MEBSH Annual Convention

This is what the Simon Church looks like most every day during the week. Just below the church, the street is busy enough but not terribly crowded and the church yard is empty and the doors are shut unless a service is going on.

But every year, for 5 days in April, it explodes with activity. This activity is because of the MEBSH Annual Convention.

The Convention has a dual purpose; It is a chance for the MEBSH Executive Committee to meet with all the pastors from all over the southern peninsula as well as it is an opportunity to encourage the church as a whole and evangelize the community and even other parts of the world where Radio Lumiere, the radio station associated with MEBSH, is broadcast. Pastors and their wives, deacons, lay leadership and anyone else with the means to come descends on the small community of Simon once a year. They come from just about everywhere; Port au Prince, Morency, Tiburon, Barades, Beaumeau and the list goes on. Local citizens all throughout the area open their homes to the convention guests and can have as many as 50 people sleeping at their house, in their yard and any where else on their property they can find! Vendors and merchants stock up and fill their shelves with lots of extra goodies. People from all over bring their merchandise and set up little makeshift stands all up and down the road. You can find everything from candy to fritay (fried snacks like plantains, veritab and akra), to songbooks and Bibles, to sandals and suits to just about anything in between. The air is electric and commerce is booming.

The first service of the Convention starts on Wednesday night at 6pm. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5am-7am there are prayer services, from 9am-11:30am a Bible study each day and a service from 2pm-4pm which is dedicated on Thursday to the youth, on Friday to the children and on Saturday it is an ordination service for those pastors who have taken and passed their ordination exam while in town for the convention. Every evening from 6pm-9pm there is an evangelistic service. The last service ends on Sunday morning around 11:30am. Tents and benches fill the church yard and several big screens are set up to project the service outdoors for those who can’t find room inside.

Students serve as the ushers and help find seating, direct traffic, sell programs (for 5 gourdes each) and even hand out tickets for the vehicles so that those who drove (some cars and LOTS of motorcycles) can claim their vehicle. Choirs come from MEBSH churches all over the southern peninsula and sing special music. Each year, Pastor Wilfrid (Rob, Becky and Amy’s Creole teacher) writes the convention’s theme song, which he teaches to the congregation, and which is sung throughout the convention. At each evangelism service local phone numbers are broadcast for anyone interested in making a decision for Christ to call and talk with a pastor who will share the gospel with them and many decisions for Christ are made every year. The convention is broadcast on local television stations, on Radio Lumiere all over Haiti and even other parts of the world, and it is streamed on the internet at Radio Lumiere’s internet site. It’s a big deal!

This year’s theme was “Turn Your Face to God” and was based on the scripture Isaiah 42:15. It was estimated that over 16,000 people attended this year’s convention. That’s 16,000 extra people cramming into the small area known as Simon. That’s a lot of people! Every year during the convention, pastors come by the office to visit while they’re in town and this year we had a meeting with them just to go over some things we have been working on.

Many of RMI’s Sister Churches sent choirs; Dame Marie, Cance, Morency, Camp Perrin, Picot, Port au Piment and Beaumeau were all represented this year. At least 15 decisions for Christ were made using the phones and countless others heard the gospel, some for the first time. This year someone very important in the community made a decision for Christ. This can potentially affect the entire community of Cayes in a very real and dramatic way as the Mayor of Cayes was in attendance and accepted the Lord! The community is still rejoicing in this news! Some of the RMI staff housed visitors for the weekend: Rameau said he had more than 45 people at his house (and its not that big of a house!) and Ti Jean said he and his family stayed in 2 rooms and the rest of the house was given over to as many as 40 guests! One of the families who received one of RMI’s Homes for Haiti homes waited to move into their house until after the convention so that they could use their home for visitors. They had more than 30 youth from one of the brigades staying in their new home!

A few months ago, the MEBSH Executive Committee called a meeting with all the missionaries asking us for our input, trying to decide if the convention should even be held this year. In the year since the earthquake so many things had happened, cholera was a big fear and the runoff election results were set to be announced sometime around the time of Convention. With the lack of adequate restroom facilities and good sources of water, the fear was that with the influx of that many people, it was very likely that cholera would make its way into the area. And with the memory of November’s post electoral rioting fresh in everyone’s minds, there were some who questioned the wisdom in having the convention this year. And on top of that the land was dry and in desperate need of rain and everything was dusty. But those fears were unmerited and God, in his wisdom and sovereignty, met each of those needs head on. Days before the convention the election results were given and the country rejoiced. A campaign to educate people on protecting themselves from cholera has proved successful, make shift public restrooms and places to shower were put in place and the Red Cross set up a cholera unit in the church yard just in case they were needed.

And within just a matter of days of Convention, a gentle rain was falling from the sky.