My UNSUNG Hero

By: Joed Esperance

As you might know I went to Florida for the weekend, but not for vacation. It was to assist my father bid his father farewell. These are the things I learned about my granddad Papa Joe, throughout his homegoing service. Reverend Joseph Joel Esperance. beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, friend, evangelist and minister of the Gospel went to be with The Lord on Tuesday, January 19, 2010. He was 96 years old.

Rev. Esperance was born in Legoane, Haiti on January 21, 1913, son of the late Estelancieu Jean-Philippe and Zulie Esperance. He grew up in Petion-Ville, Haiti, where he met and married his wife of 63 years, Anne Martineau. Rev. Esperance was ordained as a minister in 1956 and later migrated to Miragoane, in the southwest of Haiti to become the Pentecostal Church of God's 1st Superintendent of the southern region.

Rev. Esperance, my grandfather founded and pastored over 500 churches, bringing countless souls to our Lord and Savior JESUS-CHRIST.

Rev. Esperance rec

ognized that the body needed to be fed in order for the soul to be nourished, so he opened a cantina that fed hundreds of families daily. He didn't restrict himself to just building churches, he also opened many schools to afford children an education that they would otherwise not have been able to get.

In the area of Haiti where Rev. Esperance lived, medical care was scarce, so he took it upon himself to open up a clinic and with limited medical knowledge, he provided first-aid and routine care to his community, thereby saving many lives.

He received numerous awards and recognitions for his work during his lifetime, one of which is a school in Miragoane named after him.

Rev. Esperance was a pillar of his community, and enumerating his accomplishments and the many lives he's touched, the many people he's mentored, who've gone on to accomplish great things would fill a novel.

Even with such great success, Rev. Esperance was humble man, who considered himself a servant of The Lord first. He instilled the same value in his 9 children, 23 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, leaving behind 8 active Pastors from his offspring.

Papa Joe, as he was affectionately known, will always be remembered, sadly missed, & truly loved.

In Picture (from left to right): Rev. Joseph J. Esperance (my grandfather) & Rev. Serge R. Esperance (my father).