A Surprising Fact

Haitian teenagers and young adults love to be involved in the worship of their churches.

Whenever visitors from North America come to Haiti, they almost always mention one surprising attribute they didn’t expect to find—the overwhelming number of children and young people.  Because of a low life-expectancy and a high birth-rate, the average age in Haiti is in the high teens or low twenties (depending on the demographic study).  Unlike North America, the Haitian churches are bursting with children and teens who are looking for opportunities for growth and engagement.  One of the greatest challenges facing the Haitian church is maintaining the interest of all these youth in their faith heritage and in the mission of the church.

For this reason, Christian Reformed World Missions-Haiti (CRWM-Haiti) began a new program called IMPACT Clubs that was developed originally in Romania by New Horizons Foundation.  The philosophy of IMPACT Clubs is to put young people together for mutual encouragement and relationship-building activities.  The activities range from discussion and reflection to small-group games. The young people who participate come from church but also from the broader community, providing a natural opportunity for Christian youth to be salt and light to other community young people they might not otherwise engage. 

One of the most exciting aspects of IMPACT Clubs are the community projects in which Clubs identify resources and needs in their communities and put together a concrete plans to make changes or “impacts” (hence the name, IMPACT) in their neighborhoods.  Our goal is that these projects come from the “grass-roots” and do not rely on funds and initiatives from any organization or church.  Two of the most popular projects amongst the Clubs have been recycling plastic and cleaning community streets and water sources.  We believe Christian young people engaging in acts of community service hand-in-hand with the unchurched will be a great opportunity for the Gospel to spread and for God’s people to be agents of grace in Haiti.   

Transforming Hearts and Minds

In 2007 Zach visited a pastor in a rural and underserved part of Haiti.  The road to the pastor’s church was cratered and most of the homes were made of mud-brick with thatched roofs.  The biggest problem in the area, however, was water.  The only water source for the fifty or so houses in the roadside community was a stream several kilometers away at the bottom of a deep ravine.  Zach engaged a donor, and, with the input of the community, a naturally-occurring spring was capped about one kilometer away.  Fresh, clean water flowed through a PVC pipe into a reservoir on the roadside twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  Everyone celebrated God’s provision for the people of the area. 

But then things began to go wrong.  The PVC pipe channeling the water to the roadside community was repeatedly dug up and smashed.  Several members of the committee tasked with maintenance and water usage policy unexpectedly resigned.    It turns out that a neighboring community sabotaged the PVC out of envy and the pastor had been giving his friends and family preferential treatment in the water distribution.  Though fresh water was now available, many in the community felt estranged and frustrated.

In view of this oft-repeated situation, the Segaar-Kings have been assisting material-developer, Harold Kallemeyn, to produce a bible study called, “Be Conformed or Transformed” (i.e., Romans 12:2).  In this study, the participants reflect on biblical contrasts such as “conceal or confess,” “envy or appreciate,”  “limit or multiply,” “accumulate or share,” etc.  The goal is to show that in Christ we no longer need to hide our faults, envy others, limit God’s grace, or hoard.  Instead we can rejoice in the abundance of Christ and his generous provision for our well-being.  Pray that God would bless the roll-out of this new bible study.  As the above example shows, it is sorely needed in Haiti.