Dr. Guenson's story!

 

As Emmaus begins the new academic year under the leadership of Dr. Guenson Charlot, he shares with us a bit of his story, his calling, his equipping, and his prayers.  We praise the Lord for providing the men and women needed to lead Emmaus well, and pray that Dr. Guenson's powerful testimony blesses you today! My mother (pictured below) was just a few months away from turning 50 when I was born, the last child in a family of 11 siblings. I was born into a very poor and remote voodoo-ridden rural area in Northern Haiti, where still today no form of motor vehicles can access. Both my deceased father and my 94 year-old mother never learned how to read or write! But thanks be to God, they accepted Christ years before I was born and raised me to love and serve the Lord in spite the strong influence of Voodoo in our community. They taught me the few verses they memorized and influenced me to make a personal commitment to the Lord." As you sow faithfulness today--no matter what the circumstances--do so with HOPE. Many great things God has done through mustard seeds of faith! Born into such a remote area with parents who lived only on farming, I was supposed to be another country boy with no education, with no great visions or dreams. Today, I am the only one in my immediate family who completed high school, went to Bible college, earned a Master's Degree, and earned a Doctorate. How has it all happened? My only explanation is that God must have done it. "He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people! (Ps. 113: 7-8 NLT). The road to Emmaus began in 2000. That was 5 years after I completed high school without any opportunity to attend college. I knew that God had called me to ministry. He sent me to college overseas, but I knew that I must return to Haiti to serve in His Kingdom. At that time, I was working as a volunteer at Campus Crusade for Christ. A missionary who visited the ministry saw me working diligently and approached me saying: "I see in you a good soil. I want to sow a seed in your life." He paid to send me to Bible College in Jamaica in 2001. There I met the love of my life, Claudia who became my wife 7 years later. Then all doors for my education opened. God used people of all nations and tribes to pay for my education in preparation to become the President of Emmaus today. God sent me to Canada (Bethany Bible College-now Kingswood University) and prepared generous Canadians to support me without knowing or meeting them. Then God sent me to America (Wesley Biblical Seminary), where people embraced me as if I were one of their own. Then God sent me to England (Nazarene Theological Seminary) and back to America (Asbury Theological Seminary) where generous people paid every cent I needed to complete my doctoral studies. I am so excited to be where I am because I know this is where God wants me to be. I am not afraid of the challenges ahead because my entire life has been a challenge. Today, the entire world focuses on the havoc COVID-19 is creating, and rightly so.  But here at Emmaus we keep our eyes on God. He is telling us to m ove forward, to register students, to prepare to open our classrooms, or dorms, and cafeteria, to dream big, to plan to expand. This is what we are doing right now. I am blessed to witness how resilience and faith are fueling our hope at Emmaus.We refuse to take a posture of victims. We refuse to allow COVID-19 to dictate our future although we have never been here before, we have never travelled this way before (cf. Jos 3:4). We are convinced that Jesus is leading us, and we are following His steps.  Thank you joining us. Thank you for marching with us. Thank you for praying with us. Thank you for supporting us. We need your continuous prayers and support to help us cross our Jordan.  Please pray for the health of our staff and students. Pray for continued strength and wisdom. Pray for God's financial provision. When you pray for us at Emmaus, when you give, you sow seeds that we plant in the lives of thousands of young and fertile soils in Haiti.  Our only hope to see God's sustainable change in Haiti is to see the future leaders of Haiti be trained in the truth of God's Word, the means that can truly impact and influence them to be Christlike.  This is what Emmaus is all about!"

Join us in lifting up Emmaus, and Dr. Charlot, during this time of transition! Let us carry on faithful, together.