.; and Leroy Fountain, consultant on NAMB’s urban church planting team, Alpharetta, Ga.