Making an Impact on Youth

Fevrier Cherubin trains young people in the use of Impact Clubs

In a country like Haiti where children and young people make up the majority of the population, youth ministry is an imperative.  In order to respond to this need Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) has begun using the IMPACT Clubs program. IMPACT was created to empower young people to help their communities by increasing the capacity of the participants and by helping them to develop community service projects. During the three months young people participate in the first level of the program, they learn how to become good citizens who are able to hold jobs and to be leaders and entrepreneurs in their communities. Present in more than twenty countries, IMPACT started in Haiti in 2014 through the efforts of a Canadian CRWM missionary named Larry Luth. Today there is a network of fifteen clubs with thirty trained leaders and more than 350 members.  CRWM has established IMPACT Clubs in Haiti with organizations like Adoration Christian Centre, Haiti Teen Challenge, the Salvation Army, and the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti.  Several independent clubs have begun as well.

Really Big Prayer Request

In addition to the daily money transfers that support Haitian families, international aid organizations and governments finance many projects through money transfers originating in the USA like this rehabilitation of Haiti's main hydro-electric dam (above).  Without access to these transfers, there could be major instability in Haiti.

Though it has yet to make news in the United States, the US government has made a decision which threatens to bring economic activity in Haiti to a standstill.  For many years, the US government has been concerned about money laundering through Caribbean countries, especially Haiti, Belize, and the Bahamas.  Of special concern is the transfer of drug money from the US through Haiti onward to Latin American countries where the drugs originate.  According to several sources, if the Haitian government does not enact tougher laws against money laundering, all money transfers between the US and Haiti will be halted beginning in November.  The solution for this problem would seem to be a no-brainer--one would expect the Haitian government to quickly respond to these concerns.  However, there is one big problem. Since June the provisional President of Haiti's mandate has expired and his political opponents are refusing to allow a vote on any legislation he proposes in the Haitian Parliament.  This effectively renders the legislative branch of Haiti's government impotent to react to the US government's money laundering concerns.  What does this mean practically?  It means that in November, all transactions including credit card and bank-to-bank transfers which support our own ministry could halt.  Moreover, many Haitians depend on regular money transfers (i.e., Western Union) from relatives in the US and Canada to pay for food and housing.  The result of a halt to transfers would be extreme economic and social destabilization.  Please pray that the government of Haiti can find a way to overcome this impasse and respond to the money laundering concerns.  Also, pray that the US government will have flexibility and wisdom in how it works with Haiti's leaders.

Segaar-King August Ministry Report

Dear Friends and Family:

Greetings from Haiti!  We hope that you are experiencing God’s presence in your lives and in your families.  

Please join us in giving thanks for:

1.   A good start to the school year for our children. Sometimes Quisqueya Christian School, where our children attend, has struggled to find qualified English-speaking teachers willing to serve in Haiti.  We give thanks that this year all key positions in the school are filled.

2.   Our new missionary family, Cody and Jessica Zuiderveen, who are preparing to come to Haiti as long-term missionaries January 2017.

3.   Perspectives Réformées Haiti (PRIHA) recently moved into our office after the completion of the expansion project that many of our supporters participated in last winter.  The stability that this provides will help PRIHA focus on its core mission of communicating God’s Word through electronic and written media in Haiti.

Please join us in prayer for:

1.   Stability in Haiti.  A presidential election “redo” will be held on October 9.  This election will be particularly difficult because Haiti is in an inflationary economic crisis.  Prices of food and other basic items have risen by one third in the last six months.

2.   Peace for our ministry partner, the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti.  The church will be holding its first assembly since the removal of its former president after a protracted and damaging conflict.

3.  Interest from our supporting churches to send Service and Learning teams to Haiti.  We have an exciting project for 16-17 and we need your help. Contact us if you or your church are interested.

4.   Success in planning a conference on Christian Worldview October 18-20.  Our good friend, Dr. Harold Kallemeyn, has created new material in the form of a practical bible-study with an “action planning” component for this initiative.