My name is Yvon Selin, and I am a native of Haiti. I was born on July 25, 1958, and raised in Port-au-Prince in a non-Christian family. At a very early age, I was sent to a Catholic school where I did my first communion, and later my confirmation. However, the dilemma was I was a Catholic at school, while my parents were practicing voodoo at home.
I recalled when I was about 6 years old of a Voodoo bathing ritual my father administered to me and my male siblings for luck and protection. My dad told me then I am strong! I am a man! No creature on earth can harm me.
When I became a teenage boy, I rejected all forms of religion and rebelled against God and began to live a wild and untamed life. The turning point of my life was my conversion to Christianity. A friend of mine invited me to go to Church with him. That friend became a Christian about one year prior to my conversion. We used to go to go to dance clubs together and we drank and smoked together. However, I was greatly attracted by the visible and sudden change I saw in that friend. I decided I would go to church with him. Little did I know I was going to walk out of this place a new man forever, “Therefore If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: olds things are passed away; behold all things are become new. “ (2 Cor. 5: 17 KJV)
I walked into that congregation early in the morning on June 25, 1977. The clothes I wore back then was a crazy outfit in conformity to the lifestyle of the 1970s. I had on gold chains, an open front shirt and bell bottom pants with high boots, and I wore my hair in an “Afro.”
Needless to say I attracted the attention of everyone. I could tell all eyes were focused on me. I looked back at them in contempt, feeling a little unfit among those old fashioned folks. Then I climbed to the balcony and sat in the back trying to distance myself from the curious look of the crowd.
The highlight of the service for me was the preaching hour. The message was taken out of Ezekiel 37, “The Dry Bones of the Valley” I did not understand everything the preacher was saying but one thing he kept saying, and pointing his finger at me saying I was the dry bones of the valley.
I used to attend the Catholic Church but never once do I recall having heard the gospel message. At some point, I heard a little voice talking to me directly as the invitation was given and people are flooding to the altar. I kept resisting! I said to myself, “No God… I could not do that. I can’t go forward. I have my own plan for my life.”
But after some time, the church was empty, and I sat on the pew and cried desperately. About an hour later, the preacher was about to leave when he saw me back there sitting in the pew by myself. He engaged the conversation to lead me to the Christ. Then I received the Lord as my personal Savior and was gloriously saved. This old hymn said it all, “Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled my Soul.”
Another important episode of my life is my encounter with Claudie in February of 1978 at a Youth Camp at Mirebalais, Central Plateau. We were there for about a week’s retreat and we fell in love. We got married four years later in July 24, 1982 around my birthday. From this union came our children Marc, Ricardo and Melissa. As a matter of course, the family keeps growing: Now we have Marcus, our grandchild, and later this month another one is due to be born in January. God has greatly blessed us beyond everything we have asked for or imagined.
Another important episode of my life is my call to the Christian ministry. I started my professional life as an accountant. In the summer of 1980, I was assigned to the Department of Payroll at an important steel company, Acierie d’Haiti. I worked from 8:00am to 5:00pm, and I usually have an hour break every day where I spent the time praying in my little office.
On a certain day of September of 1982, as I was praying, I felt as if the very throne of God was moving into my little office. On that particular day, I prayed and prayed and was unable to stop. I could not recall what I was praying about but what I do remember till this very day is the very awesome presence of the living God. On that day my coworker found me kneeling and praying fervently to the awesome God.
At the end of the day, as I was going home, I reflected about the significance of what happened. Then all of a sudden, the same little voice echoed from the depth of my soul, “This is not your place.” For a while, I thought I was going crazy. Then I resisted the idea that I was not at my place. Since then every morning going to the office to work was like going to hell for me.
After four long months of rebellion, I shared the experience with Claudie who told me, do exactly what God asked of you. The following day, I wrote a letter of resignation that read, “Thank you for allowing me to work for this great company. I really appreciate the work atmosphere here, but the unavoidable happened, I have to leave in order to work for the kingdom of God.”
I did not have a clear idea of the concept of the kingdom, I was not a preacher and the whole thing seems crazy.
In January 1983, my last day at the office, I walked home a devastated young man who does not know what tomorrow will bring. For about one month I stayed home with my head sank in my pillow. I was very depressed, and I couldn’t find a reason to get up in the morning. One good day, I said to myself I am going to do what I said I was going do. I bought myself a megaphone and began to preach in the streets of Port-au-Prince. I was not preaching as I had no formal bible training; I was just quoting verses of Scriptures. I attracted crowds of people just because there herd someone speaking from a megaphone.
While doing this day after day, all of a sudden, the wind changes its course for the better. I met a longtime friend and colleague who happened to be the Representative of Campus Crusade for Christ. After a few months of training, I was Here’s Life Coordinator for Campus Crusade for Christ in Haiti.
My new job mainly consisted in training churches in basic principles of evangelism. Then we mobilized the churches to share their faith in Christ. Then we followed up on the converts to turn them into disciples to get them involved in creating other congregations.
We were equipped with 16mm projectors to send teams to show the Jesus Film to the remote parts of Haiti. The result was tremendous! The Jesus Film was more than a movie! In some places in Haiti, where there was no electricity and no movie theaters, people have never seen a movie before, and now they are seeing Jesus Film in their own language. There was excitement and joy in every village we played the film. They cried bitterly at the crucifixion and they answered the invitation by hundreds to accept the Lord as their personal Savior.
Another important episode of my life was my encounter with Dr. Donald and Sue Miller who generously covered my expenses for my enrollment at Cincinnati Christian University for the duration of my studies. It was quite a challenge for a young man of 32 years old who was married and had three children. When God calls you he has orchestrated all the pieces of the puzzle behind the scene to get you where God wants you to accomplish His purpose for your life according to His sovereign will. To God be all praises and glory forever and ever Amen!
My mission experience includes:
I have Worked with Campus Crusade for Christ as Here’s Life Director in Haiti for more than ten years, training churches in basic principles of evangelism and discipleship then mobilizing local churches in evangelistic campaigns. I have also worked with Haitian Christian Mission as an Administrator for over seven years. I have also worked with Lifeline Christian Mission as Director of Christian Education, Pastor and as a Haitian Representative for over five years. I have also worked with Global Vision Citadelle Ministries as co-founder and Field Director for over 9 years. And I have finally worked with Global Christian Mission Outreach as Founder and Field Director since 2010.
In addition to my extended ministry as a dynamic preacher of the gospel and as an evangelist, I have also served in the board of directors for College Universitaire de Christianville.
I am very passionate about evangelism, discipleship, and church growth. Presently, we are in the process of mentoring a great young leader to take over the baton for the next ten years if God grants us life and for our legacy to continue.
