LAKELAND — The "Basics of Christian Conversion and the Essentials for Leading a Person to Christ" is an evangelism tool that is helping people share their personal faith story in 29 languages, from Bengali to Zulu. In the United States, it is included in the "Faith Sharing New Testament," produced by the World Methodist Council.

A Haitian Creole translation was recently written in the Florida Conference through a joint effort of the Florida Conference’s Operation Evangelization and Council on Ministries (CCOM). "Pataje Lafwa" ("Sharing the Faith") is available to Florida Haitian congregations and will soon be available to Haitian Methodists throughout the United States and in Haiti.

The Rev. Jacques Pierre, pastor of Highlands United Methodist Church here, translated the material. He said the book’s value to him is that it signifies inclusion of Haitians in the United Methodist Church.

"There is a difference between being there and being included in the family," he said. "Inclusiveness is not about presence, but about participation at all levels of the church."

The other benefit is that Haitian United Methodists now have an evangelism tool that "touches Haitians, not only in our theology, but also in our culture and our own understanding," Pierre said.

"We are all under the same umbrella, the church of Jesus Christ, Wesleyan theology and laws, the ‘Book of Discipline,’ " he said. "I will not understand God if I do not understand God within my own culture."

The Rev. Roger Swanson, director of Operation Evangelization, said the book came out of a desire to help ethnic local churches evangelize their communities.

The "Basics of Christian Conversion…" is a very good tool for teaching "what United Methodists believe and an easy understanding of how personal evangelism works," Swanson said.

The Florida Conference Council on Ministries (CCOM) gave $3,500 to the project, expecting that the book’s $3.50 price will help recoup that money, according to Bill Walker, the council’s director. "It’s an investment in ministry," he said.

The Rev. Marilyn Beecher, a Church and Community Worker in the Miami District and member of the Florida Conference Committee on Haitian Ministries, said the new book is the beginning of a larger effort to train Haitian United Methodists to evangelize.

"This is going to be a tremendous resource, and I thank God for it," she said. "We’re going to be able to create a training packet using this theme as a basis for evangelization training."

The Committee on Haitian Ministries received a $10,000 grant two years ago from the General Board of Discipleship to help it develop evangelism and stewardship training. That money will be used to create companion pieces to "Pataje Lafwa."