Mission Moment: Haiti

Hope for a Haitian village

Story by Gary Fallesen
Photos by Miguel Rubén Guante
Climbing For Christ (Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013)

It appeared to be just a truckload of lumber at first glance. But to a church in Haiti it looked like the hope of a building.

Missionary Miguel Rubén Guante pointed to Solomon building the house of the Lord in 1 Kings 6. God promised to dwell among the people if they obeyed Him. This is a good lesson for the church in Haiti, where voodoo haunts believers and non-believers alike.

Mare Pitre is a remote village in southeastern Haiti, where Miguel began doing evangelism for Climbing For Christ in August 2012. As more and more people came to Christ, there appeared a need to build at least a temporary structure to house the church – especially during the rainy (hurricane) season that begins in June and runs through November. Funding – or a lack thereof – made building this structure impossible.

On Sunday, Sept. 1, Miguel received a report that only eight people had attended worship. “To me, I should go right now to work there some days with them before all fall down,” he said that day. “I think we did too much through 11 months to now leave it to the evil.”

Miguel was sent to Mare Pitre, and a building project ensued. Not that funding was there. As with most work in Haiti it was done in faith, trusting that this was God’s will.

About US$600 was spent on supplies and transport of the lumber, nails and tools to Mare Pitre. Another US$700 is needed to finish the temporary structure. That means US$1,300 is needed for this project. The funds used were borrowed from other work in Haiti.

Work stopped on Saturday, Sept. 7, when rain began. “The people look happy for the work,” said Miguel, who added that he went in joy to rescue these new believers.

A shelter from the storm: the tarp roof of a temporary church as rain approaches Mare Pitre, Haiti.