Natalie is an active member of our church in Petite-Anse and will graduate in May from our Bible Institute.

The Haitian people are an industrious people. Most of them are willing to work hard to provide for their families. Recent events that have devastated Haiti (extreme poverty, hurricanes, earthquakes, cholera epidemic – to name a few), however, have taken their toll on this nation’s inhabitants.  We witness the hopelessness of people who would give anything to have a job on a daily basis, and we have cried out to the Lord for wisdom to help put people to work and not just dole out money, creating a “welfare mentality” in the process.

Often the answer to prayer comes through a simple idea. We employed Natalie Béliard to purchase local oil paintings, each uniquely painted by a Haitian artist. After arriving stateside, we frame them to sell. The proceeds are used to help highly motivated members of our church start small businesses. So far, we have helped Manno, a member of our church, purchase a motorcycle. He uses it as a taxi and it also serves as the “family car,” easily seating two adults and two children. We have bought a paint compressor for Brother Girard Moise. Girard is an excellent painter and has proven his faithfulness both in the church and through his work ethic. The compressor will enable him to do big jobs in a small amount of time. We also bought a laptop for Brother Ernst Massillon. Ernst had a tremendous understanding of technology and has used this “one talent” to launch his own small business called Compusol Multi-Services.

Whenever we’re invited to speak at special services, meetings, etc., we usually come with the paintings. They are greatly loved by many and it is a small way for money to go back into Haiti. If you would like for us to come share in your church, women’s meetings, etc., and are interested in purchasing some paintings for a worthy cause, contact us! Or if you just feel moved to send a small donation to help a brother or sister get a “jump start” in business to help boost their income, you would be a tremendous blessing to someone in need! We’ll be posting pictures of these marvelous entrepreneurs in some upcoming posts.