Haiti is located on the Island of Hispaniola along with the Dominican Republic between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
The Island of Hispaniola is 2/3rds mountainous. It is a little smaller than Maryland and a little larger than Israel, home to 7 million people, making it the most densely populated country in the West. There are 500,000 Haitians living in Canada and the United States, mainly in Florida and New York.
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city. Haiti is a republic. It's location makes it vulnerable to major storms. Hurricane George struck in 1998 leaving 140 dead and 160,000 homeless.
The languages of Haiti are Creole and French. Religion is 80% Roman Catholic and 16% Protestant with Voodoo being widely practiced.
The Island of Hispaniola was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. He built the first Spanish colony in the western hemisphere in Haiti. Two-hundred years later Spain ceded the western third of the island to France. The French then developed Haiti into what was then the richest colony in the Caribbean. Port au Prince was known as the Paris of the New World. However, the French were very cruel and 500,000 Haitians were beaten, starved or buried alive for minor offenses.
In 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte dispatched an army to subdue insurrectionists to retake the colony for France. His mission failed and Haiti declared independence in 1804. For the next two centuries, Haiti suffered through revolution, military coups and dictatorships.
In 1915 Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a priest was elected President. A year later he was expelled from the country which caused another period of economic instability. During the next three years, neighboring countries imposed economic embargos on Haiti and as many as 35,000 refugees were intercepted by the U. S. Coast Guard as they tried to enter the United States. Aristide was reelected to the presidency in 2001 by a vote of more than 90%.
CHURCH HISTORY
The Egan Era
In 1940, Carlos Egan, a law student and schoolteacher, asked the Church of the Nazarene for affiliation and financial help. He had two main churches, seven satellite preaching points and two-hundred full members. In 1950 the Church of the Nazarene appointed Paul and Mary Orjala as the first missionaries to Haiti with the expressed goal of obtaining government recognition for the denomination. It was immediately evident that Egan's vision was too limited and we were going to have to develop a whole new generation of young people to provide leadership for the church in Haiti. One year later, Paul Orjala was able to receive a permanent visa and state a Bible school with seven students. However, all his pastors and people chose to stay with the Orjalas.
The First Decade
The number of churches increased from 1 to 20 and the number of full baptized members increased from 177 to 1,388. That's an average of 2 churches and 121 members each year. During the first 10 years, the church ordained 3 national pastors and grew at the rate of 750%. At the end of the year 2000, Haiti has 478 churches and 83,000 members. There are more Nazarenes in Haiti than in any other country except the United States. Remember, this is in an area the size of the state of Maryland.
Obstacles
The chief obstacle in developing the church in Haiti was limited economic resources. In the mid-60's the average per capita income was between $50 - $75 a year. The annual per capita giving was about 35 cents. The mission program targeted agriculture and light industry as a means of giving people help and hope. Charles Morrow moved his family to Haiti in 1973 bringing high-grade livestock, purebred poultry and better farming methods. Immediately the people's diets improved. Then missionary Steve Weber founded a woodworking factory, a fiberglass industry, a clothing manufacturing factory and installed a printing press. Twenty projects in all raised the per capita giving in the church from 35 cents to $2.11 - that's a 600% increase.
Compassionate Ministries
During the devastating famines in Haiti in the 70's, the church distributed thousands of dollars of aid and tons of food from abroad. The church responded through the Hunger and Disaster Fund. In a 10 week period, the church donated $380,000 which was an unprecedented offering at that time. As the church opened schools to educate children, it was obvious the students needed food. Haiti Hot Lunch program assured one nourishing hot meal each day. This program has been expanded through the church to server additional poor countries. Today Haitian children are helped in three different avenues:
Feed a Child
Educated a Child
Train a Child
Testimony
My name is Celianie. I was born in Haiti in 1960, the oldest in a family of five children. My father has been a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene for more than forty years. I grew up in the capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, where my father led First Church of the Nazarene for eight years. My sister and I attended the church's elementary school.
When my father was transferred to another church in 1975, we began a journey of trials. First, the church was bare and there were only two members. We set out to revive the church and reopen the school. We received many threats from voodoo priests and their associates who said we were obstructing the practice of their religion.
When I was seventeen, I received a vision that my sister and I should be in charge of reopening the school. My sister was sixteen at the time. So, she because principal and teacher. I was secretary and bookkeeper. We switched to night school so we could teach preschool, first and second grades in the daytime. With God's help, we started with 80 children who would otherwise have been on the streets all day long. The next year, we were able to offer classes through 5th grade, but at that time my sister left for the United States.
I married and had two children and in 1985 because deathly ill. For a year and a half the doctors promised my parents and husband that I was going to die. But I promised God that if I could continue to live, I would work in the school and start an orphanage. I recovered and the orphanage because a reality with seventeen children in 1988. Today we have 50 children in the orphanage and 180 in the school. For most of these children, the lunch they received through the Haiti Hot Lunch program is the only food they receive for the day.
We have now opened a home for the elderly and a bakery where cooking classes are taught. We have started a trade school for cabinet making also. Good has been so good to us. Haiti will be different when these children grow up. They will be teachers and physicians. They will be the labor force and the politicians. They will have a lot of responsibility, but they will be trained and they will take their place willingly.
I have become a social worker. I would love to pursue a master's program, but the load of my family, school, orphanage and church takes priority. My family in the United States keeps begging me to come there and complete my education. I would love to do that, but don't you see? I just can't. Haiti is my country. I must stay here and help our children have a better life. God is leading me this way. He has a purpose and a plan and I must do his will until he calls me into his presence one day. Won't you continue to pray for Haiti?
Won't you continue to give to the Haiti Hot Lunch Program? Won't you consider coming to Haiti and helping the children?
The Church of the Nazarene: Caribbean Region
