In Haiti, Adventist Church Launches Hope Channel Inter-America in Major Cities

Seventh-day Adventists in Haiti celebrate the launch of Hope Channel Inter-America during a special celebration on Sabbath at the Parc Ste Thérèse in Petionville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Sabbath on Nov. 10, 2018. Photo by Abel Márquez/IAD

November 27, 2018 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD

After nearly two years of making the proper connections in the cable company business, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Haiti recently launched Hope Channel Inter-America in an effort to spread the gospel message to the millions of people on the island.  Local church leaders consider it a true blessing and milestone to have been able to launch the television channel through two special live church services held on Nov. 10, 2018, from Port-au-Prince.

“This has been several years in the making, but we praise God that we can fulfill the mission of the church by sharing the gospel of salvation through television,” said Pierre Caporal, president of the church in Haiti, as he spoke to thousands of members at Adventist Temple No. 1 morning service.

Hope Channel Inter-America’s Espérance TV, which is based in Martinique, now runs 24/7 programming in French by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the French Antilles Guiana Union. Esperance TV carried the live service through its link shared with Tele Haiti—one of the oldest and most established cable companies in Haiti covering the two largest cities on the island, Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien.

The three-hour service featured Adventist World Church President Pastor Ted N.C. Wilson and Inter-American Division President Pastor Elie Henry, who were in attendance during Inter-America’s year-end annual business meetings. The Adventist leaders congratulated local leaders and the membership for their dedication to the television ministry.

Pastor Pierre Caporal, president of the church in Haiti, speaks at the Adventist Temple No. 1 on Sabbath, Nov. 10, 2018, during the launch of the Hope Channel Inter-America. Photo by Libna Stevens/IAD

The French channel also carried a special service in the afternoon at Petionville’s Parc Ste Thérèse Stadium. The service featured baptisms and evangelism outreach across the main four church regions on the island, as well as musical performances and the official installation of the new IAD administration.

Pastor Wilson encouraged the membership to continue being an integral part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and encouraged members to embrace the ministry of television the same way they have embraced Radio Espérance, the church’s radio station running for more than 37 years, as well as the mission service through its educational and health institutions and schools in the country.

“This television ministry will teach hundreds of thousands the gospel truth,” said Pastor Wilson. “It will become an instrument of joy and peace but above all an instrument of salvation for the people in Haiti.”

That message of hope is at the core of the mission of Hope Channel Inter-America and one that keeps on expanding throughout the territory, said Abel Márquez, executive director for Hope Channel Inter-America. Márquez congratulated the leadership for persevering and joining the 18 countries and islands that broadcast the message of hope to millions throghout the territory in English, Spanish, and French.

Serge Raphael, production director of Hope Channel Inter-America’s Espérance TV directs the transmission on the french channel during the Sabbath morning worship program at Adventist Temple No. 1 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo by Libna Stevens/IAD

“This is a huge step now as Hope Channel programming is getting to the most important cities in Haiti as part of the mission of the church,” said Márquez, “It will contribute to showcasing the image of the church in the region with all of its social and spiritual support that our message offers to millions of viewers.”

“The Haitian Union’s use of this television resource and the collaboration of the French Antilles Guiana Union in the production and technical support for the launch  is an excellent result of teamwork fostered in our network of collaborators working for the fulfillment of the mission,” said Márquez.

Pastor Caporal said that the church wants to work toward raising funds to build a  studio where they can create television programs to air through the French channel.

To learn more about Hope Channel Inter-America in Haiti and throughout the IAD territory, visit hopetv.interamerica.org