Dear friends,

Aline and I returned home from California on Oct.11, exhausted but grateful that our daughter’s Oct.1 wedding went over without a glitch.  The weather was perfect for this solemn and joyful occasion.  Of course the bride was beautiful!  Aren’t they all?  We were grateful that our boys and my older sister could be there for this very special occasion.  Though we’d been saving for years for our daughter’s big day, we were nonetheless most grateful for two generous gifts from friends which went far to help us with the usual unforeseen expenses. Mille fois merci les amis!  

   While Anaïs and Eric went on a brief honeymoon to Costa Rica, Aline and I stayed in their apartment for a week and visited  the  L.A. region a bit while preparing a preaching assignment near San Diego on Oct.9.  We spent a memorable day at the Getty Museum—a highlight of our time in L.A.,  which included an evening visit to the  “L.A. Pétanque club” where I played a few games with some fellow pétanque aficionados and even  shared the gospel with Rodolphe (originally from Normandy) and Jean (from Dijon).  Pétanque opens all kinds of doors in the French-speaking world.

   On Friday  Oct.7 we drove down to San Marcos (20 miles north of San Diego) for  visit with Pastor Tae and Sophie Kim.  I first knew Tae in Korea in 1973 when we were both just 19.  We met in a Seoul café with some other Korean students and he later came by to see me at the youth hostel where I was staying. I’d just become a Christian a month before and was reading the Bible given to me by an Indian evangelist, but was still struggling with some residual addictions.   I nevertheless shared a bit of the gospel with him, but nothing more.  We kept in touch over the years, and when I went to study in France where I learned from a letter that Tae had become a Christian.  Alleluia! Prayerful Korea is fertile ground for the Word.   Meanwhile, a convoluted confluence of factors later led Tae to the U.S. where he went to seminary in the Chicago area.  For the past 25 years he’s been a pastor in Methodist churches, first in the Chicago area, and now in S. California. 

        I preached on prayer at his church in San Marcos, a subject many Koreans take very seriously.  As a matter of fact, in his previous congregation near Pasadena, practically the whole church met for prayer every morning at 5:30!     His new Anglo congregation, a small but loving group of mostly middle-aged folks, received us warmly.    

We left the more temperate climate of S. California (neither heat nor air conditioning hardly ever necessary) and flew back to steamy south Florida.  My glasses fogged-up from the humidity as we walked out of the Ft. Lauderdale airport into our perpetual sauna-bath climate.  It was back to the routine: preparing for the next series of courses in the isles; our Sunday radio broadcasts; and visits to a few perspective supporting churches.  It seems our mission support account is hemorrhaging so I have to hit the road again and present other folks with an opportunity to invest in the Lord’s French-speaking Kingdom. 

         As I write this, I’m eagerly anticipating a visit to my home state of R.I. (Oct.29-31) where I’ll be speaking in a church and seeing cousins I’ve not seen in years including some non-believers.  On Oct.29, I’ll be attending—for the first time—a  reunion of my Catholic high school class of ’71.  It could be interesting….

 Enrollment at the Haitian Bible school here in Ft. Lauderdale where I teach has dropped-off significantly since Pastor Petit (72) had to withdraw following a stroke he suffered at the end of August.  Please pray for his health and for the welfare of the large but fragmented Haitian Christian community, both in S. Florida and in Haiti.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Some new responsibilities have arisen through our affiliation with the MINTS Seminary program. It involves writing and translating basic theological courses for French West Africa where the church is growing but where teaching material is always wanting. My old high school French teacher would never believe that his erstwhile worst student now spends most of his time working in the language of Molière.  Ironic perhaps, but the Lord’s ways are strange indeed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Finally, we’ll need some new financing to cover eventual trips to French West Africa but we’re confident the Lord will provide if He wants us to be involved there.  Paul exhorted Timothy to “fulfill his ministry” (2 Tim.4:5).  Likewise, we don’t have time to get bored either.  We thank those of you who make it all possible.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         In His service,                                                                                           

PRAISE:                                                                                                                                                                                        

  1-Smooth unfolding of Anaïs’+ Eric’s  wedding. 

2-Encouraging  spiritual progress of our sons and a nephew.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       3-A steady stream of opportunities to share the faith with French-speaking folk, everywhere we go.

PRAYER:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

1- Travelling mercies for forthcoming trips: Winchester, Va. (Oct. 21-23); Rhode Island (Oct.29-31); St. Martin (Nov.13-19);St. Louis (Nov. 25-28); Haiti (Dec.8 11).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2- For the unction of the Spirit on both Aline and me.                                                                                                                                          3- For the spiritual and professional welfare of our children.

“We’ve lost western Europe” lamented Os Guinness in a Veritas Forum conference Aline and I listened to over the internet.

  Our eloquent English brother was referringto the paltry state of the Church on the continent which was once synonymouswith “Christendom.” Guinness’ observation was corroborated during our annual sojourn to Marseille (July 22-Aug.15)  where we filled in for MTW missionaries  Pete + Ruth Mitchell who were in dire need of some R & R after hosting four young American “stagaires” and a family of five for the better part of the summer.

Our job consistedof exhorting the few faithful (between 15 and 30 at Sunday service) who actually attend worship and the dozens of acquaintances who revolve around the church group.  Aline’s keen listening ear and counseling skills were put
to good use by several women eager to share their concerns with my circumspect
wife.   I had four sermons to prepare. In addition, there were a couple of encouraging prayer meetings eagerly attended by a half-dozen, including Gerard, a zealous brother originally from Martinique.  “Why do we pray,” someone asked, “since the Lord knows our thoughts in advance?” The answer is that our Father wants relationship with His children and delights in even their feeble efforts to draw near to Him. How foolish to deprive oneself of this amazing privelege!

One of the more agreeable evangelistic activities was the occasional afternoon ‘pétanque’ sessions with neighbors of MTW missionary Stephanie Pike—my buddies from last year’s visit. Claude and his son Patrice, of Antillean origin, seemed the most receptive to the gospel of the lot.  Likewise, it was a Camerounaise woman in Marseille named Endole who voiced the only positive feedback from my preaching efforts.  One might conclude that dark-skinned people are more spiritually sensitive than Europeans…

Pétanque buddies  Giovanni (an Italian), “Coco” (a retired international salesman),
and André asked some basic questions.  I gave them all copies of the gospel—which none had ever read—and exhorted them to go right to the Source. In conversations about the Word, discussion often regresses from the metaphysical to the political. The key, methinks, is to redirect the focus on the identity of Jesus: Who does He claim to be?  How can we know anything about Him; about God?

Another renewed summer acquaintance was 82 year-old Christiane, who sits in the
park next to the pétanque terrain between 4 and 7 PM every day where she chats with neighbors.   “Je prie la ‘Bonne Mere’ tous les soirs” (I pray to the Virgin Mary every night) she confided. She was particularly interested by the story of our daughter’s forthcoming marriage.   In a culture where most couples live together and procreate outside the bonds of matrimony, the idea of a traditional marriage—of a virgin couple, no less—seems almost quaint.  Christiane’s own daughter is “Pacsée” i,e, living with a young man under a government-sponsored contract (called a P.A.C. for “Pacte civile de Solidarité”) which, though less than a marriage
contract, provides tax benefits and is easy to terminate.  It’s a way of avoiding expensive divorce settlements when the relationship ends, but still benefit from the generous French government allocations formerly reserved  for married couples.
Back on the pétanque terrain; Claude the Martiniquais lamented: “It’s too bad you’re leaving so soon,. .I’d have a few more questions to ask you…”.  Pete Mitchell  and Timothée Calvot,  the church’s new interim pastor, will be there to answer them.

Less encouraging was a visit to Aline’s hometown in Alès, 100 miles west of
Marseille, a traditionally Protestant area where the rapid erosion of the Christian heritage (including the Protestant work ethic) is manifest. Antony (21) lost his job but isn’t looking for new employment, preferring to milk the generous state welfare system.  Broken homes and dysfunctional families are the norm here, with catastrophic consequences for the disoriented children.  Renaud (13), thoroughly confused, deprived of parental love and guidance, has already been arrested thrice for armed robbery!  He’s a poster-child of the “Clockwork Orange” world coming unless the Lord sends revival.  Aline’s brother Pascal labors valiantly for the Kingdom in the small but evangelical Methodist church. But no man is a prophet amongst his own…

Some good things in Southern France include magnificent scenery, dry summer weather, great food, and a good selection of radio frequencies—at least compared to our culturally deprived Miami area. Unfortunately, the so-called Christian/Ecumenical “Radio Dialogue” diffuses a mixture of liberal and mystical Catholicism and Protestantism along with some occasionally edifying offerings. One can listen for a long time without ever hearing the gospel.

We were encouraged by time we spent with our son Calix who lives in Marseille.  Many of you have much prayed for him over the years, for which we’re most grateful.  Some prayers take a long time to be answered.  The case of St. Monica praying twenty years for her son Augustin  (Calix’ middle name) comes to mind; the bishop of Hippo was 32 when he finally saw the Light.   Our son (31) seemed more receptive than ever this year when we shared some gospel truths with him, usually over a meal.   Likewise MTW missionary Hugh Wessel told us that he’s detected more spiritual receptiveness in the French in recent months than in previous years.    Could that aforementioned revival be looming?   “Affaire à suivre…” as they say.

Blessings,

Marc

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale from Atlanta late on Friday night (May 20) following an interesting, albeit challenging week at a MTW “Training the trainers” seminar where I discovered just how little I know about teaching, or rather about the way adults learn.  It was a humbling experience as we went through the various theories and techniques of “andragogy” (adult learning, as opposed to pedagogy).  For the past few years I’ve wondered about the learning style of our Antillean students who are from an essentially oral culture. It’s difficult to get them to read—the ‘normal’ way we learn in our Western academic tradition—but they’ll listen to me talk for hours.  Hopefully, a few of the notions gleaned at the seminar will help me to improve my technique in the classroom.

It was almost midnight as I flopped into a taxi at the Ft. Lauderdale airport for the ride home.  The driver, like 85% of the cabbies in S. Florida, was Haitian.  His name was “Moïse” and he spoke wistfully of the country he left 20 years ago.  I asked him about his family.  Unlike the French who are excessively reserved
when it comes to personal matters, Haitians will openly discuss family life,
religious beliefs, political views etc. He asked me how I knew Haiti, so I told him what I do.

Moïse was clearly proud of his biblical name but equally proud of the fact that he has six children by three different Haitian women. “C’est la tradition chez nous” (It’s our tradition) he explained matter-of-factly.

“Have you ever stopped to consider what God thinks of that ‘tradition’?” I asked him.  That remark was met with silence.

I wasn’t home but a few days before I had to leave again (on May 26) for Guadeloupe and Haiti.  For the Guadeloupe visit, I accompanied Roe S.
a devoted Cuban-American brother from Miami who needed a translator for a ministry he’s started organizing concerts for a Christian musical group  on various
Caribbean islands.   The gig on that French island was the fruit of an encounter with Alain whom he’d met months ago in Dominica.  Alain, an equally zealous
brother, works at city hall of the Guadeloupe town of Bouillante organizing inter-island cultural activities.   The Lord’s ways are often convoluted.   The
bottom line was an occasion where several hundred folk from St. Lucia, Dominica,
Martinique and Guadeloupe got together for a concert given by   three different Christian groups and where it was my privilege to translate and to share a few words.

I left Guadeloupe on Air France on Friday (May 27) and flew to Haiti for the second installment of an Old Testament survey course for some thirty eager Haitian ministry students who have formed their own ‘seminary’ in the Port-au-Prince suburb of “Carrefour” where they meet every Saturday.  We had thirty students for the classes which started at 8:30 AM and went through until 2:30 with only a brief pause for lunch.  After reviewing the preliminary material (on canonicity, inspiration and authority of the Word etc.), we went through the basic themes of the Pentateuque which none of the students had ever completely read
through.  I tried to show them that the whole Bible speaks implicitly, if not explicitly, of God’s holiness and man’s need for a Savior.  That’s the essential
meaning of the elaborate Old Testament sacrificial system.

As for Haiti itself: Nothing much seems to change in a place where millions of people continue to struggle to survive in a state of squalor and misery that defies description: thousands of people sitting or squatting by the roadside in mounds of rubbish (there’s no trash collection) in the stifling heat, seven days/week with a handful of mangoes, sugar-canes, charcoal, or other various sundries upon which depends their very survival.  It’s gut-wrenching.

Arriving home late Sunday evening, I resumed the reading and correcting the last of 33 master’s dissertations for Haitian students of a FLET master’s program.  Next on the schedule is a series of classes in St. Martin (July 3-9) on “leadership”,  a
subject requested by the students themselves; after which Aline and I leave for
a month of ministry in France July 20-August 15.  There’s never a dull moment.
On the home front, the major Mailloux family news concerns the
engagement of our daughter Anaïs (27). The wedding will be in California where
both Anaïs and fiancé Eric live and work. The date is fixed for October 1, but already preparations consume more time and money than most men would deem necessary. Fortunately, under Aline’s prompting, we’d been saving for our daughter’s big day for years.

The “Gorilla” to whom I’ll be handing our “Stradivarius” is Eric J., a strapping 6’1” blond-haired, blue-eyed Viking (of Danish + German ancestry) from St. Louis.  “He’s much too pretty to be smart,” joked my younger sister upon seeing his photo. Eric works as an engineer with Boeing in L.A., so he’s hardly an idiot,
I reassured her.   In fact, he seems a most worthy claimant to the hand of our princess, fitting very nicely in the select sweet-spot of the three overlapping circles of spiritual, intellectual and physical compatibility.  We’re pleased to welcome him into the family and are eagerly anticipating the joyous union of this rare virgin couple.

The occasion has given us opportunity to reflect on subject of marriage itself—a major theme of the Bible which both starts and ends with a wedding.
From Adam’s quintessential betrothal of Eve, to the Feast of the Lamb, the entire Book might be viewed as an elaborate wedding invitation with everything in between leading to, and announcing the final Consummation—His bride’s eternal ravishment as alluded to in the transcendental physical union of the “Song of Songs”.   “This is indeed a great mystery” as Paul says (Ephesians 5:32).
Our daughter’s impending nuptials has stimulated some reflection about
the meaning of love and marriage, as it did for Russian Jewish peasant farmer
Tevye in the classic film “Fiddler on the Roof.”  What is love? What is a sacred covenant?  The answers are as inscrutable as women are mysterious.  But after 33 years with Aline, I still get occasionally twitterpated when I hold her hand.  Still, I think the French writer St. Exupéry put it best:  “L’amour ne consiste pas à se regarder face à face, mais à regarder tous les deux dans la même direction” (Love is not so much looking at each other face to face, but looking both in the same direction).  We gaze at His star together on the road to the Celestial City.  Voilà tout.

Marc

Praise: 1- For safe travel and encouraging response by the Haitian students in Port-au-Prince.                                                                                                                             2-For continued health and the Lord’s provision for our work.
3-For the joyous news about our daughter’s forthcoming wedding.

Prayer: 1-For the wise use of the Lord’s resources.  There are so many needs in the French-speaking world that we don’t always know where to concentrate our efforts.
2- For the ministry during our forthcoming aforementioned  trips to St. Martin and
to continental France.
3-For the spiritual welfare of our immediate and extended families.  

      In the wake of my trips to Haiti in January and February, some have asked me what has changed—if anything—in that country since the earthquake.  As of March 2011, over 90% of the rubble had yet to be touched.  Sitting next to me on the flight on my last trip was an articulate Haitian accountant lamenting the fact that a multimillion dollar contract for rubble-removal had been signed with a company whose bid of $380./m3, had been selected over a competing offer of only one tenth as much!  Obviously there was a bribe involved.  Such is the eternal problem of human corruption which only the gospel can change.   “Revolution changes everything, save for man’s heart”, as Victor Hugo lamented.

   More encouraging was a recent email, feedback from one of the Haitian students who had been part of the group of 42 at the comparative worldviews course I taught the first week in February at the Baptist mission near Port-au-Prince:.    Nicolas G. wrote, pleading with me to return to teach a different group of 35 other students he’s assembled in the Haitian capital:  “Nous aimerions faire des progrès mais nous sommes vraiment limités… » (we would love to progress [in the understanding of the Scriptures] but we are really very limited…).   Can one refuse such a Macedonian call (Acts 16:9)?  So I’ll be returning to Port-au-Prince once a month starting April 30 with a course entitled “Introduction to the Old Testament.”

     Admittedly, it’s most encouraging to learn that the teaching is well received.   In France we’d done mostly individual evangelism and did not have much teaching experience until ten years ago when we first came to S. Florida and discovered how spiritually hungry and unschooled are most Haitian believers.  That was the beginning of my association with Haitian pastor J. Petit of IBTF (the S. Florida Haitian Bible school) whose classes providentially served as a laboratory for me to develop some pedagogical skills.  In addition, courses taught for 20-30 Haitians students four times/year in St. Martin have been useful towards that same end. I remain most indebted to a host of terrific Bible scholars with whom the U.S. has been blessed and whose work I continue to translate and transpose for the French-speaking world.  Aline’s regular input is a precious aid in keeping me on track.  When something’s not clear, she lets me know.  

The biggest pedagogical challenge stems from the fact that the Antilleans and their African cousins are from oral cultures, so one has to adapt his teaching methods to that all-important reality.  Though not inclined to reading, they probably retain more of what they hear than most Westerners.  I suspect it may have been much the same with most of Jesus’ disciples?    

  Ironically, there’s a bit of cultural cleavage between the Haitians and Antilleans from other islands.  Hence the recent formation of a second study-group in St. Martin comprised of some more educated folk who don’t feel comfortable with the Haitian group.  Still, their spiritual hunger is the same.

Starting April 4, Aline and I began meeting with a few influential folks from the island, originally from Martinique and Guadeloupe—acquaintances of a dynamic sister (Marie-Ange, a retired administrator from Martinique) who herself has courageously started a ministry to aimless young children.  These new students were educated in the French school system, a factor which alters the more African way of thinking of their Haitian ‘cousins’—a dose of Descartes added to a largely voodoo world view, if you can imagine.  It’s a heck of a combination.  The goal, as always, is to steer them to the Word whose systematic study remains the key for any lasting transformation.  That’s why our suitcases are always full of French study-Bibles imported via Quebec and prohibitively expensive in the islands.

   This most recent trip (April 2-9) was for a course in ethics which included a biblical view of the sanctity of life with regards to abortion, the death penalty, war, work, marriage and divorce.  Several of these are of only minor concern to most Haitians—including abortion (rare in Haiti), war (Haiti has no army per se), and even divorce (comparatively rare amongst Haitians).  However, a biblical consideration of the all-important cultural mandates of Christian marriage (wife-beating is, alas, quite common as with most Africans) and the sanctity of work (scorned by many) is especially necessary to correct some less than biblical conceptions and residual pagan cultural influence.  On our last visit, a member of the church was speaking to Aline and identified a fellow parishioner along with his wife and concubine.   “A member of the church has a mistress!” Aline exclaimed in shocked disbelief.  “No, not a mistress, but a concubine…, you know, like David and Solomon…”   It seems somehow like a course in biblical ethics is overdue.

In His service,

Marc       

PRAISE :                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1-Provision for continuation of program in SXM. Thanks to those who make it possible.                                                               

2-Noticeable spiritual growth in a couple of our immediate family members.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   3-For the French film “Of Gods and Men,” depicting the Christian faith in a favorable light in a Moslem country.

PRAYER:                                                                                                                                                                                                                           1-Weekly (Sunday) radio ministry with Haitian host L.J..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2- Forthcoming Haiti teaching commitments.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        3- Spiritual welfare of our children.

 JAN-FEB 2011

Christmas 2010

Dear friends,

 A friend described the little buggers as “flying syringes,” an appropriate analogy I thought, while wondering why every mosquito in Gonaïves seemed to fancy my tender white skin more than that of my Haitian hosts. I was teaching the second part of the Church history course for 22 students at the “Trinité” Presbyterian church (Jan.1-7) in this town 125 miles north of Port-au-Prince. Normally, the mosquitoes are but an inconvenience, but a PCA colleague’s recent bout with a near fatal strand of malaria picked up in Haiti made the little critters’ buzz all the more ominous. Why were they created? Do they owe their existence to the fall—products of divine wrath, along with the thorns and thistles (Gen.3:18)? So many itchy little theological questions…

On a happier note: The annual reunion of our immediate family was of course the highlight of our Christmas season. Calix (30) came from France, Justin (28) from the Dominican Republic and Anaïs (27) from California. It was a delightful week of family togetherness, mostly around a food-filled table bespeaking the Lord’s munificence and blessings—a foretaste of what He’s reserved for those called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. No mosquitoes there either.

After the children’s departure, and the aforementioned trip to Haiti (Jan.1-8), Aline and I headed off to St. Martin (Jan.22-29) for a modest graduation ceremony—the second in the nine-year history of that program. We awarded diplomas to six Haitian students (from a group of about 25) who have successfully completed at least three courses of the six offered thus far: doctrine, Church history, apologetics, hermeneutics, New Testament, Old Testament. It was a small but joyous ceremony and appropriate recognition of their efforts. It was followed by a week of lectures on the Bible: its inspiration, inerrancy, authority, canonicity, interpretation, unity, and even a somewhat regretted introduction to the arcane complexities of textual criticism—a daunting technical subject indeed. This course was compiled with research from various sources including the teaching of Drs. Rob Rayburn Jr. and R.C. Sproul, to mention two of my favorite masters. Still, Aline warned me about broaching that last subject (textual criticism), insisting there was no point in confusing the students with issues none of them have perhaps ever even thought about… She may have been right. Fortunately for all of us, we didn’t spend but a short time meandering through that dense theological forest. By the time we were through, my frustration level was growing and my lecture notes were reduced to a swirling cellulose vortex of entropy. It was clear to all that the subject is better left to the few specialists for whom textual criticism is the bailiwick. I won’t go there again.

 The fact is that our students are desperate for sound biblical teaching as they receive virtually none from their pastors, most of whom have no formal training themselves. Regretting the total dearth of instruction at her church, Simica, the 18 year old daughter of one of our St. Martin students, lamented: “I understand that Jesus loves me…But what’s after that…?” On the positive side, the overwhelmingly majority of Haitians are believers and many meet regularly in their churches for worship. Some services can last for hours and might include frenzied (almost ecstatic) dancing and emotional outbursts, eerily similar to what we’ve seen of documented voodoo rituals. Meanwhile, many are illiterate and therefore can’t read the Word for themselves. Still, rare is the systematic exposition of the Word, or any form of catechism. The result is a disconnected, uninformed “faith,” often legalistic, syncretistic, and usually undermined alas, by the time a Haitian adolescent enters high school or, in St. Martin, lycée where Bible-believers are rare indeed. “Where there is no guidance, a people falls…” Proverbs 11:14.

 A few Haitian leaders are concerned by this situation. For over ten years we’ve been associated with pastor Jean Petit struggling to start a Haitian Bible school in S. Florida. Rev. Petit has often lamented the mediocrity of Haitian Christian circles with its uneducated pastors. Still, attendance at the Bible school is low. One would think they would jump at the opportunity to acquire some instruction for themselves or their faithful as has Aline’s brother Pascal in France. Though he dropped out of high school when he was fourteen, since his conversion and subsequent calling to the pastoral ministry, he has felt a real burden to feed the sheep has become a serious biblical erudite. Not so, alas with most Antillean pastors. Unsure of themselves, many feel threatened by any attempt to educate their faithful lest their own inadequacies be further exposed. In an attitude reminiscent of my Roman Catholic heritage when priests discouraged the reading of the Bible, many Haitian pastors jealously guard their roles as the sole dispensers of the Truth. Some even refuse to allow their faithful to attend our classes; evidently for fear that the students learn something the pastor does not know himself!

There are some delightful exceptions to this rule, of course, including brother Esaïe Etienne who is emphasizing education in his church in Gonaïves. As for our students in St. Martin: Aline and I are overwhelmed at how appreciative they’ve been over the years. Not surprisingly, they are distraught by the possibility that, due to our recent loss of financial support (including the ‘promotion to glory’ of our biggest supporter) we might have to curtail or even suspend our teaching trips for them. We told them we’d run this by our supporters (hence this word) with the conviction that the Lord would touch the hearts of those who can help us to make-up the shortfall. The ball’s in your court.

I leave you with these words written from the Baptist Haiti mission in Fermath, near Port-au-Prince and where I’ve come to teach a week-long (Jan.31-Feb.4) course on “Christian world view”. Here again I have 42 zealous, endearing students, many of them pastors, who’ve come from all parts of the country, all eager to grow in the faith and impart what they learn to their sheep à la 2 Tim.2:2. They are probably the sharpest bunch I’ve ever had, which has kept me on my toes. They have been most attentive to the teaching from a reformed holistic, Christocentric perspective à la F. Schaeffer etc. Coming from all parts of the country, some have made heroic efforts to get here, as travel is a challenge in Haiti in the best of times. It’s been most intensive, albeit satisfying week for all concerned. Several students reported to Chris Lieb, the mission’s academic program director, that this week’s classes have “revolutionized our [their] understanding of the Bible.” Alleluia!

We thank those of you who help to make it possible.

 Marc     www.marcmailloux.wordpress.com

Praise:      1-For continued good health despite the pointed efforts of legions of Haitian mosquitoes.                                                       2- For the Lord’s constant provision to continue our

program.                                                             3- For the sweet atmosphere that reigns here at the Mission compound in Fermath, a refreshing spiritual light in the midst of a dark country.

Prayer: 1-For the Lord’s continued provision for our ministry.                                                                                                                              2-For the spiritual welfare of Marc’s mom and of our three children.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              3-For a missions conference at Providence Pres., Salisbury, Md. (March 3-5)

Dear friends, 

      From Nov.12 to 26, I accompanied a group of twenty Catholics from France on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  We met up in Cairo where, after visiting the pyramids and Cairo museum, we drove through the Sinai desert with a memorable stop at Ste. Catherine’s monastery for a nighttime climb of Mt. Moses (Sinai) to see the sun rise.  From there it was on to Israel, across the Negev. We walked in the traces of the Exodus and the requisite sites of biblical lore, including the traditional site of Mara (Exodus 15) in the Sinai desert, and various Canaanite ruins: Qumran, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Caesarea, etc.  

 All along the way our guide, M.T., an affable, articulate, scholarly  Roman Catholic priest from Belgium with doctorates in both archeology and religious sociology and 127 visits to Israel under his belt,  bombarded us with volumes of information on the various historical sites—much more than one could  possibly assimilate.  But if M.T. was incomparable for his knowledge of the terrain, he was equally off-base with regards to the reliability of the biblical record.  In fact, he espoused every liberal theory which would undermine the Bible’s authority, somewhat to the disillusionment of my fellow travelers.  To paraphrase former President Reagan: “It’s not that he doesn’t know much. It’s just that much of what he knows isn’t so.”

       Naturally, I did my best to muster a spirited defense of the biblical record. But M.T. had the microphone and a wealth of archeological expertise.  Still, with the Lord’s grace and the help of my well-annotated French study Bible, I was occasionally able to offer more traditional explanations for some of the so-called ‘inaccuracies’ of the biblical record pointed-out by our loquacious, erudite guide. 

        Curiously, we celebrated “La Messe” (Mass) every day (minus the R.C. doctrine of transubstantiation in which the priest did not believe either), using a Roman Catholic liturgy, far more conservative (closer to the Bible) than the priest’s own convictions.  Our mutual belief in the “spiritual presence” in the Eucharist was one of the few areas of agreement between me and the priest. He was a universalist with regards to salvation, skeptical of the virgin birth (I scored some points here with my fellow travelers in defending this beloved doctrine), and unsure of Jesus’ divinity!  Only once—at a celebration in the church of the Annunciation in Nazareth—did I actually walk out on the “Messe” as M.T.’s “homélie”  (sermon) unacceptably distorted the sense of the text from Luke’s gospel  by glorifying Mary, ironically twisting her very words (“My soul magnifies the Lord…”)  by which she would bring all glory to God her Savior!   But even this incident afforded me an opportunity to elaborate on the Christocentric emphasis of the Scriptures to some of the others who came to me privately for an explanation.

  More encouraging than the frequent theological jousting of the priest was my daily interaction with Patrice M., a 57-year-old physical therapist from La Rochelle and my roommate for the entire trip. Patrice, a member of a Masonic lodge, had previously traveled to Tibet in search of spiritual peace. After a fortnight of daily discussion, he consented to pray with me the sinner’s prayer of repentance. Alleluia!  His decision came in spite of the “religious circus” atmosphere of some of the places we visited (where pilgrims from around the world prostrate themselves in front of various statues and relics etc.) and the priest’s thinly veiled scorn for ‘fundamentalist’ theology which calls for repentance and faith in Jesus.  M.T. affirmed the more politically correct belief that “God is love and therefore all men [without exception] are saved, regardless of what they think of Jesus. 

  In a private discussion with our priest/guide, I attempted to show him to the logical conclusions of his presuppositions with regards to the Scriptures by asking him to tell me one true thing about God and how one could know it.  It didn’t work.  He retorted that he did not believe in Aristotelian logic [A is not equal to Non-A] nor the classical conceptions of a Thomas Aquinas etc. In fact, he preferred the more nebulous “spiritual truths” over adhesion to historical facts.   His “faith”—divorced from historical reality—is clearly what Francis Schaeffer would have called an “upper-story” experience as well as intellectual suicide.  In other words, unlike my Haitian students, he’s a victim of Hume, Kant, and Hegel like many (most?) of the post-Enlightenment western intelligentsia for whom “truth” is a strictly relative concept. 

    I chided my priest friend, pointing out the irony that my position (with regards to the doctrine of Scripture) was surely closer to the current Pope’s than was his own, an observation to which he begrudgingly consented.  Meanwhile, the less theologically informed fellow travelers were probably closer to reality of the biblical view than was our guide. I left them with French copies of Dr. Kennedy’s “Pourquoi Je Crois” (Why I believe) which they graciously accepted.  I was delighted to hear from them favorable comments, including one from a woman from Normandy who admitted that she needed to become more familiar with the Bible as the Protestants clearly were. Alleluia. 

   We parted on good terms—even with MT—grateful to have trodden the same soil as the historical Jesus.  This experience has left me more convinced than ever with the need to study the Word more diligently, the Word which I now read “in color” so to speak, having been ‘on location’ in some of the places where the action took place.                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                Marc

PRAISE:                                                                                                                                                                                                                               1. For a safe journey to the Holy Land and Lord’s protection on my family.                                                                                        2. For multiple opportunities to defend the faith before numerous French seekers  including Patrice .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           3. For the incomparable privilege of being numbered amongst the

Marc+Patrice in Jerusalem

elect!                                                                                                                                               PRAYER:                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1.For the next semester at our Ft. Lauderdale Haitian Bible school; finances, enrollment, wisdom in choice of teaching material etc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       2-For the spiritual welfare of our families; my mom (three strokes in the past three months), and son Calix in France.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                3-For the continuation of our Radio ministry as the Quebecois “snow-birds”  arrive in S. Florida. 



Marc and Pastor Esaie Etienne in Gonaives

“They did not remember your wonders which you did among them…”      Nehemiah9:17                                                                             

Dear friends,

            On Saturday morning, at 6:30AM, Pastor Esaie Etienne dropped me off in front of the “Toussaint L’Ouverture” airport in Port-au-Prince for a 9:30AM flight.  I’d spent the week at his church in Gonaïves, 110 miles north—about a four-hour drive—of the Haitian capital teaching church history to a group of 22 eager students. 

It has been an exhausting week with five consecutive hours of lectures (8:00AM to 1:00PM) every day in an oppressive heat which kept me from getting more than a couple of hours of sleep on any night.  It was a good time to catch up on some late night prayer, correspondences, and few movie-videos our son Calix had thankfully downloaded onto my lap-top while we were in Marseille this summer.   I enjoyed re-watching Claude Berri’s masterful adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s classics “Jean de Florette” and “Manon des Sources” with their great local color, fine acting, and magnificent illustration of an irrefutable theological lesson found in Moses’ warning to Israel: “Your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).  I tried to share the first part of that classic two-part French film with a few of the Haitians in Gonaïves, but it was clearly too far removed from them culturally to be appreciated.

In the wee hours of the night with only some pesky mosquitoes to keep me company, I delighted in re-watching the animated Disney production “The Great Mouse Detective” with the late Vincent Price doing the voice of the villainous Professor Rattigan in a Sherlock Holmes inspired tale where good eventually triumphs over evil.  Delicious!   

Through six sleepless nights, I had a gnawing fear that I would be too exhausted the next day to teach as clearly the material necessitated.  But the Lord was gracious.  I remained lucid throughout the week and wasn’t nearly as tired as I should have been.  Those who hope in the Lord do indeed renew their strength… (Isaiah 39:21).  Alleluia!

   Still, it was a challenge bridging the cultural gap with a group of students who have never been out of Haiti and therefore have only the vaguest perspective of what it must have been like in ancient Europe in the early years of the Church.  Starting with Pentecost on Monday, we got as far as the Crusades by Friday, with the Arian heresy, church councils, and the various Christological controversies occupying much of our time.   How much academic background do the students have?  I’ll only know once I’ve corrected their homework assignments—always a revealing task.  However, after explaining the “Pax Romana” which allowed the free circulation of ideas (including the gospel) around the Mediterranean basin in the first three centuries, one of the students asked: “Qu’est-ce-que ‘l’Empire Romain’?” (“What’s the Roman Empire?”).  

In other words, one has to be clear and simple as most Haitians simply haven’t had all the educational opportunities and privileges that we have.  Most of them could not even afford the one requisite textbook (J.M. Nicole’s “Précis de l’Histoire de l’Eglise”), which costs $33. or about a month’s salary for those fortunate enough to have a job in a country where unemployment is over 75%!    On behalf of the students, we thank our supporters [including some of you reading this] who paid for the books and for my trip.    Surely a church history course is a good investment, for it’s important to understand the past to avoid repeating the same mistakes over and over again.   

       To impress that point upon them, I started with an anecdote from my old Georgetown professor, the late C. Quigley who would emphatically remind his students that “we study Pericles because his full name was Franklin Delano Pericles!”  Likewise the immortal words of Santayana (“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it”) are corroborated by the Scriptures themselves which tell us repeatedly to learn the lessons of the past.” (Exodus 3:13; Deut.5:15; Neh.9:17 etc.).      

  So the week went as well as can be expected in a most difficult sector of our fallen world.  Pastor Esaie is clearly doing a good job discipling the many the Lord sends his way. Indeed, the Gonaïves students are better educated in the Reformed faith than any Haitians I’ve met.   Still, as much as I enjoy teaching history, I was glad to be on the way home when he dropped me off in front of the airport that Saturday morning.

I had no sooner taken my place in the street at the end of a long snaking line of mostly Haitian passengers waiting to get into the temporary terminal (the main building was damaged by the earthquake), that a uniformed Haitian airport porter approached me an offered to whisk me to the head of the line for a small gratuity.  It was tempting.  It was already around 90F and getting hotter by the minute.  The prospect of avoiding a long wait after an exhausting week was enticing.   But after some hesitation, I declined his offer, thinking that it would look bad to the mostly Haitians in the queue.  After all, we’re supposed to be helping these people get away from corruption and privilege in a society which knows little else. How could I encourage the practice of offering a baksheesh to escape the lot of the masses?       

 So I swallowed my saliva and resolved to stay at my place in line inching along with the others.  As it turned out, it wasn’t that long a wait.  Meanwhile the company of two young American medical missionaries next to me—nurses from Michigan—made for interesting conversation.   Kimberly and Catherine had just spent a fortnight near Léogane—ground zero of the earthquake—dispensing medical aid.  They had never been to Haiti before and were still in shock at the magnitude of the misery they had seen in a country where even the most elementary medical care is basically inaccessible to most.  I asked them about the most common medical problems they ran into. “Worms” they told me.  “Everyone has them. It’s from lack of drinking water and from poor sanitary conditions.” 

   That’s hardly surprising when one considers that there are still over a million people camped-out on hillsides, surviving on the  meager rations of rice and water provided by the U.N. and various relief agencies.    

 For in spite of all the foreign aid that has poured into Haiti over the years, very little has changed for the better.  On the contrary, things might have gotten worse!  For now added to the corruption and superstition from Haiti’s voodoo heritage, is a mentality of dependence whereby thousands spend their time in front of “Western Union” offices awaiting hand-outs from relatives abroad (who send nearly $3.billion/year) in aid.  What little ‘rugged individualism’ there might have been in Haiti is disappearing.  

   The long-term solution for Haiti and for the world is of course the gospel of Jesus Christ, capable of transforming the mentality of entire nations of those who walk in its light.  I’m eager to get to the study of the Reformation with my church history class (hopefully in January) so that I can tell them about the transformation of a city like Geneva which, under the holistic gospel ministry of Calvin and his followers, was transformed from a corrupt, backwards, backwater town of western Europe into a minor superpower, with a level of education, technical progress, cleanliness, and social equality unmatched by any other society. The great Scottish reformer John Knox, who studied under Calvin in Geneva, said that that French reformer’s city was “the greatest school of Christian discipleship since Jesus Christ walked with his apostles.”   Even in today’s post-Christian  civilization—and notwithstanding the influx of money from corrupt dictators into secret bank accounts—Switzerland remains a model of industrious,  disciplined, hard-working citizens in a country of amazing cleanliness and prosperity;  a direct fruit and residual grace from the Reformed heritage via  Calvin’s preaching which included the all important cultural mandate.    I wish I could take all my Haitian students on a trip to Geneva so that they could see what’s left of what the gospel hath wrought. Surely they would lament the folly of those who reject it!

                                                                                                                                                            MM

Praise:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1-For improvement in the health of our son Justin (teaching in the Dominican Republic), and  generous, unexpected gifts from a Virginia sister and Washington couple towards his staggering American medical bill.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           2-For the Lord’s provision: health and finances to continue our work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   3-For open doors via the radio ministry to share the gospel with the S. Florida Haitian community.                                                                                                                                                                                             Prayer:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1-For an outpouring of the Spirit on both Haiti and the U.S. and the Lord’s people to come to power in the forthcoming elections in both countries.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             2-For the salvation of our son Calix.                                                                                                                                                                     3-For new support to compensate the loss of five churches in the past year.

Some of the faithful in Marseille

 “…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”   Hebrews 2:3

                                                                                                                                  Summer 2010

Dear friends,                                         

      On June 23, I.B.T.F. (the S. Florida Haitian Bible school where I have been teaching for 11 years) had a graduation ceremony for the four students who had successfully completed the three-year program.   As the key-note speaker, it was my privilege to remind them that theological education does not consist in the acquisition of a diploma but in learning the Word with its implications for both this world and the next.   Those who understand the Creator’s “directions for use” instructions are invariably better prepared to get by in the world He designed.   I also reminded the 100% Haitian audience that there was hope for their motherland if only she would embrace the gospel and allow it to transform the mentalities of her citizens.

           By way of comparison:   there are about as many Jews in the world as there are Haitians (ca. 12 million of each) —and many of both in S. Florida.   Jews have won 26% of all the Nobel prizes that have ever been awarded (126/750).  What’s more, though surrounded by determined enemies, they have taken a small tract of Middle Eastern desert and in 62 years, transformed it into a minor superpower.  Surely the residual grace from the biblically-based work-ethic inherited by their ancestors has something to do with their worldly success.     

          Consequently there is hope for Haiti, a country with more Christians and fertile land to work with. There’s no reason that the Caribbean nation need remain a basket-case as she can—through the transforming power of the gospel—become  self-sufficient,  if only her people will  renounce  voodoo obscurantism  and learn to apply basic biblical principles to everyday life.  Unlike Israel, Haiti’s only enemies are within. Everything is possible with the transforming power of the gospel!

         We arrived in St. Martin on July 3 for the next leg of our teaching program for our devoted Haitian students on that island.  Unfortunately, our suitcase, containing my clothes, books, and other teaching material, never arrived.       Meanwhile, some of the Haitian students—for whom physical appearance seems quintessential—could not stand to see their professor in shorts and a T-shirt and bought me a pair of new trousers and a spiffy shirt and tie—a touching gesture indeed.

           We arrived in Marseille (with our baggage this time!) on July 17th for our annual month-long stint at the Reformed evangelical assembly we helped plant twelve years ago. Most of you realize that the spiritual climate in Western Europe (France in particular) is glacial, and the radical beauty of the gospel message remains obscured to the eyes of the vast majority.  Even the believers struggle against the spiritually blinding influence of the surrounding culture, often forgetting how great a salvation is offered them. Many churches close their doors in the slower summer months for lack attendance! That would be unthinkable for our devoted Haitian brethren.                                                   

        Our goal in Marseille, as always, was to communicate something of the depths of the love of Him who saved us from eternal separation from the Father.  That diabolical monster of Indifference has thrown sand in the eyes of so many and the faith often seems quaint and irrelevant to the French.  So it’s a spiritual battle to emphasize the truths of the gospel message by reminding them of who Jesus is and what He came on earth to do!  That was the motivation behind five sermons I preached from July 16 to Aug. 16 for a handful of believers and seekers.                                   

       Preaching on a regular basis requires a special vocation.   I walked around restless all week like a caged lion, struggling with my text and its practical implications, grateful for commentaries and some of my favorite American preachers who unknowingly helped me with my work.  Things went better than I had expected.  Alleluia.  As for France:

    Many of us baby-boomers are distressed by the exponential acceleration of the decadence in post-Christian society.  Having grown up in the 50’s in an “Ozzie and Harriet” /”Father Knows Best” society which lived by residual Christian values bequeathed to us by more godly ancestors,  it is breathtaking to witness the total lack of moorings of the children of Generation X’ers who never even had those values to reject!  Now fast-forward, as if a couple of decades to modern France where incredulity is often several generations deep, and what do you get?    A frightening dearth of moral restraint, of which we had a vision on a trip to visit a French family in Alès, 100 miles west of Marseille.  God-fearing, if not Christian parents, have given birth to three succeeding generations of non-believers, each more depraved than the previous one, and progressively more hardened to the gospel. [Ironically, it was during that visit that the French government proposed a law according to which parents could be subject to both a fine and even prison time for the actions of delinquent children!]

    The last generation includes twelve-year-old Renaud, the illegitimate son of a single mother (who has two other out-of-wedlock children by different fathers).  Little R. has already been arrested for breaking and entry and armed robbery using his biological father’s pistol, for which he received a legal slap on the wrist. While we visited the family, he even pilfered a $20 bill from Aline’s unattended handbag.   Still, we pity him as he has no real father nor any love from his mother, who lives in idleness on the French welfare system, has been caught stealing from her own hard-working mother!   

     We considered the lamentable plight of that family as we fiddled with the car radio on the midnight drive back to Marseille and stumbled on a call-in program where a perverse homosexual was casually asking the radio host for advice about forming a threesome with a ‘gay’ couple.  “I’m not abnormal…” he insisted to the host’s compliant agreement. Whew!

      Back in Marseille; our routine consisted of morning study and sermon preparation at a local outdoor café (we don’t like being cooped-up in an apartment), careful to choose our seating upwind from the ubiquitous cigarette smokers.   A few afternoon visits and “pétanque” sessions with some neighbors of MTW missionary Stephanie Pike provided more opportunities to share the Word.  Such opportunities are numerous in France for one who is used to seizing them.  Fruit from these encounters is both rare and slow to produce.  Some sow.  There will be a harvest some day. The Lord’s Word does not go out in vain (Isaiah 55:11).

                                                                                                                                                                    Blessings,

                                                                                                                                                                     Marc+Aline

Praise: 

1-For the apparent spiritual progress of son Calix, more receptive than in the past of the gospel truths.  

2-For multiple opportunities to share the faith with non-believers in France, including Yaro, a Malien law-student working as a security guard in a park where we picnicked with the Marseille church; and Françoise, André, Coco, Françis, Alain, Willy—all ”pétanque” buddies.                                             

3-For the joy of Christian fellowship with members of the Marseille church including many old friends.                             4-For the Lord’s amazing patience in withholding His judgment from our decadent Western civilization.

Prayer:     

1-For health of son Justin who returned home from his teaching job in the Dominican Republic with stomach problems (amoebas?).  A trip to the local S. Florida emergency room (he has no health insurance and earns all of $500./month) for medical tests resulted in a whopping $2300. bill and a refusal to communicate the test results without another expensive medical visit!  So he returned to the D.R. on Aug.11 to resume his teaching, still sick, and under a mountain of debt to boot!   Something must be done to make medical care affordable in the U.S. the way it is in France.                                                                                  

 2- For the growth (spiritual and numerical) of the Marseille Reformed evangelical assembly, still seeking a pastor. 

 3-For new support to compensate for the loss of three supporting churches in the past year.         

4- For my next teaching trip (church history) to Gonaïves, Haiti (Aug.28-Sept.4).

 ”O death, where is thy sting?” I Cor.15:55  (‘Death playing chess’ by Albertus Pictor 1440-1507)

“One thing is necessary” Luke 10:42

                                                                                                                                                                                  Dear Friends,

I was sitting next to Raymond who recalled what I had said a couple of years ago when asked to speak at the grave site of colleague Alfred’s wife (I was elaborating on John 11). Unfortunately, I wouldn’t get the same opportunity this time.

By the time we drove to the Catholic Church for the funeral Mass, the spirit had lightened up somewhat. Familiar rituals of burning incense, holy water dispersion, and a chorus of “Ave Maria” seemed to reassure the mostly nominal Catholics that everything was fine. The presiding priest, a 60-year-old Polish fellow with athick accent, based his homily loosely on the beatitudes, adding a new one for the deceased: “Blessed are those who have a sense of humor as Jean-Jacques did ….” Sadly, not a word was said about the saving work of Jesus.

After the funeral Mass, all were invited for a snack at a nearby country club. By then most preoccupations had fallen far from heaven as conversations descended to the realm of life’s usual banalities. A couple of drinks later and suddenly, the pairings for the next petanque tournament seemed more important than one’s eternal destiny. The little transcendence had dissipated … perhaps until the next funeral.

On the Haitian front: Aline and I had an “epiphany” moment while teaching in St. Martin a while back. Questioning the students before the start of an Old Testament course, we were dismayed to learn that not one of them (including several pastors) had ever completely read through the Pentateuch! “Too difficult,” they said. The same survey produced similar results with the students of our S. Florida Haitian Bible school. So I’ve insisted that they purchase French study Bibles (with illuminating explanatory notes) and we’ll continue lugging suitcases full of them on our trips to St. Martin.

I leave for Haiti (March 27) for a week of teaching a course on comparative world views … We alwaysappreciate your prayers for travelling mercies. Haiti is unpredictable in the best of times…

Blessings,