In Haiti: Ronel Mesidor

Pastor Ronel Mesidor was on his way home from working at Compassion International in Port-au-Prince. Halfway there, the earthquake hit.

When the tremors finally stopped, Ronel didn’t know what to do. The road was too messed up to continue driving. And all the phones were down. He couldn’t contact his family or his church. With no other option, Ronel began walking home. All night, he made his way through a night-mare landscape of death, destruction and despair.

Hours later, as the sun was coming up, Ronel arrived home. To his relief, his wife and five children were all right. He also found that both his house and his church were still standing.

Ronel and his family had been spared the destruction. This enabled them to reach out to their neighbors right away.

Ronel’s wife, Manise, is a nurse and began treating people out of their home. They also made space available to friends left homeless, and there are now 12 non-family members living in the Mesidor household. At night, they serve a meal, tell jokes, sing songs and pray together. Their children told me that this bedtime routine is their favorite part of the day. Then, they pull mattresses into the street and bed down for the night with their neighbors (people are still unwilling to spend the night under a roof).

Ronel’s church, Concord Baptist, has also become a haven for many. During the day, the church is a clinic, and a doctor friend of Ronel’s treats patients who line up outside the door. In the evenings, Ronel leads a short worship service, food is prepared, and people bring out blankets and pillows to sleep on the church grounds.

The Mesidors have even adopted four children into their already big family, three of which were left orphaned by the earthquake. Currently Ronel is leading efforts to prepare the church grounds to host volunteer teams that will soon be coming in.

We had the chance to visit Ronel’s church and home and talk with his family. It’s amazing to see the impact one family has had on their community. And they are only one example of how our Haitian brothers and sisters are already ministering in the quake aftermath.

Keep the Mesidors in your prayers.