Elince Joseph was not a man given to thoughts of spirituality or of heaven and hell. Yet the neighbor woman had worn through his resistance with her numerous invitations to church. On Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, Elince took his three-year-old daughter to church while her mom went to visit a friend. At 4:53 pm disaster struck. It sounded like thunder as the ground shook and buildings toppled to the ground. Screams filled the air as Elince shielded his little girl from falling debris. 

By the time the sun set that day, half a million Haitians living in Port au Prince were dead or injured and hundreds of thousands more were left terrified, homeless, and with few means to rebuild their lives. Elince Joseph and his daughter were safely reunited with his girlfriend, though their home was demolished by the earthquake. Within the week, Elince moved his family back to his hometown of Pignon with less than fifty cents left to his name.

Many Hands Head Chaplain, Pastor Lumanès Auguste, was visiting for the first time as he approached the gate and called out a greeting. The home, barely a shack, housed a family of six. Elince Joseph invited the pastor into the yard and introduced his life partner, Jusleine, and their four children. Elince had heard Pastor Lumanès speak at a funeral service earlier that week reminding the crowd that tomorrow was guaranteed to no one. As Pastor Lumanès stood sharing the truth of Jesus’ love, raw memories filled Elince and he knew that God had spared his life the day of the earthquake. Realizing that this world truly had nothing to offer, Elince and his entire family accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior right then and there.

Since that day, the Joseph family has witnessed the power and grace of God on their lives.

Elince and Lumanès

The family once stayed in a shelter of sticks and tarps, living off of Elince’s meager earnings from working in strangers’ fields. Now they have a safe concrete-block home through Many Hands’ Safe Homes Program. Elince tends his own small garden and Jusleine sells produce in the town market. Once sickness hovered over the family like a cloud. Medicines and voodoo rituals could not heal them. After accepting Jesus and renouncing their old practices, their health was restored! All four of the children are healthy and currently attend a local school.

Elince his family in front of their new home

Elince and Jusleine continued to be discipled by the Many Hands chaplains even as they started attending a nearby church. The couple knew that living together outside of marriage did not honor God but they couldn’t afford the wedding ceremony and celebrations customary in Haiti. On December 31st, 2017, God provided the means for twenty newly converted couples to be legally married on the Many Hands campus. Elince often recalls the beautiful blessing that ceremony was for him and his wife. “If I could relive that one day, I would.”

In the spring of 2018, Elince joined the Leadership Development program. There he will continue to grow as an individual, learn to minister to the people around him, and practice servant-hearted leadership. Elince has already started putting this knowledge to use, following Pastor Lumanès’ example in evangelism. When asked why he would walk this path, he answered, “Jesus is good for me so I want to share Him with others.”

Elince knows without a doubt that God protected his family from death that day the earthquake shook Port au Prince so they might have a chance to one day know Jesus. In the two years since Pastor Lumanès came to share the Gospel with his family, God has transformed Elince’s life, his family, and his marriage. Elince says God pulled him and his family from a bad road. “We’re not going back there. We can only go forward.”