Ryan Alexander "Alex" Mersdorf

Alex and his first wife Mary and their children in the late 1920's early 1930's were missionaries to Cuba and Haiti:
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Monday, March 14, 2005
A LIFE WELL LIVED---ONE CALLING, ONE PURPOSE
Many a Haitian pastor owes his ministry to the instruction and encouragement of
this fine Cuban.
By Jim Uttley

Special to ASSIST News Service
MIAMI, FLORIDA (ANS) -- Three weeks ago, I lost a good friend. She wasn’t only
my friend, she was Haiti’s friend. While our paths hadn’t crossed in several years,
I still cherished her friendship.

Born in Cuba on September 20, 1911, Zeida Campos was an outstanding
woman.

Zeida arrived in Les Cayes, Haiti in November 1936 along with Alexander
Mersdorf and his wife Mary. They were the first missionary team of the West
Indies Mission (WIM)to enter a nation other than Cuba since the mission was
founded in 1928.

In 1936, the Cuba-based mission sent a team to begin a work Haiti, the island
nation next door. Zeida, a graduate of Los Pinos Nuevos--the West Indies
Mission's Cuba Bible institute--had already worked with Haitians in Cuba. She
was sent to Haiti as the first missionary sent out by the Cuban churches
associated with WIM. Miss Campos and the Mersdorfs set up their base in the
capital city of Port-au-Prince, where they studied language for nine months. Just a year or so before their arrival in south Haiti, Cuba began deporting some
55,000 Haitians back to their homeland—ninety-five percent of them (30,000 in
1936 alone)—landing in the southwestern port city of Les Cayes.
Among them was a tall, lean Haitian named Lizaire Bernard. Innocent of
theological education, he arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back. While
in Cuba, Lizaire was among the hundreds who were converted to Jesus Christ.
Following his conversion, he became a lay worker among the Haitian immigrants
in Cuba.

In Drumbeats That Changed the World, the history of the West Indies Mission
(William Carey Library, 2000), Joseph F. Conley records that Lizaire Bernard
thought, "What if all these repatriated Haitian Christians could be scattered
throughout the country?" he mused. "If each were to win just a few to the Lord it
would be a good start in this battle for Haiti’s soul."
The book goes on to record that Bernard, barefoot, and with a bit of aran (dried
fish), set out to walk the 125 miles to Port-au-Prince. "He planned to comb the
peninsula in search of other Christians. Once he reached Port-au-Prince, he
would try to find a missionary who might help him in his mission…."
In Port-au-Prince, Bernard found Zeida Campos and the Merfsdorfs, urging them
to come to the needy southwest. In August 1937, they made the tortuous 125-
mile trip to Les Cayes just in time to encounter boatloads of Spanish-speaking
Haitian repatriates.

According to author Conley, Zeida Campos was plucky. "Fully qualified as a Bible
teacher and proven soul winner, she had come to Haiti with a clear call from God
to work side by side with the missionaries of the West Indies Mission…"
Zeida remained plucky almost until her dying day. Everyone who knew this
Cuban lady knew what she believed and what her mission was in life.
As a young boy, I remember Zeida as a gracious lady who loved children
although she was never privileged to give birth to her own. She was, on the other
hand, privileged to be the spiritual mother of countless children, assisting in their
birth into the Kingdom of God. Zeida was not a quiet lady nor did she shrink from
speaking her mind. I can still hear her saying in her heavy accent, "Oh Jimmy, so
good to see you..." Then she would offer me a cookie.
Miss Campos played a vital role in founding the work of La Mission Evangelique
Baptiste du Sud d’Haiti (Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti). She was
there and helped along with early missionary Florent Toirac, along with Haitian
pastor, Lizaire Bernard, to bring about what historian James Edwin Orr referred
to as "a remarkable awakening" when as many as 10,000 professed Jesus Christ as Savior with 5,000 baptized in 1940.

Miss Campos was there to disciple and train them. Many a Haitian pastor in
South Haiti owes his ministry to the instruction and encouragement of this fine
Cuban.

When Zeida passed away recently, she died without earthly family. Only Heaven
will tell the true size of her family. It is a fact that many Haitians, Cubans, and
Americans are included in that number.
However, there is a very disturbing fact about the legacy that Zeida and her
compatriots left behind. Recently, my brother traveled to Haiti to do some
medical work in the region of Les Cayes. When he returned, he spoke with tears
in his eyes of the current situation.

The Haiti of Zeida and all who followed in her train is no more. Haiti is not the
same as the land my parents labored in and I grew up in. My brother shared that
(as he saw it) "all the work done by good people such as Zeida and other faithful
missionaries is no more..."

Yes, the mission work is still there, but the physical and social welfare of the
people is either gone or in jeopardy. In some ways, life was better in Zeida
Campos’ early Haiti days than it is today.
Why this slide backwards? Unlike Zeida, whose calling, mission, and love for
Haiti was clear and true, today we have individuals who are no longer interested
in the good of others nor in the transformation of families and communities, nor
the conversion of their homeland. Today, it seems that people are more
concerned with how much they can gain at the expenses of others, by whatever
means.

Last week there were reports of bandits invading Les Cayes and surrounding
area, wrecking havoc including break-ins, killings and terrorizing.
My friends, none of us can go back to the days of long ago. Nor can the Haitian
people and missionaries go back to the days of Zeida Campos. Those days are
gone forever. But we can work together to change our present situation. Better
yet, we can turn to Zeida's God and ask Him to take charge of our lives and
situations.

Let’s put our differences aside and begin to live as Zeida did. Let’s live with one
purpose—for God and country, whether it be America, Canada, Haiti, or
wherever we live.

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Those interested in more on Zeida Campos and the band of early missionary
pioneers to South Haiti can read "Drumbeats that Changed the World" which tells the history of the West Indies Mission and the Regions Beyond Missionary Union
now known as World Team. The book may be obtained through World Team by
calling 1-800-967-7109 or by E-mail: [email protected]

You may also write to World Team, 1431 Stuckert Road, Warrington, PA 18976

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: [email protected]

Alex Mersdorf Obituary
Statesman Journal Wed Jun 23 1993
https://www.newspapers.com/image/201868497/?terms=David%2BAlex%2BMersdorf#

Far right is Ryan Alexander Mersdorf and his wife Mary next to him on his left. His cousin Mary and her husband Edward Beselin (Mary is Aunt Myrtle (Honer)Alexander her husband Sam Alexander's daughter. Myrtle (Honer) Alexander is Alex's mother Maria Loma Honer Mersdorf's sister).

L-R
His second wife Ethel Mersdorf, Ryan Alexander "Alex" Mersdorf, and his sister Mildred Mae (Mersdorf) Trotter.