FAITH

'Miracle after miracle.' Cross Pointe Church creates scholarship for Malone students

Charita M. Goshay
The Repository
Malone University student Elischamma "El G" Belade of Haiti is part of the worship team at Cross Pointe Church in Canton, which created a scholarship to help her and several other Malone students to stay in school.

CANTON − Haiti was in an uproar in July 2021.

Its president had just been assassinated. The island itself was rocked by a damaging earthquake.

These obstacles and more awaited Elischamma Belade in her quest to secure a student visa from the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Port au Prince, which had been transformed into a war zone by criminal gangs.

Called "El G" by her friends, Belade, 18, is now a student at Malone University, thanks to a series of divine circumstances and a network of support, including neighboring Cross Pointe Church, where she runs the youth program. The church also recently granted her a $15,000 scholarship.

"Coming here for me was basically miracle after miracle," she said.

The journey from Haiti to Canton

A native of Les Cayes, Haiti, Belade grew up attending an American missionary school that's not accredited with the government, which made admission to college in Haiti more difficult. While working for a visiting psychiatrist, she learned about Malone University.

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Belade is studying biology with hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon.

In August 2021, arrangements were made for her to live with a family in Mansfield, where she was supported by a network of new friends.

"I applied to multiple colleges, but typically, they ask $2,000. I didn't have $2,000 in Haitian money, let alone American money," she said.

Malone permitted her to pay her fees after she started the school year.

"Most colleges, you have to pay the deposit by May 1 or June 1, but Malone was like, 'Yeah, you can make your deposit up to 10 days after schools starts,'" she said.

Cross Pointe Church steps in to help

On the first Sunday after school began, Belade visited Cross Pointe Church at 711 25th St. NW.

"The first time, I wasn't sure if it was an actual church or an online church. They have this coffee station with TV screens (in the lobby), and the doors were closed. I didn't know there were actually people in there," she said, laughing. "The service ends, and I see people walking out. People there are really nice, and super welcoming. I've been told it's sometimes difficult here to find a church that believes in the Bible the way you particularly do."

The Rev. Brad Myers, lead pastor at Cross Pointe, said Belade has been a huge benefit to the ministry.

"She just started helping," he said. "And over the months, we saw that this girl was extremely faithful; Sunday morning, Wednesday nights, small group meetings. She came with a good friend. We were also able to get her a scholarship."

Myers said Belade also is part of Cross Pointe's worship team as a singer.

After Belade's older sister, Jothy, 21, enrolled at Malone as a freshman, the family who was helping them informed them they weren't able to sponsor both sisters.

"We heard El G was trying to figure out how to help her sister get here," Myers said. "She was navigating all this at 17. We heard through the grapevine that she might have to leave us because another church had offered her a position. And I got to praying and thinking what we could do."

Belade said she was considering taking a second job at a second church, but Myers advised her it would be too much to juggle, both spiritually and logistically.

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"I was looking into transferring to a different college, maybe in Florida," she said. "But I thought if I could find a way to cover my expenses. The (church) was thinking of $10,000, and the pastor said he felt personally he could give $5,000. It's not like they owe me anything. In the meantime, they started this scholarship fund for students who attend there."

Myers said he contacted Malone's Student Services and "one thing led to another."

"I decided we would try to launch a scholarship fund, and El G could be the pioneer of that," he said.

Belade also secured a music scholarship, and a Malone family has offered to help her with expenses.

Belade said that once she becomes a neurosurgeon, she hopes to share her skills with Haitians who can't afford treatment or are forced to seek care in Cuba.

'I told God, I guess you're actually in charge.'

Belade, who was able to visit Haiti over the Christmas break, said the difficulties there depend on where you live.

"I have family members in Port au Prince, and it's like 'Why are you living in the capital city?'" she said. "It's not terrible every single day, which is probably why they actually can stay in the capital. But where I am in the south, it's usually pretty OK. If you go even further in the country where my grandmother lives, it's very relaxed."

Belade said she believes that securing a student visa so soon after the assassination, the earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic, and learning about Malone through a person she never worked with before was divine providence.

She noted that even the gangs called a truce in Port au Prince after the earthquake, which allowed people to move about the city. That enabled the woman who was helping her with her visa to apply for it because she was 17 at the time.

"In Haiti, the process is not the greatest; they're very slow," she said. "She was told maybe next year because of COVID. People told her, 'There's not a government right now because the president was assassinated, and it's not going to happen.' Luckily, she didn't listen to them. And then suddenly, this church offers to support me. I told God, 'I guess you're actually in charge.'"

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP