NWN MAGAZINE PREVIEW: Two Northwest Haiti Christian Mission founders reflect on more than three decades of ministry in Haiti.
Read more in the spring issue of Northwest Notes, a regular magazine of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission that arrives in mailboxes in April. Click here to download a PDF version of the entire issue.
Gary McDowell, 65, and his wife, Sandy, 63, were part of the original group that traveled to Northwest Haiti in 1977 and founded Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. Since then, they have served as missionaries in Saint Lucia and Mexico, among other countries. In January, Gary returned to visit NWHCM for the first time in more than 30 years. Northwest Notes editor Andy Olsen spoke recently with the couple at their home in Newburgh, Indiana, about their impressions. Following are excerpts from the interview. Parts of the interview also appear in the spring issue of Northwest Notes.
Andy Olsen: You were there on the original trip in 1977. Tell me about getting there.
Gary McDowell: We were there in ‘77 and ‘78, and I went back in ‘79. In 1977, I apparently carried with me a significant amount of cash, and I went up to La Croix and bought property, where we built our first church.
The big difference in terms of getting (to the Northwest) between now and then was that in 1977 there were no paved roads – I’m talking about Port-au-Prince to Gonaïves was not paved. In 1978, we went back and a company from Illinois had paved from Port-au-Prince to Gonavïes, and we were so happy. And we still had Gonaïves to Port-de-Paix as a trip to make, which was pretty rough.
AO: How did you come to go on that first trip?
GM: I was almost agnostic (after college). We moved back to my hometown, and we had somebody visit us. My first church service was a Wednesday night Bible study. I’m self-taught, I was studying and came to belief and then, quite frankly, tried to repay God by going into the hardest mission field I could come up with. A friend of ours named Larry Jamison had returned from India and he said, “Why don’t we go to Haiti?”
Gary and Sandy McDowell were members of the original mission group that eventually founded NWHCM in 1979. Andy Olsen / NWHCM staff
Sandy McDowell: Haiti totally changed our lives. And it’s been that way ever since. We really feel for Haiti and the people of Haiti. That’s why, at the end of the two weeks we were there, the group sat down and we decided we had to do something to help these people. We just couldn’t leave them. And that’s where we came up with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission That’s how it began. And we had no idea after all these years how much it had grown — no clue whatsoever. To see what it’s become today is overwhelming.
AO: On this recent trip, you flew up to the Northwest from Port-au-Prince. That must have been interesting, for the first time not having to ride a bus up there.
GM: Actually, (back then) we drove cars. We had a Volkswagon van and I drove a little Toyota, and the clutch went out on that thing. I drove it all the way from Port-de-Paix to Port-au-Prince with no clutch in 1979. That’s not easy, especially when you’re going through the water.
AO: What were your initial impressions seeing the main campus in Saint-Louis du Nord for the first time?
GM: I was kind of shocked. I’ve been in missions for 31 years where I’m face-to-face with indiginous people – laugh, tell jokes in Spanish, that kind of thing. I felt so isolated there I felt, man, I might as well be in Miami. It was unwarranted, but that was just my first impression. I later learned more, but it’s just so different from what we did when we started.
When we were in Haiti, what we would do is we would go to a streetcorner, Sandy would start singing and draw a crowd, and we would start preaching. We baptized 360 people in one campaign. It was this approach we were doing. It was just pure streetcorner evangelism.
AO: How have the towns of Saint-Louis du Nord and Port-de-Paix changed since you were last there?
GM: The roads are much worse than they were when we were there. They had a sand base on the roads when we were there, which you could drive 30 miles an hour. Which cuts your commute time significantly. When we first built (in Chalet), you would turn left out of the Beach Hotel there in 1978 and you were in open area, nothing was there. And you would drive all the way to La Pointe, and there was a hospital there, but there was nothing else really there. And they you would go the rest of the way to Saint-Louis du Nord, and there was nothing there. Now you go back and it’s wall-to-wall houses.
AO: Have the churches in Northwest Haiti changed since you were last there?
GM: Back then, it was such an infant church. There were a few pastors. But the congregation as a whole were babies. Fast forwarding to this year – very mature members of the church there. You know, 31 years later you would expect that. It’s a Haitian church, which is really good. I’ve been involved in missions a lot, and the biggest mistake missionaries make is Americanizing the churches. And this was a Haitian church, and that was a marvelous thing.
The missionaries that are there now…they are so committed, by and far more than anything we were. – Gary McDowell
AO: How have missions in Northwest Haiti changed since your first trips?
GM: We were a bunch of carefree, we’ll-take-the-chance, we’ll go-for-it-but-we’re in-and-out kinds of missionaries during the ‘70s. But the missionaries that are there now – you’ve got the Courtneys and the Melonnies, Janeil and his family – they are so committed, by and far more than anything we were. I’m not too sure I’m cut out of a bolt of cloth that could handle that sort of thing. I like my comforts too much, maybe it’s just old age.
SM: It amazes me what they go through in their everyday lives and that deep, deep commitment in their lives. I find it so gratifying.
AO: Tell me about your involvement with NWHCM’s prison ministry in Port-de-Paix.
GM: I did not visit the prison on this trip, but we had some people in 77 or 78 who went to work with the prison and they were just so shocked by the way the people were treated. And to see Melonnie (Kelly) and what she is doing there, I told her, I feel like I’m in the midst of a celebrity. She is just so passionate, It’s such a great thing she’s doing. I was so impressed with what she’s doing, so I thought at least I could come back and try to do something. Editor’s note: McDowell has applied for grants to provide clean water at the Port-de-Paix prison.
AO: You were in Haiti during the Baby Doc years. Walking around in the community, did you feel more or less safe on your trip this year?
GM: People in the street were less intimidated by Americans – I don’t know how else to say it. When we were there in the 70s, I think they were more respectful. It’s hard to put your finger on why, but maybe it’s the attitude of the kids. We went out one day and passed some kids flying a kite, and they were just – “Don’t take my picture,” you know, that sort of thing. It’s a changing attitude toward Americans, I think, and maybe rightfully so. We’re the most arrogant people in the world. But I always felt very safe.
AO: If tomorrow you could pick up and move to Haiti, is there any one need or area that you would like to shape or encourage?
GM: The preacher training school. I was not impressed with what was there. I see the same thing in some American churches, a lack of serious adult education at strong levels. I know there’s a Bible college there, but it was pretty unimpressive. That’s probably one area where I think I would work — teaching those young men to become preachers.
Click here to read more about Northwest Haiti Christian Mission’s history.
