Once again I find myself in the position of giving the Lord all of the praises for His tremendous faithfulness to the work in Haiti. I know that there were many people praying for myself and my wife Debbie during our trip and it was greatly appreciated. Every step of the way God was opening doors for us to accomplish all that we had planned to do in advance.
Debbie painting sand filters with her little helpers…
When we arrived in Haiti we were able to get a 4x4 rental vehicle that served us well our whole time down there. This may not sound like much of a big deal here in the states but there is no guarantee of what vehicles are available when you travel to Haiti. I’ve tried renting the vehicle in advance and that doesn’t guarantee that they will hold a vehicle for you. Therefore, I am always thankful when the Lord provides a reliable and sturdy vehicle that can withstand the rugged test of driving over the mountains to our ministry site. After picking up our rental vehicle at the airport we were very pleased with the accommodations that had been made for my wife and I at the orphanage where we stayed for 6 out of the 10 nights we were in Haiti.
There are forty girls now ages 2 to 20 staying at the orphanage. We have been sending donations down to the orphanage now for over 2 years to help pay for the salaries of the school teachers at the school that serves the girls and some of the local children in the community. I have made multiple trips down there bringing missions workers to do VBS activities with the girls. Therefore, the girls are so kind and appreciative of us whenever we come.
On this particular journey we were inspecting and helping out with an operation that has begun within the orphanage compound to build sand filters for water purification. My wife Debbie who is a water engineer helped to make many recommendations about the operation that had been set up and helped to paint the concrete sand filters that had been created in a metal mold purchased in January from “Clean Water From Haiti”. The second day we were in Haiti we purchased another metal mold so that they could create 2 sand filters every day. As Debbie painted the sand filters, the girls were very curious and taught Debbie French/Creole as Debbie shared a few words with them in English. I can not emphasize enough how precious this time is with the girls who are definitely God’s girls. The orphanage is located on a large parcel of land with many facilities. In addition to the orphanage, there is a school, a beautiful chapel and a lot next door where fruit and vegetables are grown.
Before heading up to the school in the mountains to do our annual spring ministry, we were able to locate some gutters that would be installed on the new school in the mountains. They no longer import gutters into Haiti so we had to locate a metal worker who made the gutters by hand. We also hired the same person to install the gutters up in Cornillion. The gutters will feed rain water into two 400 gallon tanks we have up there. The water will be filtered through the sand filters before it is given to the children attending the school to drink.
The day we headed up to Cornillion, we packed 3 sand filters in the 4x4 SUV along with our supplies for the journey. Fortunately, the rugged drive through the mountains on the remains of a paved road was uneventful. When we arrived in Cornillion, they placed the sand filters on the back of a donkey and moved them to the school over a muddy, rocky walking path that is ½ mile from where we park our vehicle.
The next day we were able to successfully install the sand filters and take pictures of the children at school. There were over 250 students at the school that day. We also were able to watch them using the new sewing machines that we purchased. I was very blessed as the students received my wife and me at the school and I was able to share an encouraging message based on the good news of Jesus Christ.
On Sunday before we left Cornillion, I was able to preach to the church congregation with Pastor Achille as my interpreter. Pastor Achille had not been to Haiti for over seven years even though he was the man God used to link us up with the school ministry. We were both blessed to see the progress that had been made with the ministry over the past 10 years. Our hope is to increase the discipleship training to the leaders of this community through some seminars that we will hold over the next year.
When I returned to Bon Repos where the orphanage was I prepared again to speak to a Tuesday morning worship and prayer service. There were over 400 people there just like I had experienced on the previous Sunday. I was lead to share about Holiness of Heart and Life. Afterword, I visited two new ministries that were struggling but were being led by Christians who were definitely reaching out to the needy. The first ministry I visited was called “The Upper Room” foundation and was a small orphanage started in January with 12 children who had been orphaned by the hurricanes last fall. The second ministry was a small church that had recently grown from 15 to 50 members. We are going to set up sand filters at both of these ministries. Our hope is that we can receive some small donations to buy clothes for the orphans and also provide Bibles for the new church.
It is amazing what the Lord has already done at the Cornillion school ministry, the Girls Orphanage and now the Water (Sand Filter) Ministry. We believe that the Lord will continue to grow this work as he takes our small donations of fishes and loaves and multiplies them into blessings for all eternity.
Jeff and his wife are still seeking donations in the form of clothing and personal hygiene items for the Haitian orphans. Contact CGC if you can help.
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