Committed to life in Haiti

 By Rev. Randall Burns
Special to the Pioneer Times
    For the past 25 years, the Military Street Baptist Church (MSBC) has had the privilege of assisting, giving to and serving in two communities in northern Haiti. My first trip to Haiti was in 1996, when a team from the church visited Terrier Rouge, a city on the road from Cap Haitien to the Dominican Republic. We went to assist Pastor Apolyon Noel with repairing his church school, assisting with a well project and ministering the love of Jesus Christ especially to the children of that community. Through Pastor Noel, a ministry relationship with Pastor Payot Jacques developed in the neighboring village of Caracol, an extremely poor fishing village on the north coast of Haiti. Both of these Baptist pastors have a vision and a plan to share the love and life of Jesus Christ to their communities, a vision which has grown deeply into the heart of MSBC. Indeed, you can’t visit Haiti without your heart being sweetly broken to do something to help bring life and hope in their sufferings.
Contributed Photo
FELLOW PASTORS — Randall Burns and Payot Jacques were brought together by another Haitian pastor here in the village of Caracol — an extremely poor fishing village on the north coast of Haiti.
    On April 12, Kevin Weston and I flew out of Ft. Lauderdale with a team from the 1st United Methodist Church of Sedalia, Missouri, to visit Pastor Jacques in Caracol. Our goal was to determine how, where and in what manner we could build an orphanage for the homeless, parentless children of that region in Haiti. It’s a “God-thing” as to how a church in Maine gets connected with a church in Missouri to team up for a mission project as large as to what He’s calling us. But with an influx of exiles from Port au Prince flooding the northern region of Haiti, for people with no homes, no work, no family, no money, no food, no water, and very little hope, we discovered that it’s the Church, the Body of Christ, which is more urgently seeking to meet their needs most directly and lovingly for the long haul.  
    Even before the horrible aftermath of the Port au Prince earthquake, the very best of days for many in Haiti was just this side of hell on earth. In the region where we traveled, there are no infrastructures for electricity, running water, sewage and garbage processing. There are few jobs and very little money. I don’t have words to describe the human suffering today. And, we were over 100 miles away from the epicenter of the quake! But in this great darkness, the Light and love of Jesus Christ is shining brightly. Unlike previous trips, I didn’t hear any voodoo drums pounding through the night. But by 4 a.m., there were beautiful songs of praise and prayer coming forth with the dawn from the church’s chapel each day. More starving and thirsty people are finding God to be their refuge and strength, and a very present help in their time of trouble.
    Private church schools like Pastor Noel’s and Pastor Jacque’s not only bring faith, hope and love and a quality education to thousands of children in Haiti. As resources allow, they serve the kids a bowl of rice and beans for lunch. This meal is often their only meal for the day. Pastor Jacques has up to 450 children coming to his school these days, 150 more than before the earthquake. Many of them are starving. Three weeks ago, he received word that food for the kids which used to come from Port au Prince was staying in the Port au Prince area.  They were on their own. The political red tape coming forth from the Haitian government has put a strangle-hold on millions of dollars of aid which has poured in through secular and international contributions.
    But church relief money typically has a target with a network “on the ground,” where it can be put to immediate use and help. By God’s sovereign grace and supply, our small team came with enough financial resources to assist in purchasing enough rice and beans to feed the kids for the next month. We were also able to purchase nearly four acres of property adjacent to the church/school grounds for the new orphanage to soon be developed. Pastor Jacques is praying that this land will also sustain a vocational training center and a clinic for his people some day. I’m really looking forward to discovering how we can be part of God’s answer to those prayers by putting our faith and love in action as He directs us. A line in a song by Steve Green summarizes it best for me: “Across the street or around the world, the mission’s still the same. Proclaim and live the truth in Jesus’ name.” Please contact me at MSBC if you are interested in being part of this mission to Haiti. It’s better together.