Haiti: Land of Potential (A report from Jonita Barram)

One of our church members, Jonita Barram, recently returned from a missions trip to Haiti.  I asked Jonita to share some of her experiences with us.  She graciously obliged my request!

The orphans at Our Father’s House are happy and well cared for. 
Every day they learn about Jesus from His Word.   
(Photo: Jason B. LaBombard  N49TH.net)

I went to Haiti with a team of five coworkers from Regular Baptist Ministries. We were under the leadership of Chris Hindal, director of GARBC International Ministries. On our fourth day, we visited the boys’ house of Our Father’s House Haiti. The 96 boys gathered together in a large hallway on the second floor and sang to us in English and Creole.

A few of the 96 boys at the boys’ home of Our Father’s House orphanage look on as the
RBM team act out a wordless presentation of Creation and the Fall. 
(Photo: Jason B. LaBombard  N49TH.net)

 After one Creole song, Chris turned to the team and asked, “Do you know that song?”

I didn’t recognize the tune, and the others must have given the same negative head shake that I did, because Chris started quoting it:

God is still on the throne,
And He will remember His own;
Though trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He never will leave us alone;
God is still on the throne,
He never forsaketh His own;
His promise is true, He will not forget you,
God is still on the throne.

What a perfect song for Haiti. 

Pastor Predestin Herard and Chris Hindal stand before a Baptist church destroyed by the Jan. 2010 earthquake.
The congregation currently meets in its school building, up the hill from the church.
(Photo: Jason B. LaBombard  N49TH.ne

As we bumped along in our rented van to go from one place to another, as I looked out the window and marveled at the obvious poverty, piles of rubble, and never-ending trash, as I noted the natural beauty of the island and of its people, I realized that God has always been on His throne. He has reasons for allowing Haiti to become what it is today. Perhaps it’s to showcase the depravity of man—Haiti is in large part a result of man’s sin against man—and to showcase His glory and grace in contrast.

A group of pastors in Haiti believe God has started a mighty work that will result in the nation’s being turned around—what a showcase of God’s grace that would be!

But it will take time. It will take well-trained, Biblically sound pastors. It will take children who have been raised in the training and instruction of the Lord—who will grow up to make strong Christian marriages, be godly workers and leaders, raise their children in the training and instruction of the Lord, evangelize their neighbors, disciple new believers, and start the cycle again with the next generation. It will take churches that can support a pastor and reproduce themselves. It will take a lot of prayer and work and prayer and financial resources and prayer.

But “God is still on the throne / He never forsaketh His own.”

A tent city sprang up across the street from land Jason Nightingale
is purchasing for Our Father’s House Haiti.
(Photo: Jason B. LaBombard  N49TH.net)

• Since the January 2010 earthquake, the churches have increased in attendance, with many Haitians accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.
    
• Most schools in Haiti are private schools. Christian leaders have started schools and are training and instructing the next generation of leaders.
    
• Jim Bearss of On Target Ministry is providing on-site Bible training for 20 pastors. When they finish, he’ll train 20 more, and so forth and so on. He raises the funds so the pastors can attend.
    
• Jason Nightingale, founder of Our Father’s House Haiti, is raising money to purchase property for an orphanage that will house up to 500 orphans. They will receive a Christian-school education on-site. His vision is to eventually have 10 such orphanages all over Haiti. He is also enlisting and training American couples to go to Haiti short-term to be houseparents to the nearly 200 orphans in the three current orphanages/homes.
    
• Chris Hindal has rented a guesthouse for church groups to use when they go to Haiti. He is praying for a couple to live in the guesthouse as hosts, with the husband overseeing the rebuilding of churches that were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake.
    
• Pastor Predestin Herard heads the association of churches we went to Haiti to work with. He oversees the orphanages, a Bible institute, and a Christian day school and is a full-time pastor, a husband, and the father of two young daughters. He translates all of the Bible institute’s English curriculum. And when groups such as ours come from the States, he lines up transportation, drivers, cooks, and translators and makes sure we all get safely to where we need to go, and back again.
    
• Frank Gainer of MacroMicro Enterprise Development is helping churches develop business plans. MMED provides the start-up funds. Income from a church’s business will go, in part, to support that church’s pastor. This wonderful plan enables Haitian Christians to support their families and their churches rather than depend on aid from America.

Nothing about daily life in Haiti is easy. “Trials press and burdens distress” Haitian Christians every day. But they are joyful. They are excited about what God is doing. They are excited about the potential of the gospel in Haiti.

I hope this brief report will spark some excitement in you. Please pray for the people and efforts I’ve mentioned. And if God directs you, please give generously to one of these ministries. Because God is still on the throne. Praise His name!