It was exciting Saturday evening to receive a short text from one of our Haiti work team members simply saying, "The roof is finished!" I found myself visibly moved by those few words summarizing four days of frantic work.
Carrefourpoy is a small village west of Port au Prince, one of four churches under Pastor Gilbert's purview. It is a poor village, with small pieced-together houses dotting the rural countryside. When you drive through the village, there are small children everywhere and the signs of poverty are unavoidable.
But the children are something special. Dressed in their colorful school uniforms, hair neatly-combed and captivating smiles on their faces, they walk to school--schools like the one Gilbert has established in Carrefourpoy, serving over 300 children each week. There, teachers serve faithfully, receiving small salaries--$30 a month (we help support that minimal wage)--and children pay what they can to contribute to their education. At best, it is a pittance. The alternative is the public school system which pales in comparison.
The men from our church covered the rough section where school classes meet last year and this trip's purpose was for the construction of a roof over the larger area where the church and the school children gather. This allows for church and school to meet, even when it rains, which is often during the rainy season in Haiti. They did this with shortened time parameters, but they accomplished their objective.
Carrefourpoy, along with churches in Desca, Ballanger and Port au Prince, are the four churches we have partnered with at Grace Fellowship Church where I currently serve as senior pastor. Two years ago we determined to establish a sustainable relationship with Gilbert and his work there. It has been a truly a blessing difficult to describe in words.
Grace Fellowship is a small rural church in Amador County. About 500-600 people call Grace "home". Yet God has allowed us to participate in fulfilling the Great Commission in reaching out to the people of Haiti, with a determined emphasis on training pastors--now almost 480 pastors have been affected by our teaching-training, with our recent partnership with TLC.
Perhaps your church would like to partner with a church/churches in Haiti. "Hands-on" experiences help clarify and sharpen a church's understanding of how we participate in fulfilling the Great Commission, which is God's expectation of every church. TLC (www.leadconnect.org) will continue to make you increasingly aware of opportunities to help n Haiti. The return in your investment cannot be measured but it will have eternal consequences.
Want to know how to get involved? Contact me at dale@leadconnect.org. I would be happy to provide a template for what we did at Grace Fellowship Church--not always perfectly--in establishing sustainable relationships with our Haitian brothers and sisters.
"Mission accomplished"...for now...but there is much more to come.
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