At the end of a dusty road only a few miles from the even more dusty border with the Dominican Republic lies the community of Latranbley. With the support of the Reformed Church of America (RCA), our partner, the Ministry for Christian Development (MCD), has been training a group of about sixty church leaders. The training is primarily for deacons focused on practical ways the church can reach out to the needy in the community. Recently, Zach visited the training with a representative from the RCA to talk with the participants. What they said time and time again was how much they appreciated learning that a church could serve its community with its own resources. This idea is counter-intuitive in Haiti since for the most part churches only serve the spiritual needs of communities. Secondly, Haitian Protestant churches do not have a long history of community service. Traditionally service is left to charitable organizations which channel the assistance of the international aid community. Because of the training, these participants are convinced that their churches can provide concrete manifestations of God’s love in their communities with the resources available to them. In Haiti, this is a radical declaration of trust in Christ and his provisions!
Zach congratulates a participant on her progress in the MCD training program.
No comments:
Post a Comment