Celucien L. Joseph, Founder & President, Hope for Today Outreach; Chair, Hope for Today Outreach Board of Directors

Rev. Dr. Celucien L. Joseph (aka “Dr. Lou”) is the Founder and President of Hope For Today Outreach (HTO), which he launched in 2015 in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and chairman of the board of directors. He also founded Hope Outreach Productions to attend to the literary production and media needs of HTO. He is an Associate Professor of English at Indian River State College (Fort Pierce, Florida), where he offers courses in English composition and literature. He is a writer, educator, researcher, and scholar. He is a passionate teacher who not only enjoys teaching students about academic issues but also about life issues and the transformative power of serving and giving, and human solidarity. His philosophy is that effective teaching should foster understanding, human growth, and spiritual transformation.

Dr. Joseph is an ordained and licensed Christian minister with  the National Association of Christian Ministers. As a minister, he has extensive experience in engaging in short term missions, both nationally and internationally. While he has traveled across the seas to Africa for missionary endeavors (i.e. preaching and teaching), he has spent fourteen years participating in evangelistic and social outreach ministries in the island of Haiti. His philosophy of Christian ministry, rooted in Galatians 2:10, Matthew 25:35-36, and  James 2:14-17, entails active solidarity with the poor and the needy through empowerment and service to the glory of God.

Dr. Joseph  was born in Haiti and immigrated to the United States in 1994. He received his B.A. from The Baptist College of Florida, M.A. from University of Louisville, M.Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Th.M. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Dallas. He is the author of several books including: From Toussaint to Price-Mars: Rhetoric, Race, and Religion in Haitian Thought  (2013), Haitian Modernity and Liberative Interruptions: Discourse on Race, Religion, and Freedom (2013), and God Loves Haiti: A Short Overview of Hope for Today Outreach (2015).

Dr. Joseph and his wife, Katia, live in Port St. Lucie, Fl, with their four children: Terrence, Joshua, Abigail, and Emily.

Personal website:http://drcelucienjoseph.com

E-mail:cjoseph@hopefortodayoutreach.org

Ronald Stimphil, Ministry Coordinator and Consultant

Ronald is the Ministry Coordinator and Consultant of Hope for Today Outreach. He is an Assistant Pastor for Marriage & Family and New Member at Grace Community Church in Lithonia, GA. Ronald holds an associate degree in Pre-Engineering from Queensborough Community College in Bayside, NY, a bachelor degree in Psychology and Liberal Arts (Mathematics, Physics and Psychology) from the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY, and a master of divinity degree in Pastoral Counseling, with emphasis in marriage and family counseling, from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

Ronald has written a novel “Martin’s Dream – Journey Onto the Promised Land” and has two non-fiction books on the way.

Ronald and his wife, Pluvenie, live in Conyers, GA, with their five children.

E-mail:rstimphil@hopefortodayoutreach.org

Katia Joseph, Adult Literacy Coordinator

Katia was born and raised in Haiti. She is the Adult Literary Coordinator of Hope for Today Outreach. She came to the United States in 1997. Katia is married to Celucien Joseph, and they have four children (Terrence, Joshua, Abigail, and Emily). She has a B.A. in History and a Minor in Political Science. She has done further studies in ESOL, Curriculum and Instruction at Florida Atlantic University. Katia loves to encourage people and equip the body of Christ  to expand the Kingdom of God through serving others. She believes that the Lord is glorified when we love God and love others as ourselves. She loves to see people discover their areas of passion. Katia always has a smile to share with everyone, and make people feel at ease in her presence.

Katia wants to fulfill a long-held dream which is to teach adults how to read and write in order that they may be able to read and understand the Word of God. She enjoys spending time with her family, travel, reading, cooking, and teaching.

E-mail:kjoseph@hopefortodayoutreach.org

Charles H Amisial, Counseling and Mercy Ministry Director

Charles and his wife, Beverline, live in St Augustine, FL. The Lord has blessed them with a wonderful boy, Gabriel.

Marvin E. Hobson, Social Entrepreneur Strategist

Mr. Marvin E. Hobson is the Social Entrepreneur Strategist of Hope for Today Outreach. He has been an educator since 2002 with experience in teaching English and Reading at the middle and high school levels. He started at Indian River State College (IRSC) in 2007 as an adjunct, and in 2008 he became an instructor of Developmental English in the Learning Assistance Department. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2011 and Associate Professor in 2014. In addition to enthusiastically teaching Developmental English, he has also taught Developmental Reading and Student Success. Most recently, English Composition has been added to his repertoire. On August 15, 2012, Mr. Hobson was awarded IRSC’s coveted Endowed Teacher Chair. He is extremely elated about his project that will create and establish the Zora Neale Hurston (ZNH) Center for Writing Across the Curriculum, which has introduced students to job-specific writing opportunities while it has preserved the ZNH legacy of ethnographic writing.

Mr. Hobson began his studies at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Farmingdale, where he received his A.S. in Business Administration while working for Chase Bank. Then, he transferred to the SUNY University at Albany. He went on to earn a B.A. in English Literature and a M.S. in Reading Education while working as an intern for the New York State Education Department and a grants administrator for the New York Health Department. Currently, he is working towards a PhD. in English Literature and Criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where his triangulated dissertation will focus on the ethnographic and Biblical representations in the dramas of ZNH, S. Ansky, and Tyler Perry.

Mr. Hobson serves on various committees at IRSC such as the Academic Review Committee, the Honors College Committee and the Institute for Academic Excellence – Reading Committee. He also serves as President of the Florida College English Association, a statewide organization which unites college and university faculty and graduate students in an annual conference.

Hobson and his wife, Sherise, and their daughter Shayla, live in Fort Pierce, FL.

“REMEMBER THE POOR” –Galatians 2:10