21072: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-A pastor is slowly turning a former tennis and swim club (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

A pastor is slowly turning a former tennis and swim club into a community
center for Haitian immigrants.



By Sam Tranum
Staff Writer

April 2, 2004

West Lake Worth · It all started with 20 stamps.

When the Rev. Mathieu Jean-Baptiste came to the United States from Haiti in
1987, he wanted to build a faith-based community center to help Haitian
immigrants and spread the word of God. He borrowed 20 stamps and used them
to invite local pastors to a meeting, where he pitched his idea.

Today, the nonprofit Haitian Evangelical Crusade Association founded by
Jean-Baptiste owns a four-acre property near Lake Worth and Coconut roads.

"Our plan is to develop it and make something good out of it," he said.
"It's not going to be easy, but I accept the challenge."

It is there that Jean-Baptiste is laying plans to build the community center
of his dreams.

The site used to be the Lake Worth Racquet & Swim Club. Nearly two-dozen
crumbling tennis courts now surround a small, one-story building. The
swimming pool is half-filled with murky water and missing a diving board.

But the mortgage on the property is almost paid off, so Jean-Baptiste says
he's polishing off designs for the complex and starting to raise money. He
hopes to raise $18 million.

If finished as planned, the nearly 113,000-square-foot community center
would include a gym, a banquet hall, a computer lab, a domestic violence
shelter and a guesthouse. Jean-Baptiste says they will build in phases,
little by little.

"God will provide," the reverend's wife Marlene Jean-Baptiste said.

For now, the center has other activities. It hosts a radio studio, where
Marlene Jean-Baptiste records a Bible question-and-answer show that she
says, has about 5,000 listeners. In addition, sandwiched between the
swimming pool and tennis courts is a stage where the association holds its
religious revivals.

Palm Beach County community activist Shahid Freeman said he is a big
supporter of Jean-Baptiste's dream.

"We need something like this," Freeman said. "I'm very glad it's becoming a
reality."

To contact Mathieu Jean-Baptiste and the Haitian Evangelical Crusade
Association, call 561-969-2279.

Sam Tranum can be reached at stranum@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6522.


Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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