Just under a decade ago, Pastor Jacques Estimphile planted a church in Evansville, Indiana. Now, that congregation and its daughter churches in Huntingburg, Indiana, and Henderson, Kentucky, have joyfully joined the Indiana South District of The Wesleyan Church.
Since moving to the United States from Haiti more than 30 years ago, Pastor Jacques has been a leader in several churches, all independent from a denomination. “We still have a church in Tampa, Florida,” he says, also mentioning a ministry in Georgia. But after he and his wife, who is from Indianapolis, settled in Indiana, Pastor Jacques realized something was missing.
Feeling a desire for the connection and growth that would come with membership in a denomination, Pastor Jacques turned to his roots. “I finished high school in a Wesleyan high school in Haiti, La Gonave,” he says. He also taught at that Wesleyan school for a while. That experience, and the Wesleyan backgrounds of some of his congregants, helped the church decide where to go next.
“When I came here, I was independent for a long time, and not too long ago I had decided to train Wesleyan again to continue my faith,” says Pastor Jacques. “And I called the district, and they welcomed us.”
Reverend John Croft, a Wesleyan minister who served for many years as a Global Partners missionary, helped Pastor Jacques’ church and the two daughter congregations with the process of joining the denomination.
“We want them to, as much as possible, assimilate into our system. Not to change the way they do worship or, you know, that they do worship in English or anything like that … but to understand how we operate,” says Rev. Croft.
All three pastors are in a pastoral study program to work toward ordination. The district has also helped them find buildings. The original Evansville church, now named Grace of Jesus Christ Haitian Wesleyan, had been meeting in a space that was much too small for the size of their congregation. With well over 100 regular Sunday attendees, they needed a place that would give them room to grow.
This year, they found that place, and they closed on their new building at the end of April. “We praise the Lord for that,” says Pastor Jacques. The Indiana South District provided the church with a loan so they could purchase it. Now, Grace Haitian Wesleyan has all the space they need.
The church is growing fast. They gain new members through evangelism, making a point to seek out Haitian immigrants. Pastor Jacques says, “We have to look for Haitians. They don’t live together, but when we have activities, like when we had Easter Sunday, we passed out flyers, we had some Haitian flyers in my language.” As word spreads to the community and people visit the church, he says, “then they like us, and the Lord blessed them and they stay with us.”
Sunday morning services in Creole aren’t the only way Grace Haitian Wesleyan is building up their community. “We have a lot of immigrants in my church and in the community,” says Pastor Jacques. “They need help, and when they need help like that they come to the church to look for help.”
He already assists people with things like finding job interviews, but he hopes to offer more resources soon. “We’re just in process right now to see if we can open, like an immigrant office,” he says. Though that idea is still in the early stages of development, Pastor Jacques has high hopes. “Once we open that immigrant center, we might have some resources, and we will be able to help them out.”
He is grateful for the physical and spiritual support he and his church have already received from people like John Croft and Indiana South District Superintendent Doug Preston. “I enjoy the blessing, the Wesleyan blessing,” he says. “Especially the District Superintendent, Pastor Doug — he is always sending messages to us, every Sunday, to encourage us to stay in the ministry and everything. So, we feel blessed.”
Pastor Jacques anticipates continuing to grow in faith and serve the Lord together in the future. “My hope is to stay with Wesleyan for the rest of my life. So that’s where we are right now, and we’re gonna be there until Jesus Christ comes back.”
Of Grace Haitian Wesleyan, he says, “We just keeping on serving the Lord until the last second of our lives.”
Jerah Winn is a writer for The Wesleyan Church. She is passionate about sharing stories with others for the glory of God, and she currently resides in Central Indiana.
