Ernst (Ernest in English) came to our church in 2006. His friends know him as “Papito,” since all Haitians have, at the very least, one nickname. Coming from humble beginnings, he, his mother, and his sister, moved from the countryside to Petite-Anse to live with his Uncle Enock and his family. Ernst got involved in the church immediately and distinguished himself as a self-taught musician and later joined our worship team. Ernst began learning how to play the electric guitar and, took to it like a duck takes to water. He not only learned quickly, but also encouraged the other musicians to take their gifts seriously and to be more earnest about their roles in the church. If “Ernest” is a derivative of “earnest,” then no other name characterizes our brother better than this one. Ernst spent countless hours in our home listening to all kinds of music. He worked tirelessly and would not leave until he had mastered the songs. This he did without any sheet music, but simply learning by ear. He also has composed his own beautiful songs.

It seems that whatever one places in Ernst’s hands prospers. Observing his diligence in learning music, as well as his love for technology, he almost became a permanent fixture at our home and has become one of the many young people that find a seat around our dining room table. Prit and I decided to invest in Ernst’s future and bought him a new Dell laptop. We have never been sorry for that decision! Many odd jobs that require the computer, such as copying CDs or uploading and transferring files from his laptop to ours, have saved us hours of precious time.

Never wasting an idle moment, Ernst has already formed his own business called Compusol Multi-Services. It’s a small shop in its formative stages where one, on any given day, can wander in and find an assortment of cell phones, phone cards, cartridges for printers, cd’s and such. If one needs photocopies made, they’ve come to the right place as well. Customers can find these and other various items without having to travel all the the way into Cap-Haitian. Ernst and his partner, Polux Jean-Baptiste, are taking what they have and making it work for them.

As I mentioned in the previous update (The Power of a Gift), I (Dana) entrusted Ernst with the Pentax k200d camera that was donated as a gift to Rehoboth Ministries. Ernst does most of our church’s picture-taking now such as the ones for the previous post. This  provides a channel for he and Polux to make some extra money in order to help grow their business. We’re keeping our eyes on Brother Ernst. If the hand of the diligent “maketh rich” and the diligent will “stand before kings,” he can only excel, for this trait most definitely marks his life. Helping provide for his mother and sending his sister to school has been a heavy responsibility, but he has borne it all with gladness. We take great pride in Ernst’s accomplishments, for it has not been an easy road for him. It has been our privilege to enable him in both his spiritual growth and in developing his God-given talents.

Will you pray for Ernst to prosper and for his business to grow? We’ll share more in an upcoming post about Brother Polux.