One year ago Faith embarked on a journey to make a difference in the country of Haiti by saving infants, serving orphans, feeding and clothing children, putting kids through school, strengthening churches, developing leaders and sharing the gospel. We do this by partnering with local church-based, evangelistic ministries that are the very best at what they do. One of those partners is The Global Orphan Project. In March of 2010 we sent our first team to minister to the orphans who were displaced or newly orphaned as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated the already poorest country in the western hemisphere. It became very clear after that trip that Faith would partner with The Global Orphan Project in serving the orphaned children of Haiti.
The next step in the process was for Global Orphan (GO) to identify a possible partner for Faith in a village project that is in need of a North American partner to help fund the ongoing care of the children in a project and to meet other needs as they arise such as funding new homes, schools, medical facilities, churches, water wells, latrines, etc. As a result of the first trip, we felt the Lord calling Faith to minister in a challenging environment in Haiti and that desire was communicated to GO. Working with Adrien Lewis, GO’s Community Director, a target for Faith was communicated and proposed to Faith in April of 2010. That project was a village in Port Salut at Haiti’s extreme southwestern tip. Plans for our next trip began with the intention to go to Port Salut, minister to children there and ask the Lord to confirm His call on Faith. By late May GO informed Faith that the trip had to be postponed because of an emergency situation- a staff member had been abducted and they were negotiating her release and it was not safe for us to be there. At the same time GO was having to redirect our trip from Port Salut. GO communicated with us that they were addressing a developing situation in Port Salut and the already struggling village was being assessed to discover if a focus on a school and feeding program might be the best fit for Port Salut. In essence the Lord was closing the door for Faith in Port Salut. We were thankful that the door closed before making the trip.
Gonaives in northern Haiti has always held a place in my heart because of its painful history. In October of 2009 Pastor Brad and I had flown over the city on our way to investigate ministry opportunities in northern Haiti. I pointed out the city as we flew over. In 2008 Gonaives, the 3rd largest city in Haiti was hit by two hurricanes. The city flooded and thousands of people lost their lives. The city is still digging out the settled silt from many homes. Flooding is the city’s greatest threat because it is surrounded by deforested mountains and hillsides and even the smallest amount of rain presents the threat of flooding. Gonaives has a very violent history in that it is usually the epicenter for every revolution or coup that takes place in Haiti. It is said that the city is run by gangs. The hurricanes of 2008 seemed to stem the tide of the gangs as many of them left.
The need in Gonaives is great for the orphan population and the Global Orphan Project presented the opportunity to partner in Gonaives. Logistically Gonaives is a challenge; the Lord seemed to place Gonaives in our sights and GO has a great need there. So once again, we began planning on seeing Gonaives and asking the Lord to confirm His call on Faith to Gonaives. Faith’s trip in August of 2010 allowed us to assess if Gonaives would be a good fit for us as a church. The trip was a success and my evaluation of it made Gonaives a great and challenging opportunity for Faith. I really felt the Lord calling us to do something hard. The need is great as we were able to see firsthand but we were encouraged by the opportunity Gonaives presented us. Upon our return from Gonaives, I met with Adrien to discuss specific partner opportunities in Gonaives. At that time, GO was in the middle of transitioning children from smaller, struggling projects to larger, well established projects. One of the projects we spent time at was Fayeton. Fayeton had 130 kids at the time of our visit. Fayeton also already has a partner- the Nebraska Global Orphan Project. GO proposed that Faith co-partner with Nebraska because Fayeton was receiving more children because of the transitions happening. Fayeton’s new number was 200 and so Faith could step in and partner at Fayeton. I contacted Nebraska Global Orphan leadership to talk through how this partnership might look moving into the future.
In October of 2010 Faith sent a third team to Haiti but this time the team spent time at what was known in early 2010 as the Orphan Transition Village. Since GO was working on the transition of kids in Gonaives, they felt a trip to Gonaives could disrupt the already fragile process they were in the midst of. The trip was another success and further giving us great confidence in the work that The Global Orphan Project was doing in Haiti.
At the beginning of 2011 Faith began planning a Spring Break trip to Gonaives to engage the children there and ask the Lord to confirm His call on us to Fayeton. Three days before we were to leave with the largest team Faith has sent to this point- 20 members, GO called to inform me that something had come up that they had to deal with at the Fayeton project. This meant that we would not be spending the majority of our time at Fayeton- in fact we would not visit at all because of a serious issue that came about the previous weekend. It appeared that the Lord was once again closing the door on a partner for Faith.
Adrien contacted me Wednesday, the day before we left to fill me in with some information and to firm up our adjusted plans to visit other projects in the Gonaives region. One specific project he was interested in us seeing and checking out is a project called Desire (pronounced dez-er-ay). Adrien was extremely excited for this new possibility because 4 months earlier as he was seeking a good partner fit for Faith, Desire came to mind. He did not share this with me at the time because Desire was one of those projects slated to transition children to the larger projects. Desire is located almost 30 minutes northeast of the city and is nestled in the foothills. Desire is a tough location- very primitive with no real road to get there, no electricity to speak of and no water except an open well a quarter mile away from the project.
Pastor Jeannot is the pastor of the project which includes a school and church as well as 60 children that live in tents- yes, tents. When informed that he would need to move his children into the city he refused because he felt strongly that those children should remain there in their current community. Pastor Jeannot held to his convictions so deeply that he said if he were to lose funding by not moving his children, he would find another way to provide for the 60 children. GO sent a couple staff members to sit down with Pastor Jeannot to listen to his heart for the children and the ministry up in the hills above Gonaives. Struck by this man’s heart, character, humbleness, faith and perseverance, GO decided that he was correct and GO would continue to support him any way they could. Pastor Jeannot not only leads a church, school and orphanage in Desire but he pastors a church and leads a school in Gonaives as well.
Adrien’s original idea of partnering Faith with Desire has come full circle and was back on the table. The Spring Break trip would go a long way to determine if Desire is the place that Faith will partner. Acts 16:6-10 came up as a correlating passage to Faith’s journey to find a place to partner in Haiti. The text says, “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
God closed the door on Faith to Port Salut, and then again to Fayeton. Is Desire Faith’s Macedonia? Is the man in the vision Pastor Jeannot asking Faith to come to Desire and help? We are praying, but the Lord has given us so many confirmations along the way. In my prayer time in the weeks leading up to the trip, I knew that I would be able to spend significant time with a pastor to hear his heart, his vision for reaching the lost with the gospel and his dreams for the orphan children under his care. I prayed for clear communication and a connection- the Lord provided all of that- with a different pastor I didn’t know I would meet until the day before we left for Haiti. The Lord is so good and faithful- and I love His surprises. It teaches me to pray continually for these things even though He may change it up and surprise you. It truly is in the Lord’s timing- Faith needs to stay faithful to the Lord’s leading and call to make a difference in the country of Haiti.
As a follow up to my last post, I spent this last week speaking to the team that went with me to Haiti most recently and reporting to the leadership at Faith what happened on the most recent trip. It is very clear that the Lord has confirmed His call on Faith to partner with Pastor Jeannot and the Desire project. The very things that I prayed for in interacting with Pastor Jeannot was clearly answered beyond my expectations. This is a very humble, faithful servant of the Lord as he shepherds two churches, two schools and 60 orphans at the Desire project. I am excited to share more about Pastor Jeannot as we develop our partnership.
