The Testimony of Bismaille Lerisse

From Debi

This brief salvation testimony is from a missionary who I have followed for years on Facebook. She is a great writer and an amazing wife, mother, and missionary. She and her husband and children have been faithful in ministry for over 20 years in very harsh environments that most others would avoid. They have seen much fruit—good, lasting fruit. As you will read in her testimony, their ministry would not have happened if a few, old, white ladies had not been faithful to knock on her family’s door and invite some rebellious, black kids to ride their church bus to Faith Baptist Church. The simple seed of invitation that day changed eternity for many. The women that knocked at her door had no idea that their faithfulness would result in many coming to know the Lord in Haiti. The faithful bus driver had no idea that in glory, he will receive a crown because of the vast ministry on the island of Hispaniola and in the Dominican Republic. The simple preacher who preached the gospel week after week will stand before the throne of God in the company of many he has never seen or heard of because he was faithful to give the gospel to a teenage girl who sat at the back of the church. God says we each have a part in planting. God says in 1 Corinthians 3:5–11, Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The key to ministry is being faithful to plant a seed where God has put you. Pray for those to whom you minister. You might not see in this life just how important simple planting and prayer might be, so plant every chance you get. Hand out tracts. Give to missions. Knock on doors and invite kids to church that no one else wants to help. God uses every prayer, every effort, every penny, and every knock. We plant one tiny seed, and God uses it to bring forth a huge harvest. Now enjoy the story of what God has done.

From Bismaille

I grew up a poor little black girl in the Bible belt near Dothan, Alabama. Though we were not a church-going family, living in the Bible belt ensured that we were not Bible illiterates. We had Bibles in our home, and my sister and I had our own “style” of religion: lying and cussing were strictly forbidden on Sunday.
As I got older, bad habits bound me, temptations were always the victor, and sin was my master; I often thought of what would happen to me after I died. My own conscience condemned me, and I could not even live up to the “no cussing on Sunday” rule. By the age of 14, I was desperately rebellious.
Finally, my mom had had enough. Out of despair, fatigue, and coming to the end of her rope, my mother sent me to live with my dad in Gulfport, Mississippi. One Saturday after a couple of months of being there, a few white ladies came knocking on our door inviting us to ride the church bus to Faith Baptist Church. My dad insisted that my cousins and I go. We sat in the back together, feeling uncomfortable being in a white people church. From that very first Sunday hearing Brother Carr preach, something stirred within me. For the first time, I began to be able to see. The fog in my soul began to lift and light began shining through.
The Spirit of God was convincing me and convicting me of my sin that only He and my conscience knew about. I resisted walking the aisle at the invitation for fear of all the white eyes looking at me, but the battle was on—the battle over a soul and its eternal destination, the battle of the ages between Satan and Christ, between good and evil.
My family and I were drawn, compelled to be in every service, and each service I could feel the grip on my heart and conscience. Finally, on January 5, 1991, after a message from the Word of God, I responded during the invitation. A woman named Lois Starling took the Bible and showed me the only way to God. There in the preacher’s office, I believed that I was a sinner, condemned to pay for my sins in hell according to the Word of God. I believed that God, our loving creator, sent His Son Jesus Christ to take the judgment and condemnation for my sins by suffering greatly, shedding His blood, and dying on a cross in my place. I believed that day, that because Jesus Christ was God, He was raised from the dead after three days and revealed Himself to many witnesses. Finally, I believed that IF I simply believed that He was the Son of God who died in my place and rose up from the dead, and then I confessed Him as my Savior by faith alone in all that HE is and DID, then I would be given eternal life in heaven with my Creator.
The Lord then used my courageous Aunt Regina to teach by example that what was preached at the church was to be obeyed at home. Truth was to be obeyed everywhere and all the time.
The will of God, according to the Scriptures, is that there be a distinct line between holy and unholy. The will of God and work of God from the beginning of creation is to separate darkness from light. The desire of God is to have a peculiar people, a people so set apart for the glory of the Lord that even a lost and blind world could see Jesus Christ. There are no gray areas in God’s words. It is not God’s will that His people be confused or confounded.
I am profoundly thankful that God in his mercy sent faithful ladies to knock at my door to welcome me to church. I am so grateful that every face in that church was full of welcome so that I felt the desire to keep going. I am overwhelmed with joy that the preacher preached God’s Word in a way that I could clearly understand. I rejoice that God allows me to do my part in giving the gospel to those who are still in darkness. May God receive the glory and honor forever and forever. ~ Bismaille