At the end of the 1980s, a group of brothers in Christ from the district of Fermathe, then part of the community of Pétion Ville, Haiti, separated from their families to immigrate to the United States. Most of them were from Evangelical Christian communities of Baptist denomination. When they arrived, many of them shared the same apartment, or lived in the same area of West Harlem, New York. They were all looking for a Christian church to continue to profess their faith by serving Jesus Christ their Lord. They spent time visiting many churches and unfortunately they did not find a church that worshipped or fellowshipped similarly to what they were used to.

While visiting them in New York, one of their former pastors, Gérard Mercier from the conservative Baptist mission of Kenskoff accompanied them to a church service. He, like the brothers, felt disappointed by the way the congregation was worshipping God, considering it non-conforming to the Bible. The brothers wanted a place to worship and asked Pastor G. Mercier for his help. Pastor G. Mercier suggested that they form a spiritual nucleus in their homes by spending time in prayer and holding worship services while awaiting a decision from him.

On a subsequent visit to New York, Pastor G. Mercier proposed to the brothers the late Pastor Tony Joseph to take the leadership of the church they wanted to establish. Pastor Tony Joseph at that time was the principal pastor of the French-Speaking Baptist Church in Spring Valley. The brothers, namely Paulema Valcin, Dieufort Rock, Gesner Désir, Edouard Jean Pierre, and the late Cheristal Rock with his wife, Jacqueline Rock, accepted this proposal without hesitation.

This community of believers took a leap of faith, anticipating the coming of their spouses and children from Haiti. The brothers rented a larger and more suitable place of worship with the help and support of Pastor Tony Joseph. It was located at West 127th Street, Harlem New York where their first service took place on June 3, 1992.

Later on, not able to make the journey between Spring Valley and Manhattan every Sunday because of his pastoral responsibilities, Pastor Tony Joseph designated a few brothers who were already officiated as preachers to operate this new entity.

Among them were Morton François, Joël Michel, Carlo D. Célestin, and Benice Hyppolite who presided over the worship services alternately every Sunday. Along the way, in conjunction with the pioneers of the church, Pastor Tony Joseph appointed Morton François as Coordinator responsible for the management of the congregation and gave it the name of Haitian Community Baptist Church (HCBC) of Manhattan. Following the death of Pastor Tony Joseph, his successor, Reverend Duthène Joseph ordained Brother Morton François as the pastor of the church on June 6, 2004.

The life of this growing congregation has never been easy. In terms of hardships, they can remember the many times they were unable to pay their rent for the meager sum of four (400) hundred dollars a month—or at some point when they were in need of a bigger space and had to face the challenge of two thousand (2000) dollars a month, causing the brothers who initiated the movement to often contribute beyond their tithes. Faced with the lack of financial means to pay the rent regularly, HCBC was forced to relocate from time to time. Over the years, there home of worship was successively at the following locations:

West 127th Street West 126th Street West 152nd Street (church building) Amsterdam Avenue West 155th Street West 135th Street (YMCA) West 152nd Street (school building)

The last rented place, at West 152 Street, was by far the one where the congregation spent the longest amount of time –more than eight years, praying God and motivating the members of the church to participate in fundraising activities to help with the purchasing of our own building.

After several relocations, much prayer, and God’s grace, we acquired our own place on August 27, 2019.

It has been a truly enriching experience, serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, even through the hardships. By his grace, under the leadership of Pastor Morton Francois and the brothers mentioned, the church has flourished.

Our vision is to fulfill the task entrusted to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, which is to spread His gospel for the salvation of lost souls. God is using this anointed man, Pastor Morton, to increase in quantity and in quality everything that this church needs for its functioning. Pastor Morton François does not believe in a one-man show. That’s why under his leadership, four deacons have been ordained (brother Guy Désir, brother Paulema Valcin, brother Joseph Deprinvil, and brother Claude Dorlus) and different ministries were established. In the same line of reasoning, Pastor François decided to consecrate two of the deacons (brother Désir and brother Dorlus) as Assistant Pastors.

We can tell that God is at work at this church as evidenced by our acquisition of this building, which used to belong to the “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, a group that is in clear and direct opposition to our Christian faith.

Isn’t this a miracle and one of the many opportunities to thank the Lord and sing his many wonders?

Well, the current members of this great congregation should pass the news on to the future generation that on August 27, 2019 Jesus Christ proved one more time to the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” that He is God Almighty by taking the key of that building from them and giving it to us. Others may call it a financial closing date, but for us it was God’s miracle. What a glory it was when we had our very first worship at this place on Sunday, October 6, 2019! Glory to God in the highest places!

God is with us and always will be for his greatest glory. In him we will always trust. Let’s meet him in prayers incessantly, for he is the answer. Amen!