My husband, Gerry, and I just returned from the 2024 annual meeting of the La Gonâve Haiti Partnership at Shallowford Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. You may remember that last year St. Philip’s was pleased to host the annual meeting. This annual conference is held in a different partner church each year.

A partnership by definition works when partners are sharing the work. Prior to the COVID pandemic and the civil unrest in Haiti, our Haitian partners would travel to the US to join us at the annual meetings, and each partner church would travel to Haiti to spend a week or so. However, over the last five years, the “old ways” of conducting our business have changed. Thankfully God knew what was coming and provided a new way for us to stay in touch. The partnership was able to get a computer lab installed on the island, and it was up and running prior to the COVID shutdown. So over these last five years, our communication has actually increased due to regular and high quality Zoom meetings. We also now have a wonderful Creole interpreter, so communications with our partners in Haiti are actually better and more consistent than ever.

Unfortunately, we all miss the face-to-face interaction and the hugs, and new people to the partnership are missing out on the experience of traveling to visit our partners in Haiti in person. But we are thankful to be able to still visit with them virtually and to still be able to see the results of our continued partnership. In the photo from our conference below, you can see Father Vil, the priest in charge of all of the 10 partnership churches and 11 schools on the island of La Gonâve, who was live on the Zoom meeting projected on the screen. We could see him and he could see us.

Also, our Haitian partners are praying for us and we are praying for them. Neither of our countries is “safe” from violence. Neither of our countries is protected from leaders who are self-serving and deceptive. Neither of our countries is protected from outsiders who want to influence us for their own benefit. So even though the degrees of influence, poverty and difficulty may be different, our prayers for each other are similar: we must all depend on our God in heaven to protect us, guide us, and save us. We are partners in this.

Father Vil spoke to the partners gathered in Atlanta twice via Zoom. His initial report was very personal and difficult. It was clear that he and the other leaders are struggling to maintain hope for the future of Haiti. He shared with us that they have seen the arrival of the Kenyan police force, but they know that it is a relatively small force. They have not seen the promised “multinational” forces. They see no changes in the security situation. They know the interim Prime Minister is working with foreign and Haitian leaders and that he comes and goes, but they see no results yet. Every day is hard, and they have been waiting for help for so long. It is getting harder to believe things will improve in the government.

He also shared that one of the most difficult things to see and manage is the hopelessness of the youth. They are increasingly saying that they don’t see the need to take the national exams because there is nothing for them to do after school. It was clear that Father Vil is weighed down by the hopelessness he and the school teachers and the lay pastors are forced to face each day. It was clear that he needed our hugs and encouragement.

HOWEVER, GOD IS GOOD and there is always HOPE with God, and the afternoon visit with Father Vil was different. He was able to share the many good things that are happening in our partnership churches and schools and the many ambitious plans for the future as well. Here are just a few of the highlights.

1. The approximately 2000 school children in our schools were able to be fed all but two months over the last school year. We were no longer able to ship in school lunches, but the partners were able to locally source enough food to be able to serve the children in each community. It was more expensive and a lot more work, but they were successful.
2. They are already making plans for the school lunches for next year. There are two new large gardens planted that hopefully will help produce supplies for the most remote church schools.
3. We have also received an $8500 grant to help provide the lunches for the children and the adult education students as well for the next school year.
4. There will be teacher training as usual this summer. We will give care packages and a bonus to all teachers, and reward those who have been teaching the longest.
5. There are multiple construction projects being planned, one of which will be at St. Philip’s sister church, St. Jean-Baptiste! This year, construction of a drainage and security wall around our church property will begin. This will cure the erosion problem on our church grounds as well as provide security for the church and school. When you are surrounded by hunger and need, there has to be a way to keep honest people honest. A wall with a gate and doors with locks will help provide this much needed and long overdue security.
6. There is more than ever a need for the people of La Gonâve to be able to attend college without having to go to Port-au-Prince. Father Vil has been working with the leadership of the University in Port-au-Prince to provide on-line education and they have worked out the logistics to be able to provide at least two college credit classes.
7. There is growing demand to expand our Professional School (formerly known as the Ladies Project). Originally it was designed for those women who had not been able to complete school to learn skills like sewing and baking. Now in addition to that mission, they want to include a few new technical trade school classes to further students' education. They want to include more classes like cosmetology and ceramic tile installation and allow men to attend the school as well as women. They need a new building to expand the program.
8. At our Medical Center, the new emergency room is open and busy. The doctor in charge would like to hire two part-time doctors for our medical clinic, a pediatrician and an OB. He hopes we can build a new birthing center in an easier-to-get-to location. They hope to get two more motorbikes to allow the doctors to travel to the communities more often. It is difficult for the sick and pregnant to travel to the clinic on the difficult mountain roads. It is easier for the doctors and nurses to conduct mobile clinics in the communities.

As you can see, there is much HOPE for the future. There are many other plans to make life on the island easier. The vision for our partnership is:

A future where everyone on La Gonâve experiences thriving abundant life.

Our mission is:

Haitian and American partners working side by side in mutually-transformative relationships to build vibrant, hopeful, and resilient communities on the island of La Gonâve.

Thanks be to God, even in the face of the unbelievable hardships of the last five years, our vision and mission are continuing. Father Vil is like Paul, “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” He knows together we can and will continue. He believes just as Paul concludes in 2 Corinthians 4: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Through the unwavering support and love of the partners, each for the other and our mutual love of our heavenly Father, we set an example for all the people of La Gonâve and Haiti as well as here in the States.

We can and do trust and hope in the unseen, for a future eternal glory that makes all the suffering and hardships worth it! There is still hope in Haiti! There is still hope here!

Bondye beni w! God bless you!