In 1994, four families from Haiti — the Laguerre, Elan, Pierre, and Jean families — came together and founded the first Haitian Church in West Michigan. It was an opportunity for them to worship the Lord in their own native tongue. They regularly met at the Grand Rapids International Fellowship (GRIF) on Kalamazoo Street on Sunday afternoons under the leadership of Pastor Walter Crow who helped facilitate the development of the new congregation.
It did not take a long time for other Haitian families and members of the Haitian community in Grand Rapids — including Mathieu Pierre who later became the pastor — to join the group, which quickly started to grow in size.
Over the years, the church has continued to grow under the leadership of great men of God and their families:
- Pastor Mathieu Pierre (1996-2003 and 2005-2013)
- Pastor Serge Bonhomme (2002-2003)
- Pastor John Taylor (2003-2004)
- Pastor George Carole (2013-2014)
- Pastor Joas Occes (since 2014)
The church moved to its current location, 1313 Bristol Ave NW, in 1999.
In 2015, the church was officially recognized as Grand Rapids West International Church of the Nazarene (GRWI), an affiliate of the Michigan Nazarene district. In 2016, the church was granted the status of an organized church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Today, GRWI has continued to grow and serve in the West Michigan community as a diverse and multicultural Nazarene congregation.