Mission Moments: Haiti

Three Rs: reading, writing, regard for the poor

Children in the village of Kamiel. (Photos provided by Gilbert Lindor)

Gilbert Lindor wept.

He and three members of the New Generation visited the village of Kamiel at the invitation of the pastor there. Pastor Joirius Max had met with Gilbert before in Malasi to ask if Climbing For Christ would support the start of a school in his poor village of 9,000 people.

The pastor and about 100 children greeted the New Generation. “We also met with 30 parents in the area,” Gilbert said. “Some of those parents have children in the Malasi school. That is 2½ hours (walk) from Kamiel.”

Some of the parents talked about the need for a school. One father, in particular, explained: “The school would be a development for the community because not only will it help (the children) to know how to read and write, but also to have hygiene.”

Gilbert said, “As we walked around there we saw many children. I said to the members of the New Generation, there is no primary care clinic, there is no hospital, there is not enough water to bathe, there is no good hygiene. If an epidemic would arrive or any other illness, what would they do?

“I believe God will do something for these children.

“When I went to Gentilhomme in 2016 to see the number of children (who had nowhere to go to school after Climbing For Christ’s departure in 2014), I remember crying,” Gilbert said. “This time, when I saw the number of children who will do an ‘x’ to sign a document in the future (because they don’t know how to write), I cried. Even when I was returning to Santo Domingo, I was crying in the bus. My crying was not simply because of the condition of the children. It is also because of joy, of gratitude to God for entrusting me with such a great work.”

We are praying that God will provide through His people. With US $400, Gilbert can open an elementary school in Kamiel. With $200 a month, he can hire two teachers to teach children to read and write. That’s $2,000 for the entire school year. More than 100 children can go to school for a total of $2,400 ($24 or less per child for the 2019-20 school year).

Worshiping in Gentilhomme.

The day before visiting Kamiel, Gilbert and two members of the New Generation worshiped in the church at Gentilhomme. This is Gilbert’s home village and the place where Climbing For Christ built its first church. Gilbert went there, he said, “to motivate families to send their children to school (in the coming school year) and to talk about the importance of education.” He met with 80 parents. He also invited the Baptist church in the village to send their children to school – “to let them know that school is not good just for the Climbing For Christ school, but it is good for the whole village.”

He encouraged the two churches to be united on this side of heaven.

After leaving Kamiel, Gilbert visited Malasi to also prepare them for the coming school year. Classes will resume in the second week of September. 

The Word

“Blessed is the one who considers the poor!” – Psalm 41:1 (ESV)