About MESCH
Vision | Story | Leadership“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
II Chronicles 7:14
MISSION STATEMENT
Our Mission is to raise a new generation of Haitians who are equipped to share the gospel, educated to impact their community, prepared to be self-sustainable, and challenged to represent Christ. As a non-denominational, Christian organization.
ORGANIZATION
MESCH is registered as a tax exempt private foundation (501c3) in the United States and all donations are tax deductible.
The organization has an oversight board in the US that supports the vision, mission and work of Pastors Pierre & Ovida Fenelus (founders) in Haiti for the ministry. The daily operations of our ministry is under the leadership of Haitian nationals in Haiti who understand the real struggles and problems their people are facing. We believe in equipping Haitians to help other Haitians.
MESCH Ministries is a non-denominational, Christian organization. We partner with different Christian denominations and independent Christian churches that shares our mission, vision, and statement of faith.
Pastor Pierre & Ovida Fenelus | MESCH FOUNDERS
A LEGACY OF FAITH
Pastor Pierre Fenelus was born on December 1, 1958 outside of Cap-Haitian, Haiti in a town called Plaisance. He is the 5th child out of eight children his parents had. Pierre had something different about him from a very young age. People who’ve known him since his childhood will say that “he seems to care more about everyone else but himself.” A trait that would become indispensable for the lifelong mission that God had in store for him.
The young Pierre was not just another child on the block either. His father was a very influential voodoo priest. In fact, he came from a long line of voodoo practitioners. By the time he was 12 years old, Pierre was already claimed and commissioned to be the next priest after his father.
Pierre reluctantly accepted an invitation of a friend to attend church with him one Sunday while in Port-au-Prince. God was just starting with His plan for Pierre’s life. It did not take long before the curiosity set in and Pierre started to learn and study about God, Christianity, and Jesus-Christ. A few months later he told his parents that he was going to become a Christian. The news did not settle well with his parents or his voodoo community. After all, he was being groomed to be their next priest.
Pierre met Ovida Metellus, a strong young Christian and school teacher, in Port-de-Paix, Haiti in the early 1980’s. The couple was married in 1984 and started a family that has grown to 6 children, one daughter-in-law, and one granddaughter; all serving the Lord. Being one of the first Christians in a family of voodist is not an easy thing.
After a couple years youth ministry, God called Pierre and his wife to become church planters. He went back to school at the Haitian Nazarene Seminary in Port-au-Prince where he studied Theology and Evangelism. By 1988, Pierre and Ovida planted the first church in Carenage, Haiti. As his family often jokes:
Pierre was meant to be a priest, he just started off in the wrong temple!
Over 25 years later, the selfless and compassionate ministry that Pierre and his wife has led touches the lives of many people in Haiti. Today, his mother is a strong Christian and two of his sisters are also serving the Lord. You will often find one of them next to Pierre on many mission trips back to the same voodoo communities that God plucked them out of. Today, Pierre and Ovida are still serving in Haiti where he serves as a senior minister, trains church leaders, and reaches out to those bound in voodoism. Ovida is still teaching, training teachers, leading women and children ministries . After battling cancer three years ago and receiving treatment in the US she is back in Haiti as she puts it, “Right where I belong!” They are the proud parents of Holding, Roosevelt(Ashleigh), Bruna, Shilton, Benjamin, and Magdala and grandparents to two beautiful little angels. They will tell you that their greatest joy in life is that all their children are boldly serving the Lord and serving in the ministry. The two eldest sons currently serve on MESCH’s board of directors.