In Joshua 1:3, God says, “My servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people across the river to the land I am giving you.”
These are fitting words as we remember our brother, our partner, and our friend, Antonio “Toto” Desiree, who went home to be with the Lord on Christmas Eve night.
Toto was the first convert in the ministry of Emmanuel Christian Church in Port-au-Prince. Nearly 30 years ago, a very young Roselin “Roro” Eustache started ECC as the first part of the HCO ministry. Toto was also a young man then, destitute and living on the streets. Two months after the church began, Roro introduced Toto to the Lord, teaching, baptizing, discipling, mentoring, and educating him over the following months and years. Toto became a Christian, and his life was totally transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He began leading many of his friends to Christ, and he became a fervent student of the Word. When Toto decided he wanted to live the rest of his life for his Savior, he equipped himself by studying accounting in school so he could help with the growing and expanding ministry of ECC and HCO.
In 1988, Toto was the catalyst for the start of the Emmanuel Christian School system, which now educates nearly 2,000 children in six locations each year and continually places our graduates among the best performing students in the nation. Toto soon became the administrator of our growing school system and the whole ministry of ECC. He was the vital key to all the HCO building projects, including churches, schools, medical clinics, and sustainable economic programs from Port-au-Prince to Peredo and many locations in between.
Toto had many roles: builder, financial advisor, bookkeeper, principal, superintendent, designer, chauffeur, mechanic, teacher, protector, translator, doctor, comforter, preacher, peacemaker, legal expert, confidant, cultural exegete, and so many other things that cannot be enumerated. Toto was also a husband to Louilene, and father to Junior, Derry, Dory, and Dora. He touched the lives of thousands who grew up as a part of the ECC/HCO community of believers. Family and friends throughout Haiti, the U.S., Canada, and around the world grieve his loss and celebrate his victory in Christ. His death leaves a large hole, both in our hearts and in the practical day-to-day of HCO ministry operations. None of us, personally or as a ministry, would be what we are today without him.
We have been walking through this with Louilene and the children, assisting them as needed. And we will continue to journey with them in the future. Funeral arrangements are being made, and we expect to celebrate Toto’s life together formally this Saturday, January 11 in Port-au-Prince.
Toto’s story is the story of Haitian Christian Outreach. But, as we grieve Toto, we also look to the future. God has a plan for us. Just like the people of Israel, we have been blessed to be a blessing. There is a river to cross and promises to claim. We ask you to share our grief, and we invite you to help us cross the river and claim the promises. There is work to be done!
