BOCA RATON— Florida is home to nearly half a million Haitians, and for the past 50 years Haitian Baptist churches have been ministering to the large Haitian diaspora.

To celebrate 50 years of ministry partnership between Haitian churches and the Florida Baptist Convention and to honor some of the Haitian legacy pastors, 300 Haitian pastors, their wives, and church leaders gathered recently in Boca Raton for a gala night.

Twenty pastors were honored during the celebration for their work in planting the first Haitian churches in Florida. These churches ministered to the Haitians fleeing their homeland for political and economic reasons. As they settled in Florida, many of them answered God’s call to ministry.

“I was deeply honored and blessed to watch these men of God receiving honors from generations that they have raised and served so well for so long,” said John Voltaire, Florida Baptists’ Haitian church catalyst.

Among the men who were honored were:

• Luc Dominique, who planted French Speaking Church in 1975 in response to the massive migration of Haitians in the ‘70s.
• Franck Francois, who started a house church with a group of Haitians from Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. The house church later became Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church of Miami.

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  Jacques Dumornay, who started a worship service in 1976 with a small group in Pompano Beach that eventually became First Haitian Baptist Church of Pompano Beach–a church that was considered a haven for refugees, a canteen for the hungry, a school for the illiterate, and a blessing to God’s servants.

• Wilner Maxy, who became a Christian after arriving in Florida. Maxy migrated in early 1970, and by 1973 he had given his life to Christ and joined Haitian Emmanuel Baptist Church, which he then pastored from 1983 to 2020. Under his leadership, the church grew from 300 to 1,200 adults and more than 400 children. Throughout his ministry, Maxy has worked incessantly to bring positive change to the church and the community by serving on Florida Baptists’ State Board of Missions and on the board of Baptist Health.
• Renaud Balzora, who in addition to pastoring, championed the theological education of other Haitian men and served as a catalyst for Haitian church planting. Balzora served as coordinator of the Southern Baptist Crusade of the Americas, taught as a part-time professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and helped plant 130 Haitian churches in Florida during his time as a Florida Baptist Haitian catalytic missionary in the mid ‘80s.

Among these men who were honored, the group also celebrated Christine Jean-Baptiste, who helped plant Haitian churches from 1972 to 1978. She was instrumental in organizing language camps for Hispanic and Haitian women at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center, served as a camp nurse at youth camps, and was a Florida Baptist language representative in 1996.

“Every single one of these individuals served their community honorably with zeal and compassion,” said Voltaire. “They have fought the good fight; they kept the faith, and they deserve to be honored.”

There are approximately 350 Haitian churches in the FBC today.

With fall in the air, churches throughout Florida are connecting with their communities through sportsmen events designed to reach entire families with the gospel.

Door prizes, food, testimonies, gospel presentations

The eighth annual Sportsman’s Banquet at Friendship Baptist Church in DeFuniak Springs welcomed its largest crowd to date with more than 150 men, women and children gathered together for a night of food, fellowship and gospel sharing.

“This is a lay-lead outreach event initiated by our youngest deacon, Kevin Campbell. He does a great job organizing and planning it every year,” said Mark Rathel who serves as pastor of the church and is also professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida.

David Ellis, known widely as “Yawt Yawt” from his YouTube channel, was the guest speaker, offering up a little lighthearted comedy. Brad Smith, Walton High School football coach, shared a personal testimony, and Rathel concluded the evening by presenting the plan of salvation.

Since the event in September, the church has followed up with attendees who indicated a desire for more information about Jesus and the church.

Door prizes included BB guns for children, fishing equipment and hunting guns, for adults who pass background checks. The event created a special opportunity for attendees to minister to a family in need. All proceeds from the event were given to a family in the community with a child who has serious healthcare needs.

A similar event is scheduled Nov. 5 at Cluster Springs Baptist Church in DeFuniak Springs. The Cluster Springs Sportsman’s Banquet will feature a 3D archery tournament with categories for youth through adult, door prizes and mount displays.

Local businesses and individuals sponsor the annual event in an effort to reach the local community with the gospel of Christ. Attendance is free and includes a meal consistent with a “dinner-on-the-grounds” at an old country church.

“Attendance grows every year, and we expect this year to be bigger than ever with about 150 participants,” said Pastor David Amason.

The 2022 event will feature a testimony from Brodie Swisher, a world champion game caller and editor for bowhunting.com.

A consistent theme year after year is Genesis 27:3 where Isaac told his son to take his bow out into the field to hunt game. For more information on this event, email clusterspringssportsman@gmail.com or view the church’s Facebook page.

With more than 1.5 million Florida residents impacted by the hurricane’s catastrophic destruction, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief teams made Crossroads Baptist Church in hard-hit Fort Myers one of nine staging sites throughout Florida’s southwest region. There, DR teams from other Baptist state conventions partnered with FLDR in the massive recovery response.

Themed Built for This, the two-day meeting at the Turnberry Resort and Spa in Aventura offered participants a time to worship, pray, fellowship and recharge.

During the general sessions attendees heard from Vance Pitman, Send Network president and pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas; Martin Vargas, pastor of Iglesia Real in Hollywood; Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach; and Ryan Rice, lead pastor of Connect Church of Algiers in New Orleans. Their messages focused on being conformed to Christ as individuals, through marriage, and as churches.

“The church is not the goal … The church you are planting is one day going to die. The goal is the kingdom of God being expanded all over the world,” said Pitman.

In addition to the general sessions, eight breakout sessions covered a variety of topics including women’s discipleship, men’s soul care, and multi-ethnic church planting.

Jose Abella, pastor of Providence Road Church in Miami, and Felix Cabrera, newly appointed vice president of Send Network Español, led two Spanish-language breakout sessions.

Abella led his group of about 70 through a brief history of planting a bilingual church in Miami.

“Families being split up for Sunday worship is not the vision … The Hispanic church has to have a bilingual component to be able to reach second- and third-generation Hispanics with the gospel,” said Abella.

Cabrera’s session, also attracting about 70 participants, encouraged pastors to care for their souls.

“It is a tragedy when we can see the sin in the lives of others, but we are ignorant to the sin in our own lives … If our foundation is weak, our fall is imminent,” said Cabrera.

Noel Morera, English language pastor at Iglesia Bautista Northside in Hialeah, said he was encouraged to hear from pastors like Abella who have been where he is and can offer insight into the process of becoming a bilingual church.

“I’ve been encouraged in the mission God has given me, and I feel that I am not alone,” he said.

For pastor Jean Robert Baptiste of Evangelical Church the Witnesses of Jesus Christ in Port St. Lucie, the main sessions refreshed his soul. “Being able to sit and hear a fresh word from God has been my favorite part of this gathering,” he said.