Haiti
Minister had Hope for Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The son of a voodoo priest, Jeantyrard…
From orphan to minister: Native missionary shares hope in Haiti
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — At age 3, Jacob Luisius went to live at a Christian orphanage in Haiti along with his sister Louslande.
Now 31, he is one of the newest missionaries supported by the Edmond Church of Christ in Oklahoma.
Luisius said he praises God for the opportunity to share the hope in Jesus he received.
Related: Minister had Hope for Haiti
“I just want to say to my fellow Christians to keep praying to the Master to send workers because the harvest is great,” said Luisius, who serves as the youth outreach minister for the Cazeau Church of Christ.
That church is about a mile from the Port-au-Prince airport and near the orphanage where Luisius grew up and the Christian school where he teaches part time.
The congregation, formed about a quarter-century ago, has grown to 280 adult members and 250 children.
The rebuilt meeting place of the 28th and Delmas Church of Christ in Port-au-Prince in 2014.
Luisius graduated in December 2021 from the government-recognized, four-year Delmas Theological Seminary, housed in the Delmas Church of Christ. The same year he married a Christian woman — Vanessa — who is pursuing her nursing degree.
“Jacob’s work to educate and instill God’s Word in the lives of our young people in Cazeau will make an incredible difference in not only their lives, but also will establish future leaders for the Lord’s church in Haiti,” said Ken Bever, founder and president of Hope for Haiti’s Children — a ministry long supported by Edmond’s Primetime class.
The Cazeau Church of Christ was planted by Voltaire Edouard — a local butcher who obeyed the Gospel in 1997 after hearing a World Radio program directed by Jeantyrard Elmera.
With a public speaker mounted on top of the building, the Sunday morning sermons were broadcast to the local community, and many converts were made in the area, Bever said. Through the help of U.S. congregations and Hope for Haiti’s Project Hope campaign supporters, the Cazeau church/school building underwent a major expansion in 2020. This added a second story to the facility with 10 individual classrooms, doubled the capacity of the auditorium and added bathrooms and a kitchen.
With so many children and teens at the school, the congregation and the orphanage, along with huge opportunities to reach more young people in the Cazeau community, the church leadership group sought a financial partner to support Luisius. The Edmond church responded to this need.
“Pray so that our faith does not grow cold,” Jacob Luisius said when asked what he’d like to say to his fellow Christians, “so that when our time has come, we will also say like Paul the Apostle: ‘I fought the good fight, I kept the faith, I finished the race; henceforth the crown of justice is reserved for me.’
“I already say a big thank you for your prayers, your spiritual and economic support as well as for your collaboration for the progression and the blossoming of the Gospel.”
