Julio Gilles is the pastor of Bethesda Church and school in Madeline, Haiti. He was raised in a Voodoo family and went to a Christian elementary school where he heard about Jesus. He was afraid to accept Christ for fear of being rejected and oppressed by his family. As a result of many difficulties in his life, he decided to receive Jesus into his heart, at age 17, to be saved from his sorrows and pain.

   He began attending church and was baptized, then the Lord opened the doors for him to go to seminary in Haiti in order to be in the ministry. In 1997 he started his church with ten adults and a few children and teenagers and young people. They now have over 750 people in his church. On Sundays, they have 350 to 500 each week in their morning services.  The poverty in Haiti is severe and only 5-10 church members have jobs which makes it difficult to support the pastor. He is trying to help his members learn to farm and raise fish to feed their families.

   Because he was saved through a Christian school Pastor Julio started a Christian elementary school which is located on church property.  Last year they had 150 students and this year they have 215 but many of these will drop out during the school year because their parents lack the funds to pay the tuition for the entire year. This is very sad for Pastor Julio and he is praying that some monthly donors will help fund the school so they can assist more children and provide them a good quality education and learn about the Lord. 

   Pastor Julio loves the Lord and wants to save Haiti from Voodoo and from poverty. He will be visiting Springhill Baptist Church and would love to find individuals who will partner with him to provide funds for the school or for individual students who cannot afford to pay the annual tuition for the school. Please pray about helping Pastor Julio by making a one-time contribution or by contributing $20 per month to pay the tuition for a student during this school year.