Aly Maxime, a young man remembers 15 years ago – that fateful day January 12, 2010.
Aly was 15 years old living in a countryside village with his parents and siblings many miles from Jacmel, Haiti. His parents provided food and necessities by farming, selling and trading with other villagers for life sustainability.
When the earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010, Aly was inside his house, and everything started shaking. He’d never felt anything like this before, and he was so afraid because he didn’t know what was happening. Quickly, he and his family ran out of the house and fell on the ground. Once the shaking was over, they saw that their house was severely damaged, but they were all physically unhurt.
As he looked around at his once peaceful village, within seconds the entire sounds and sights had changed. Fearful screaming, wailing and the sound of massive chunks of hills falling was all he heard. There was now rubble and massive landslides, destroying their gardens and killing most of their livestock (chickens, goats and pigs). Living a simple life, the vegetation and animals were their sustainability, so this loss was huge as they had very little to eat after the earthquake, making life the most difficult Aly had ever experienced. Many village people were injured, and houses were damaged, but miraculously, no one in their village died from the earthquake that day. It was many months before all the people in his village received help, so they suffered greatly from hunger and lack of water.
Immediately after the earthquake’s devastation while in constant fear of more earthquakes and tremors, most people including Aly’s family slept outside every night for months. That way if the earth did move again, they wouldn’t be crushed inside their partially destroyed houses. For Aly, though, sleeping outside under the pitch-black sky caused even more fear in his young heart, so he would always sneak back into his house to sleep, not realizing the danger he was putting his life in. His village elementary school was severely damaged, so it closed for months until a plan was devised to conduct school in make-shift huts.
Throughout the country of Haiti, the earthquakes’ devastation was intensely deadly as over 300,000 people died, and multiple thousands injured.
Aly shares: “there was a constant cry throughout the land…it was everywhere – people were yelling, screaming, asking for help, asking what’s going to happen, are we all going to die? Everyone was crying out to Jesus for help. It was absolutely horrible. I heard about a university that collapsed with many students in it. A couple of days later the stench was so great that people could not be near it. This became a common problem throughout the affected parts of the country. Life seemed impossible and hopeless!”
Aly continues: “After weeks of constant fear, hunger, confusion and stench, I had no idea that life could get any more difficult. Beyond the suffering in my village, my heart wasn’t prepared to find out the most devastating news of my life. My beloved auntie and her son, my cousin, who lived in Port-au-Prince had been crushed to death during the earthquake! My auntie had been like a second mother to me. She had successfully worked and lived in Port-au-Prince and I stayed with her every summer. She always encouraged and believed in me. She told me hopeful words I had never heard – that I was intelligent and had a future beyond my village of poverty. She promised me that when I finished elementary school in my village that she would send me to Jacmel and provide the tuition to attend grades 7-13 at the public boy’s school, Pichinat. With an education, I could pursue any vocation I chose, make a better life for myself and help my family. Hearing of her death was more than I could bare, and no one could comfort me. The one person who really believed in me was gone. Even to this day when I think about her, I’m filled with sadness because I miss her so much.”
The next couple years were difficult, but Aly persevered as he continued with his elementary school work and helped his parents with daily chores. How would he ever get the opportunity to attend school beyond 6th grade? Aly grew up attending church and believing in God, and during this difficult time would often cry out to God for help. Was God really there? Did He care that he’d lost his chance for a higher education? Did God understand the pain, sorrow and hopelessness he felt?
Aly has an older sister who lives in Jacmel and made her meager living by selling items at the marketplace. Once her aunt died, she took it upon herself to take the responsibility of Aly’s education. She didn’t tell her brother but diligently worked to make his dream a reality. By September 2012, she’d earned enough extra money to provide a semester’s tuition for his public high school. When she told him to move to Jacmel with her and begin school at Pichinat, he could hardly believe his ears! His entire family was elated and so proud that his sister had been able to help, giving him this opportunity. At age 17 now entering 7th grade, Aly’s dream became a reality as he stepped foot onto the campus at Pichinant. He studied with attentiveness and a thankful heart to receive an education beyond 6th grade. Each semester he and his sister earned extra money by doing odd-jobs and the tuition miraculously always appeared.
March 27, 2014 was another pivotal day in Aly’s life. While attending his 9th grade classes, there was an all-school assembly, hosted by CIDM. Our team, along with a youth mission group from Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, CA shared about Jesus Christ through skit and testimonies, explaining the plan of salvation to the entire group of 3,000 male students that day. Everything they said made sense and he felt his heart pounding as they gave the invitation to come forward to receive Jesus as his personal Savior. Aly knew about Jesus, but he’d never heard about having a personal relationship with Him. He realized, like so many Haitians, he had a head knowledge of Jesus, but no heart knowledge or relationship with Jesus. With his heart beating fast, he bravely stepped to the front along with approximately 300 other young men that day. He repeated the prayer of salvation and meant it from the depths of his heart. Aly accepted Christ into his heart that day and his life would never be the same.
That day will always be a spiritual highlight in our lives (Dave & Darlys) as we watched male teens unashamed to step forward in front of their peers and say yes to Jesus. Satan tried extra hard to prevent our team to arrive at Pichinat that day through the most violent road closures we ever experienced in the five years we’d lived there. But God safely ushered us through, by giving us incredible favor with the violators. We continue to hear Haitian’s life stories that were changed because we shared Jesus Christ at Pichinat High School that day.
CIDM began a new believers Bible study the next week for the hundreds of youth who had accepted Christ at their schools and at an all-city concert CIDM sponsored in Jacmel. A new ministry of CIDM was born that day, Real Life Discipleship Bible Study (Lavi Reyel in Creole). Aly enthusiastically attended that first New Believers Bible Study and has been an integral part of CIDM ever since.
Within CIDM, there is a group of 10-15 young men and women who are asked to be a “Volunteer Leaders”. These youth are chosen by CIDM staff who exhibit qualities of servanthood, leadership and a strong commitment to the Lord and the group. About one year after his conversion, we began to see a timid new believer to a passionate man of God. Aly was asked to be one of these needed Volunteer Leaders, in which we watched him continue to grow in his God given skills, humble servants heart and excitement for evangelism. To read a blog from February 2018 written about Aly’s spiritual growth in the Lord, click here.
In June 2019, Aly graduated from Pichinat high school. What an amazing work of God’s faithfulness! Aly received the education he longer for and God provided for him all seven years.
Realizing Aly was now equipped to minister through CIDM as a full-time staffer, we hired him to join our CIDM staff team as our Community Life Coordinator. He is excellent at maintaining a personal connection with the youth who attend our Real Life Discipleship bible study. He visits our youth in person, by phone, text, and social media. As a recent graduate from high school, he has an immense ability to relate with our students in the challenges they face daily. He has a passion to share what he now knows about God’s goodness wherever he goes. He is also available to assist our staff directors and teachers in multiple ways. He is an integral part of our team, and we are so thankful that God brought Aly to Himself and to CIDM way back in 2014. It’s been a privilege to watch God direct Aly, and we look forward to the exciting future God has for him. Aly’s parents and some siblings continue to live in the countryside village, where he often visits and helps support them.
Yes, God is changing Haiti, one life at a time. Aly’s life is a very important one that has been changed for God’s glory and to change Haiti’s future!
If you’d like to partner with CIDM sharing the gospel and discipleship with Haitian youth like Aly, please click here.