Haiti Trip Report – Time for God’s Kingdom to Burst Forth
Dear Friends,
A team from Hope Builders International traveled to Haiti in February to visit the ministry of Cebien Alexis. As many Americans know, Haiti has seen years and years of economic and political distress, due to poor, corrupt, and ever changing governmental leadership. More than half of the population is trapped in the darkness of voodoo. Though rich in beauty and resources, poverty is rampant. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 60% of Haitians live below the poverty line. Leaders of integrity are needed to transform the country. That is why we partner with Pastor Cebien.
Cebien has planted 200 churches in Haiti and among Haitians in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island to the east. Through his tireless work in his medical clinic, Cebien supports pastors and teachers and ministry work in a multitude of ways. In addition, he is the leader of a Haitian pastors’ network of over 1000 ministers.
During this visit Lance and Jim Witkower taught at a mini-conference for pastors in Cebien’s church network, called EBAC. We prepared Bible ministry booklets in Creole to give to the pastors. Two more booklets are ready to be translated into Creole and given out when funds are available. In an encouraging note, the pastors offered their personal funds to cover a similar conference in the future. On this trip, our friend Mark Bodycombe, also brought two friends to explore possibilities for building projects. We have all been moved by Cebien’s faithfulness to the vision and calling the Lord gave him many years ago.
As on our first visit, we witnessed firsthand Cebien’s radically self-sacrificial lifestyle. As pastors gathered for the conference, coming at all hours of the night, Cebien would greet them and leave his bed to sleep beside them on the floor of the clinic. One night of the conference, after the pastors were served dinner, he stayed up all night talking to them and hearing their concerns – then the next day, translated for Lance during the conference.
We stayed on the grounds of the EBAC orphanage receiving wonderful care from Cebien’s family, like his niece Yolene, shown right, with our friend Ann Witkower and Christie. Cebien’s son Campbell, who grew up in the States, is there now to help his dad and learn about the ministry. Cebien’s daughter and son-in-law, Alexis and Mike Swittel, also joined us for a couple of days. They are helping with projects both at the University and at the orphanage. It was a joy to meet them all.
Cebien’s passion is for evangelism and church planting. On top of that, he knows education is a major need if Haitians are to improve their lives. Cebien’s Faith Christian University has programs in administration, nursing, alternative medicine, and theology. Campbell and Cebien’s nephew Julien, havealso planted a model farm on the University grounds. They plan to teach church pastors and membershow to raise their own corn and vegetables. Every summer, youth from the churches come to the University for a month-long camp where they learn vocational skills. Currently they sleep on the concrete floors of the dormitory rooms. 200 mattresses are needed to keep them off the hard floor. They cost $60 each.
On a fun note, we had a unique opportunity to attend a Haitian thanksgiving feast. A month prior, one of Cebien’s church members was paralyzed by a stroke and could not speak. The Lord healed her, so she and her husband gave testimony to the Lord’s faithfulness. The feast included lots of music, Scripture, and testimonies. Cebien gave a message comparing this feast to the actions of Mary after Lazarus was healed. It was a joyful event!
We were able to bring funds to provide goats for rural families, lay the foundation for a rural church building and home for a pastor, and to meet other ministry needs. Pastor Villet, who lives in Gommier, hasbeen living outdoors in his garden for the past two years since Hurricane Matthew destroyed 80% of the buildings in 2016. HBI was able to send funds to Cebien for metal roofs to repair homes there. The metal sheets were stored on Pastor Villet’s property, whose home and church building were also destroyed. Pastor Villet used none of the roofing himself. Now, thanks to HBI donors, Cebien will begin construction of a new church building with a home at the back for this servant of God. Our hope is to raise the funds needed to finish this church/home.
Cebien also supports income-producing projects. A prime example is the goat project. For $200 a family receives 3 goats which provide them with milk and over time, enables them to sell the baby goats. Many families have already received goats through HBI support with more waiting.
It is so encouraging to see how funds given through our HBI donors help advance the Lord’s work in Haiti.Though this nation is broken in many ways, the Gospel is bringing wholeness and healing to many. This beautiful island was made to sing forth the glories of God. Please join us in supporting this place of true potential for the Kingdom of God. To give online, visit www.hope-builders.org where you can designate gifts for items like booklet translation, mattresses, or the goat project on our contribution page. Gifts can also be sent to PO Box 91359, Austin, TX 78739 and designated for Pastor Cebien Alexis.
With love in Christ,
Lance & Christie Thollander
It’s been a terrible season of natural worldwide calamity. With the disasters facing our own country brought by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, our attention and hearts are naturally drawn to help those closest to us. That good work must continue. 
The recent hurricanes have taken a huge toll on property and livelihoods. Many pastors and evangelists have lost their homes and property. Three destroyed houses of believers in Cuba are pictured here. In Haiti, the sister of Pastor Clovis, a co-worker of our partner Cebien Alexis, was killed from flying debris at their church. The government in Cuba, which in past hurricanes has offered some aid to the victims is not doing so this time. They are just too overwhelmed. Even food distribution that was previously offered free of charge now comes with a price. There is significant risk of starvation and disease among the people. 
To call the road rutted would be an understatement. Better to say the deep ditch ahead looked daunting. But we had been driving on such roads for several days in our travels to see the work of Cebien Alexis and his ministry, Army of Ch rist, in Haiti. Our HBI team, consisting of Christie and me, and our longtime friends Jim & Ann Witkower and Mark Bodycombe was getting used to such conditions. 
We had almost reached our destination, the school in Robinette, where Hope Builders’ donors have helped fund a recently opened church building and is helping with school and agricultural development. Our hearts were stirred with excitement as only a few years before the only school structure here consisted of some wooden benches under a rusty tin roof held up by bamboo poles. Today we would serve lunch to 75 beautiful young school children, who meet in cinder block classrooms while a large school and agricultural training building are going up nearby. Their songs and words of devotion to the Lord brought smiles to our faces. Everywhere we went the believers greeted Cebien with hugs of joy. 
Thankfully, as time went on, the weight of glory began to shine through. We watched Cebien serve with joy in his natural environment, and met Kathy and Alice, his dedicated American co-workers who have served with him for 40 years. We saw the smiling faces of the children in their care and began to get a feel for the magnitude of their good work in the face of opposition, government instability and corruption, the deadly influence of voodoo, poverty and danger. Our spirits were lifted. We found the Lord and his Kingdom in the midst of the chaos. 
We attended lively church meetings and a pastoral training gathering of 70+ leaders. We met more of those that Cebien works with and through whose leadership the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached. We saw the grounds of the university where a nurse’s training program is housed and where very soon training in careers as an electrician or mechanic will be provided. As mentioned, we traveled four hours to bring lunch to children in the area of Robinette and meet their teachers and the local pastor in that area. The foundation for a large new school has been laid and the building waits for additional funding in order to be completed. The church is growing and the local people are encouraged. Agricultural land has been purchased here to train believers in effective farming techniques. The potential is evident. 
Another day’s journey took us over the top of a mountain from which we could see a large red tin roof, provided by HBI that covered a seemingly massive church building. Though construction is not finished on the inside, over 200 Haitians already meet to worship God there. We sat by the nearby river with local believers and were treated to some fine Haitian coffee, sweet and strong. We found out that this is one of the areas where goats will be provided to Haitian families that will enable them to earn income. Through the Lord’s mercy and your help, we have provided enough funds to give three goats to each of forty families at $200 per family. We look forward to sharing photos of some of those families with you as the goats are provided.
On top of all this, Cebien, who is also a doctor, continues to see upwards of 100 patients a day in his medical clinic, located on the school compound. Patients began lining up as early as 5:30 in the morning to receive his loving care. 
Haiti, with its ten million people, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. To worsen things, in January 2010, a massive earthquake virtually destroyed the capital of Port-au-Prince, resulting in 300,000 deaths and leaving 1.5 million homeless. In October 2016, devastating Hurricane Matthew slammed into southwestern Haiti, affecting over 2.1 million people. Some of the damage is shown above. 
Cebien Alexis sees the gospel as the only answer to Haiti’s problems. And he knows how best to apply it. Cebien came to the Lord as a boy through a Baptist missionary’s vacation Bible school. When he told his family, his father kicked him out of the house. With help from relatives, he completed high school, and Bible school as well. The Bible school taught not only the fundamentals of preaching, church history, and theology, but also many practical skills. Cebien absorbed it all. Then he enrolled in a correspondence course with a Swiss seminary. Following more study in Switzerland and the Ivory Coast, Cebien received a Doctoral Degree in plant-based medicine in 1979. But most of that he did in his spare time. 
From that small beginning, Cebien’s ministry, EBAC, known in English as Army of Christ, has borne great fruit. Cebien and his co-workers have raised up more than 200 churches in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In the process many witch doctors have come to Christ. An orphanage has been founded which has transformed the lives of hundreds of children. Cebien conducts evangelistic crusades four times a year. When possible, EBAC helps provide buildings for thriving churches. His ministry includes elementary schools and school lunch programs, business start-up projects for church members, and disaster relief. Faith Christian University, started by Cebien, provides training to Christian men and women in agriculture, nursing, environmental protection, and disaster risk assessment. 
In June Christie and I and a small team will be visiting various ministry sites with Cebien in Haiti. It will be a great opportunity to see the work Cebien has been doing. HBI was blessed to send funds to aid in the relief work following Hurricane Matthew. We have sent funds for schools, building projects, pastoral support, economic development and the like. Now we will see first-hand how the funds have been utilized. We plan to bring funds with us that can be applied directly to the most urgent areas of need and opportunity. The more we can raise, the more we can directly support this excellent work. One current project Cebien is working on is the provision of 3 goats to families that lost everything in the hurricane. This will enable them to both earn income and provide sustenance to their families. By growing their flocks, they will be able to give young goats to other families. The cost is $200 per family. 
Because of your help we have grown from just a couple of churches in Haiti in the 1970’s to now having 202 churches in Haiti, 29 in the Dominican Republic, and one each in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Chili, Brazil, and Florida. This makes us very happy and we know your hearts are encouraged, as well as you see the results of your giving. The most recent gift we received through Hope Builders support enabled us to construct a school in the interior village of Robinette. The children shown here will soon have a solid building to study in. 
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of going to the Dominican Republic for two weeks of seminars with the pastors there. While at the conference one pastor shared his church’s need for $1,300 Haitian dollars to finish paying for a piece of land for their meeting place. By the time I returned to Haiti, almost exactly $1,300 Haitian dollars had come in from friends in the US that we were able to send to him. So even before we presented this need to the Lord, He already had the provision on the way. We have a great God.
