Tony Lisotta's new "Man Crush"

Pastor Kesnel sharing his vision with our group

Throughout my life I have had the so-called "Man Crush."  Up until recently, Laird Hamilton, who is the best big wave surfer (70 foot waves) in the world, held that position in my mind.  He is an amazing athlete and was born with an athletic gift that will be very hard to duplicate.  I’ve spent my life looking up to Laird Hamilton and other athletes who have defined what it means to be successful, what it means to achieve the ultimate manhood.

Last month, I went to Haiti with a group of friends from Church at the Bay. We were going to visit the orphanage we partner with, which is run by a man named Pastor Kesnel. When I met Pastor Kesnel, on day three of our trip, I could immediately see a peace in his eyes.  It is hard to explain unless you come face to face with him.  I felt immediately captivated by his presence.  It was like I knew him for years and it felt like he was another father to me.  A few of us walked around the orphanage with him as he told us his story -- it blew me away. 

He had been born and raised in Haiti with his brother.  They were extremely poor and on top of this his father had abandoned them at an early age.  There were several times during the week where his mother would not come home from working until they were asleep.  She did this on purpose as she did not want to face the embarrassment of not having food to feed her kids.  They would go without food for 2 or 3 days sometimes. Their bed was a concrete floor.

Fast forward the clock and Kesnel had left Haiti and had become a successful real estate business man in Miami.  He was married and had several children.  He kept having dreams of being needed in Haiti and a calling to take care of orphans. This was very significant to Kesnel because Haitians strongly believe that God speaks frequently through dreams. He approached his wife and told her he had been called back to Haiti and wanted to move the family back.  As you can imagine, she said, “no way -- I can't go back to that environment!”  He said he understood. He promised to take care of her financially while she stayed back in Miami, but he was going anyway!

 This blew me away! It reminded me of the priorities we say we should have-- God first, wife second, kids third, and everything else after that.  Over the course of a few day or weeks, she came around and stuck by his side.  

Pastor Kesnel with his wife, Madame Yanick Kesnel

Pastor Kesnel bought a piece of property and started to build out his vision.  His entire family actually slept on the back of a flat bed truck for 5 years as things started to take shape.  They went the bathroom in plastic bags, struggled with the heat, the mosquitoes, the weather, and more.  On top of this, they went through the earthquake in 2010. Pastor Kesnel actually met representatives of the Global Orphan Project right after the quake, after offering his dump truck to them to borrow.  

Their obedience to the Lord and their passion for chasing after His calling just blows me away.  

Pastor Kesnel is also an entrepreneur at heart.  He is working hard for self sustainment at his orphanage. As we walked through the village, we saw just a few examples of his efforts to bring the village to financial self-sufficiency. Kesnel sells water from his well to the community at less than they can buy it other places, and if they cannot afford it, he gives it to them for free.  He charges car batteries for a small fee.  He sells lumber supplies out of his complex.  He builds bunk beds and sells them.  He is in the process of building a swimming pool so he can baptize the children but also give swimming lessons.   All the money raised goes right back into his orphanage. 

Pastor Kesnel with "all of his children."

There are many days where Pastor Kesnel counsels people from dawn to dusk.  People come to him from all over for spiritual advice.  You can imagine the energy, commitment and compassion this takes day in and day out.  However, he believes (and it shows) that the Lord gives him the strength to sustain this type of pace.  If you ask him to point out his own children, he says, “all these children are mine.”  He truly believes that and you can see it in the way he carries himself.

I could go on and on about Pastor Kesnel.  Meeting him definitely changed my view of what it means to be a man and most importantly, a Christ-follower. I actually get very frustrated with all the reality TV shows about this person or that person.  While our society sits around and idolizes these people, wasting valuable time in front of the TV, Pastor Kesnel is out there, in action, doing something about the pain in this world.

Pastor Kesnel is my new “man crush.” Sorry, Laird, but I thought you would understand.