BTGMI Making Headway in Haiti

PortauPrince Most radio stations here went off the air after the Jan. 12 earthquake. But it didn’t take long until a few were broadcasting again and, amid news of the quake, Descollines Andrikon began trying to dial in his favorite program, Perspectives Réformées.

Descollines Andrikon

Produced by Back to God Ministries International and featuring Rev. Paul Mpindi, the program has been airing in areas of Haiti for a few years. Listening to it, Andrikon has found that it has deepened his faith and even sparked ideas he uses as a teacher of modern languages and theology at a secondary school near Port-au-Prince.

“I’m used to listening to Mr. Paul, and I enjoy listening to him. He presents Bible material and people are hungry for that,” says Andrikon, who also serves as one of the pastors at a large Baptist church near the school where he teaches.

“Many people listen to the program and are motivated by it. They can hear the program, but they don’t know what to do afterward so that they can learn more.”

Enter Lesley Millar of Brampton, Ontario.

Millar came to Haiti about two years ago to perform audits for the CRC and its ministries. While she was there, Mpindi asked her to take on the job of developing partnerships with radio stations, since BTGMI had decided to significantly expand its presence in Haiti.

She returned to Canada to think and pray. She decided to take on the task and moved to Haiti last year as a missionary. She is now married to a Haitian, who has been working as a driver for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.

An accountant by trade and now a Christian Reformed Church missionary working with BTGMI, Millar had been trying to get more Christian radio stations to play Perspectives Réformées as well as to set up a follow-up center to which people can go to obtain biblically-based materials that tie in with the things the program preaches.

With the help of a cadre of volunteers, she was making headway on her initial efforts for BTGMI, even though she had not been in the country very long. But then the earthquake hit and she found herself on the front lines of relief efforts, handing out tarps and food to people all over Port-au-Prince.

“It’s been hard to think about doing anything normal,” Millar says as she weaves her vehicle over bumpy streets on the way to her office. “Mine has turned into a much bigger job. Obviously, God has much more in store than I ever imagined.”

Since many of the people in Haiti are still in shock, she says she will probably wait a bit before recruiting and developing new volunteers.

Those she has recruited, some 23 volunteers so far, work with the radio stations to get them to air Perspectives Réformées, as well as with BTGMI’s Bible study correspondence and discipleship ministry. Although it took a while to get in touch with them, all of the volunteers were safe and healthy following the quake.

“In all of things we are doing down here, we make sure that God is in first place,” Millar says, reaching the office. “BTGMI waited for the right moment to expand in Haiti.”

One volunteer is Joseph Vil Mithiello. He was born outside Port-au-Prince and came to the capital a few years ago to live with his father and attend university. He, too, was touched by listening to the words, spoken in French, on Perspectives Réformées.

“I appreciate when Paul takes different scriptures and talks about how you can apply them to your life. He opened my understanding of who God really is,” Mithiello says. He sits at a computer and monitors radio stations, logging those that use BTGMI material.

Before the quake, Mithiello visited radio stations, negotiating with them to play BTGMI programs. He works out of the Ministry Center, an office near the international airport. It is separate from the one that houses Sous Espwa, home for CRWRC, CRHM, BTGMI and other partner organizations.

The Ministry Center also serves for now as the follow-up center, distributing materials to those who listen to Perspectives Réformées and want to know more.

Mpindi, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, joined BTGMI in 1999. Today he broadcasts the gospel to French-speaking people around the world, writes books for pastors, and oversees the discipleship work of staff and volunteers in Africa and Haiti.

The earthquake has surprisingly made radio stations more receptive to run Perspectives Réformées, says Mithiello. “Before the earthquake, people wouldn’t listen about God. People are now more open.” Since Haiti has many radio stations, “it’s just a matter of getting on them … We have potential to help shape the lives of Haitians, especially younger Haitians, and the country itself.”

John Bernard Adam is another volunteer. In his family of six, he is the only Christian; a choice he made in part because of Mpindi’s preaching. Included in his job is passing out Bible study materials with questions to those who ask for them. When the material is submitted, he reviews and makes comments on them as part of BTGMI’s follow-up effort.

On the day of the earthquake, Adam was riding in a tap-tap, a pick-up truck that serves as a public transportation. When he got home, he found that his sister was injured, but everyone else was fine. Their home, however, had been damaged, forcing him and his family to sleep out in their yard.

“Right after the earthquake, a lot of pastors were preaching that Haiti was sinful and deserved it. But I don’t believe that is the reason that it happened,” he says.

Adam says he is committed to his work for BTGMI. “There are still a lot of people living in darkness in Haiti. (Rev. Mpindi’s messages) can have a great effect. He can help transform the people so that God can help Haiti.”