Open Air Worship Pavilion
Open Air Worship Service in Faugasse, Haiti
The Doorway to Peace Haiti Ministry began with several information gathering trips to southeastern Haiti by Joseph Delva in the late 1990s. He had the vision to return to Haiti to evangelize and disciple the people. He was investigating the need, where to begin and getting ideas for the right approach to use. He and Gama Belizaire were planning the ministry together and had decided to begin by mapping the southern penninsula of Haiti for simple demographics, how many people lived in each village, town and city.
As Pastor Joseph met people and talked with them some asked and accepted Christ as their savior. He would then help them to find local Christian congregations to join for discipleship. In this way he met local ministers. Pastor Joseph and Gama Belizaire raised money for weddings for couples who were living together but were not married.
Wedding
They planned and raised funding for many Christian weddings. Some of the couples they helped had lived together almost a life time. Some of the newly converted people refused to attend the local churches because they are too formal. They felt they did not have appropriate clothing or offering to be a part of the congregation. So they would stay home.
Doorway to Peace found a solution by building an open air prayer pavilion in Faugasse, Haiti for open air worship and Sunday afternoon prayer meetings. The idea was that people would feel welcome no matter what they were wearing or even if they had no offering. Here they would be able to gather to worship and praise the Lord.
Open air worship pavilion in Faugasse, Haiti
Joseph found a Christian leader to preside over the prayer and worship services at the pavilion, to teach and preach the word of God. This has been extremely successful in reaching people who otherwise may not have come to Christ. The pavilion is used for Sunday morning Bible class. After this there is praise and worship. In the afternoon there is a prayer meeting. On Saturday the people fast and pray here for three hours. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings there is an evening praise and worship for an hour and a half. Now with 60 people in regular attendance we are outgrowing the open air pavilion and must beginning thinking about building a larger place of worship.