Our History
Church of God Sentina Maranatha (SMC) was founded on July 1, 1990 by Pastor Jonas Jean-Louis. For the last 32 years, this church has been founded on core values around the Trinity, miraculous works through the Holy Spirit, and building up strong families supported by community.
Pastor Jonas believes his call to purpose is to prepare God’s people for His return - the 2nd coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with that mission that our church was founded and named ‘Sentina Maranatha Christ Revient’ which emphasizes the translation ‘To keep watch’, ‘Our Lord has come’ and ‘Christ is coming back’.
With emphasis on salvation was coined one of our favorite expressions ‘No Sanctification - no Heaven!’. It is our mantra to enforce the call of holiness that God has placed on each and every person according to their purpose.
From this radical commitment, God blessed SMC to preach and teach the Good news in Newark, NJ and to be a light not only to our neighboring communities, but also to missions and community organizations back in Haiti.
SMC is steeped in Haitian culture being founded by Pastor Jonas who immigrated from Haiti with his wife Anita during an oppressive regime of dictatorships and political unrest. As a result SMC has always upheld the concept of supporting one another through difficult times while leveraging the promise of God’s word for freedom, healing, and salvation.