This time of year is often one when we’re reminded of the many things we have to be thankful for: family, friends, faith, fun times…and FOOD! Over the holidays, we’re partnering with Feed My Starving Children to give lots of it away to thankful people all over northwest Haiti. The meals we’re sending have already been prepared, and it only costs five cents apiece to ship them down. Will you consider joining our million meal team and giving toward our goal? If so, click here to get more details and give. Every dollar helps!

Oh, and if you donate at least $20.00 (400 meals), you’ll automatically be entered to win an iPad 2, given to us by a generous supporter who wants to help us reach our goal! What are you waiting for? Let’s reach a million together now!

Curtis Rogers lives in La Baie des Moustiques with his wife, Danielle, and manages NWHCM’s facilities there.

By Curtis Rogers, Community Development Coordinator

Since the hurricanes and tropical storms of 2008, our entire staff at the mission campus in La Baie des Moustiques has been excited to move to our new campus “up the hill.” We were blessed to be spared from any major storms in 2009 and we do not plan on taking any more chances this year, as we expect to be operating from the new campus by the end of June.

A panorama of NWHCM's new campus in La Baie des Moustiques, which is nearing completion (click to see larger image). Andy Olsen / NWHCM staff

The new campus will be home for both Danielle and me, and also the Cius family (Michelet, Gernide, John Terly, Geneva, Rose Madjie and Michael). It will also be the site of a new children’s home, and we are excited to bring Maxi Iphraim, who grew up in the mission orphanage in Port-de-Paix, onto campus to live with the kids and help run the house. We have spent significant time assessing a number of needy children to possibly bring into this home. We’ve been praying over each one. We expect that there will be quite a few children living with us by the end of the summer.

We want to make sure people know that we are not forgetting about the “old” campus down the hill and all of the important work that has been invested there over the years. The main building, which we call “Miss Pat’s House,” will continue to serve as the group home, where visitors and short-term missionaries will stay while working in La Baie. Our current house on the old campus will be the site of a new clinic after we move out. We hope to employ Haitian nurses there to meet the medical needs of the town. This building will not only offer a clean and safe place to receive medical care daily, it will also serve as a base for medical teams from North America as they serve outlying communities in the Far West. The church building will retain its current function as both the church and the school, although we will need to build a new school in the near future. Michelet’s old house will serve as a classroom as the school grows.

As you can see, the work in La Baie is growing exponentially. One of the primary roles for the campus is serving as a laboratory for many differing development projects and ideas that we hope to duplicate in the Northwest. Whether through farms, composting toilets, micro-loans, or fishing supply stores, the campus at La Baie (like all of the NWHCM campuses) strives to meet the needs of the community in a holistic fashion, partnering with community members for real change. As a staff, we truly believe that the move to the new buildings has already and will continue to open up many opportunities for us to assess the needs of, partner with, and reach the goals of the small part of Northwest Haiti that we serve.

Three years ago, operating in the town of Beauchamp was just a vision that Janeil Owen, NWHCM’s executive director, had to expand the mission’s outreach. What is today the Beauchamp campus was then just an empty field.

But today, it is a thriving campus helping to minister to over 15 churches in one of the remotest regions of Northwest Haiti.

Mike Grant, NWHCM Director of Evangelism and Minister Development

Some people asked us, “Why do you want to go to Beauchamp? It is a dark place (the town is a regional center for voodoo) and there is no water.” Well both those statements are true, but the good news is: The light is starting to shine and the water is starting to flow!

In just two years, NWHCM has made a big impact on the Beauchamp community for the gospel. The church was started from scratch and has now baptized over 250 people, averaging over 200 people for worship on most Sundays.

But the mission has done far more than start a new church. We have adopted the Beauchamp community and have made taken big steps to impact the whole community.

NWHCM purchased a pump for the community to use to pump water to a large cistern on a hill so that water can run to this thirsty village. Although there are still some problems, the water is flowing to a few fountains in the town. The mission has partnered with the community school, and several churches have brought in school supplies that were desperately needed, including a laptop.

But there is more: After the 2008 hurricanes, we helped with relief with food and to rebuild five houses. At present, we are feeding 250 people, six days a week.

Women sell goods at the market in Beauchamp, which is a regional center for trade and voodoo.

The mission has also done several medical clinics over the past two years and is working to have a Haitian nurse run a medical clinic once a week. Our interpreter, Vogly Douge, is also teaching an English class in the church twice a week, with over 100 people from the community attending.

The old saying says, “The proof is in the pudding.” Two years ago, I was talking with a Haitian man in Beauchamp about the work NWHCM was planning to do in the community. “We just hope you do what you say you are going to do!” he said.  In April, the town committee was sitting on our front porch and told us, “We want to thank you, because you have done everything you promised so far.”

From a dream to reality – the Beauchamp Campus is helping to make a difference. The light is starting to shine and the water is starting to flow. With the help of our God, one day the light will outshine the darkness in Beauchamp, and the people will drink not only “the Living Water,” but sweet water from a fountain or well in their own town.

-Mike Grant, NWHCM Director of Evangelism and Minister Development