Pastor NeNe

PASTOR NENE On my first trip to Haiti, I had the priviledge of meeting a Haitian gentleman named "Pastor NeNe". He is a big old teddy bear of a man. Not too tall, but a big guy with a big heart. In fact, the biggest heart! Pastor NeNe has a story to tell. Much like many Haitians, Pastor NeNe has a lot of life experiences. At the time I met him in 2011 his wife was pregnant with what I believe was his 6th. child. His baby should be like 2 years old now. Pastor Nene is a very dramatic, enthusiastic speaker. He talks loudly with a lot of vigor. He waves his hands in the air like he is unable to control them. He is a preacher to every one he meets. You can't meet him without hearing how God has influenced his life and provided for him. He speaks English fairly well. Sometimes he gets the words mixed up but he makes up for it with his enthusiasm. You can definitely understand him. He is a very funny guy the way he explains everything. He sat, well, stood actually and talked to our first large mission team to come to Haiti. MY TEAM!! He walked in with the biggest smile on his face proclaiming his blessings from God and pure joy just bubbles out of the man. A little history now...... Pastor NeNe and his wife took a large group of kids in immediately after the earthquake. Kids that had been abandoned, kids that their parents died in the quake, kids that literally nobody else wanted. He spent several days digging out some of his family members from the rubble. He was only slightly injured in the earthquake but he never worried about himself. Several months after the earthquake after he and his wife took in 14 children, he was injured in a "moto" accident. He was riding on a motorcycle (very common in Haiti with no helmet- DON"T EVEN GET ME STARTED ABOUT THAT!) and was in a wreck. It nearly killed him and injured him very badly. It took him several months, but he recovered and continued to preach and provide for his family and the new children he had taken in. This is when I met him. In January I believe, 2012, an American man came to Haiti to help construct a building for his orphanage. This man, from what I hear was a great guy and had started several hospitals/clinics in Haiti. All around good guy that had a heart for Haitians. One day while he was there he went to the bank to withdraw some money. Around $4000 I heard to start this project for Pastor NeNe's orphanage. Going to the bank in Haiti is very risky. Especially if you are withdrawing a lot of money. To go to the bank, you go stand in line outside the bank, sometimes for hours. They only let 2-3 ppl in the bank at one time and it is highly guarded by Haitians. Like I safe, it isn't exactly safe. Pastor NeNe was not with this man at the time. He went in and withdrew the money and when he came out of the bank he was shot. He somehow managed to get himself to one of the hospitals that he helped start. He was very critically injured and actually ended up passing away from his injuries. My team heard about this man and had been praying for him for several weeks. Pastor NeNe was devastated because the gentleman was there to help him. He had a really hard time accepting the first few weeks. Turns out, the would be robbers didn't end up robbing him. He was found with the money in his front pocket. Haiti is corrupt. Sorry, but it is. We felt that this was an inside bank job. Like someone on the inside knew he withdrew that amount of money then was going to shoot and rob him. They only succeeded in the shooting and killing of this dear guy. Several months later, it came about that some of the man's family (mainly his wife) thought that Pastor NeNe had this done to him and knew about the shooting. He didn't! She hired an attorney and Pastor NeNe was put in prison for the crime although he has never had a trial. He is still there 1-1/2 years later. Prison in Haiti is not the place you want to go. You are in general population which means you are in a one small room with 75 men. You don't get fed three meals a day like here. You don't eat unless your family brings you food. Pastor NeNe had 14 children and a wife counting on him to provide their needs. She never had a paying job. Our directors were able eventually to write a letter and asked that he at least be put into a semi private room and thankfully they moved him, but he is still in prison. Never once, he has questioned, "Why me?" He continues to believe that Christians are still persicuted all the time. He continues to be faithful even behind bars and still shares his testimony. His wife has tried the best she can to move forward with her life all the while struggling to provide for them. Our orphanage tried to help the best we could, but our funds are so very tight. God continues to provide for us and his children. They wouldn't be eating at all if we weren't. They now actually are going to our school. Pastor NeNe is near and dear to my heart and I truly believe God will get him out of that prison some day. I am not sure why he is still there, but God has a purpose. I will continue to be faithful and asking God to allow him freedom soon. Would you pray that too? Let's storm Heaven with intention. Intention on his freedom. Intention on his famuly being provided for! Please?