Prit, our leaders, and the construction crew members praying together

Today, construction workers who traveled from Archaïe, Haiti, gathered together for the first time on our main compound to commence the building of our new multipurpose building. This is a long-awaited dream as the foundation we laid for the building was around 1993!  We had no idea it would take this long for the rest of the building to follow. But, Haiti was plunged into a succession of natural disasters and increased poverty while the exchange rate began to steadily climb. The costs of building materials became so astronomical that we’ve never completed the means to build. After making payroll for our pastors, teachers, and workers in addition to the many other facets of maintaining a ministry of 5 churches, 3 schools, a Bible institute, and a feeding program for over 1,000 hungry staff and children, the rest of the work fell by the wayside. After many unfulfilled promises from others to help us, we truly understood the scripture – “Hope deferred makes the heart sick”. (Proverbs 13:2)

 After years of intensive prayer, Orphans Promise, along with some very devoted and generous donors, came to our rescue. Only those who have been here and seen our present church structure firsthand can truly appreciate the enormity of our gratitude for lifting this heavy burden off our shoulders which we could not lift ourselves. In addition to providing the food for our three schools, Orphans Promise has done it once again. They are helping to make our dream for a building come true. With the generosity of our donors, Orphans Promise and Lifeline Ministry are working together to bring this miracle to pass.

 On 4 February, 1990, a fellow missionary donated an old, army medical tent to us so that we could begin church services. After succumbing to the force of heavy, tropical rainfall and gale winds, we next erected a simple structure of poles which supported a palm thatch roof. The thatch eventually caved in from all the rain it was holding and was replaced with a tin roof and some concrete blocks for the side. So, this became our church – dirt floor and all. Imagine spending over 20 years in a makeshift church with no fans or electricity and completely open to the elements. It was not uncommon for roosters to strut past the podium while Prit was preaching or for goats to gather together in the back to escape the rain. Yet, in spite of all this, we grew to a congregation of over 800 and sent out leaders who were raised in this church to plant other churches and schools.

Our dream building should be completed by July. I’ll give more info about it in posts to come. Please pray for Engineer Osmy and his construction crew from Lifeline Ministries, the Orphans Promise team and, of course, our dear donors who are putting legs to the whole project.