The Awakening at Pincroix - Part 1

 How can I explain what this last weekend has meant to me to those who have never been in such a place?  To try and put it into words, just seems to cheapen it somewhat, and yet the Lord impressed it upon my heart is such a way that I cannot bear to keep silent!

Five years ago, they people of the Pincroix (pronounced “pin-QUA”) did not know about Jesus.  They were bound up in either Catholicism, voodoo, or most likely a serious mixing of the two.  They would still be there today, if it wasn’t for a man who kept having a dream/vision of preaching to these people repeatedly over several months.  But there was a problem.  This man had a young bride, and a job that paid $80 per day which is unheard of wages in Haiti!  Why should he walk 8 hours across the mountains to an area that he had never been, to a place that you could hardly drive to, where the witch doctor was the most powerful person, to preach the gospel to those who might never respond?  But after praying and fasting with his wife, Ewins and Daniella committed to doing so, and haven’t look back in spite of many hardships and trials.

We are now able to drive the whole way to the Pincroix and arrived Thursday, at about 2 in the afternoon. The road to get there is a true adventure!  From fording a stream and climbing out onto rocks that sloop down into the water at about a 35 degree angle, to dodging boulders that are almost big enough to take out either of the differentials of our four-wheel-drive Landcruiser!  It took almost two hours to drive 11 kilometers and we were only rarely able to use second gear.  Ewins, (pronounced EE’-wins) had gone with us to show us the trails as the “road” is less than clear at times, and many side paths.  We met his wife, Daniella (pronounced Dan’-iel-la) in their hometown of Hinche, they still have a house, though they rarely stay there for more than a few days anymore, and she then rode with us the last almost two hours to Pincroix, even though you can see it across the valley on the mountain.

Ewins & Daniella Joseph

Pastor Ewins

Our story with Pastor Ewins starts almost two years earlier when he had scraped together the $50 US dollars to come to the Haitian Bible Discipleship Course (HBDC) that Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) has for pastors in Haiti.  So many of the pastors are very illiterate in the things of Scripture and Biblical truths, as they have come to the Lord through various means, but no discipleship or teaching at all, and thus many continue to practice things that grieve the Lord mightily, but have never been taught better.  In some churches, the leaders are chosen by whoever can read better than the rest, and many times, not even redeemed themselves.  There is a raw wickedness that is astounding to see here!  Pastor’s taking bribes to help one person in their church instead of another, or taking the items given for the school and selling them off so that he can plush up his life with ease and luxury.  

Port-au-Prince at night

There have even been cases where pastors have been “found out” and had their support cut off because of their greed and thievery.  They have then went out and hired the witch doctor to put a curse on the person who ratted them out, and there are testimonies of deaths because of this and the use of hitmen.  But among so many wicked men, there are still those who follow Jesus with their whole heart and are willing to do the HARD things, because they love Him and that is what He has called them too!

Ewins is such a man.  When he was about ready to graduate from the HBDC, he approached my father with a question.  My father had been the administrator there for only a couple months at that point, and very much on guard against the greedy ways that many of the men saw white people, but also having a heart of love for them. He saw many of them really apply themselves to the truth, even going home on the weekends to make things right that they had done wrong!  Ewins was such a man.  One evening as my father was sitting in the back of the chapel listening to the Haitian pastors admonish and encourage each other, Ewins came and sat down beside him.  He was able to speak English well enough that he could do basic translation and they started a conversation about what he was going to face as he went back to his church.  Ewins asked my father if he could recommend someone to mentor him, that he could ask questions of, because there were so many things that he was facing in leading his church and he wanted accountability for how he handled things.  My father asked him if he was wanting money but Ewins refused.  He said “I have seen money corrupt too many pastors here in Haiti, that I won’t handle any for my church.”  He had set up a small committee of four in his church that was in charge of handling all the finances for their group and wouldn’t even handle the money in getting to them.  As my father visited with him and heard his story, his heart was drawn to this man and developed over time into a deep friendship and trust.  A few times, his wife was able to join Ewins at the CAM base for an evening with my folks and they would pray and sing together.  My father found out that because of Ewins quitting his lucrative job to minister to the mountain people, there were many days when he and his wife would have nothing to eat, but we never once heard them complain.

A house repaired from Hurricane Laura

Over the last two years, Ewins has proved a faithful man.  We have sent money down at various times to help a pressing need in the church, and he has never picked it up from the transfer station, unless someone from the small committee was there with him.  They have also kept copious notes to account (as best they knew how) on how the money was spent and even sent noted pictures showing what it was used for and why.  We asked for that accountability at first, as we wanted to trust them, but wanted a firm foundation for that trust to be built upon.

- to be continued...