Youseline Leconte's Testimony

I grew up in a "Catholic" family. When I was 13, my mother died of pneumonia. Since my father had abandoned me, my sister, and my brother, we went to live with my grandmother. It was a very hard time in my life. The kids at school were very harsh and cruel to me because I was an orphan. I was very depressed and often thought about killing myself just to make the pain stop.

During this terrible time, God reached out in love by letting me meet the principal of my school, Mr. Emmanuel Feliz. Mr. Feliz began to teach me about Jesus, but it was very hard for me at first. I remember thinking, “If Jesus is real, why did He let my mom die?” God continued to pursue me through Mr. Feliz. Everyday at school, Mr. Feliz would teach me something from God’s word. After about 6 months, I was ready to ask Jesus to be the Lord of my life. The problem was my grandmother was a very strong Catholic and wouldn’t let me follow Jesus. When I told Mr. Feliz that I wanted to follow Jesus, but my grandmother wouldn’t let me. He said, “Let us pray my girl and let God do the rest.” So in July of 1995, I prayed and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and be the Lord of my life. Jesus changed my heart so much. All the depression, hopeless, and pain that had been so overwhelming was replaced by hope, thankfulness, and joy. I knew that I wasn’t alone and that I was loved by Jesus.

Mr. Feliz continued to meet with me every day teaching me the Bible and how to pray. One Friday, he asked me if I wanted to go to church with him on Sunday. I said I definitely wanted to go, but my grandmother would never allow it. Again, he said to me, “Let us pray and let God do the rest.” So, we prayed that day and that evening Mr. Feliz came to my house to talk with my Grandmother. He told my grandmother that I had prayed to receive Christ and how excited he was to see what God was doing in my life. I will never forget him asking her if I could go to church with him. Immediately, my grandmother said, “No problem! Any time she wants, she can go to church with you.” I was so amazed and remember thinking, “Now, I know what it means to pray and ‘Let God do the rest!’”

I faithfully went to church every Sunday, but it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to go to the Sunday evening prayer time. When I asked my grandmother, she said it wasn’t safe for a young girl to walk by herself at night. When I told Mr. Feliz what my grandmother had said, he said it was no problem. Every time there was Sunday evening prayer, Mr. Feliz would walk 10 miles to walk with me to and from church. His sacrificial service, first to God and then to me, really impacted me. In February of 1996, I wanted to be baptized and become a member of Jerusalem Baptist Church. However, as I talked with the pastor about being baptized, I shared with him the anger, hurt, and bitterness I had towards my father. The leaders encouraged me to go and share with my dad the forgiveness I had received from Jesus and said they would go with me. It was a meaningful time for me and after that I was baptized. I was a faithful member at that church for 10 years, until I moved to another city in Haiti.

 Once I moved, I joined the Evangelical Church of Vertieres. I was a member there for almost 10 years. I was involved in teaching Sunday school to children and singing in the choir. It was during my time there that I met Ganel, he came to know Jesus, and we got married. In 2014, we moved to Connecticut and were members at a Baptist church there. Again, I taught Sunday school and sang in the choir. In 2018, we moved to Columbus and we began praying that God would lead us to a good church family. He was very faithful and led us to Maranatha. I am so thankful for God’s goodness in our life. Now, I want to become a member at Maranatha and be able to find ways to serve our church family.