One More Step Forward
by Etienne Prophete, Executive Director 

When a child starts walking, he takes one step at a time. Until one day, he is running and jumping. When looking at the past year, it seems unthinkable to even dream that HCM could survive as a mission after all that has happened in Haiti. Thirty-six years ago, HCM was a baby. Now it is an adult taking giant steps. The task was and is immense, but the Lord never stops being good to those who trust Him. The mission has taken a rebound and now is soaring with the eagles.

House Building - At this time, eleven houses have been built, along with the warehouse and offices in Fonds-Parisien. Also the woodworking shop is in operation. The mission just bought a dump truck and a bobcat and was given two ambulances that will help us save many lives. There is need for 200 houses to be built just to scratch the surface. We have a solid promise for fourteen more houses. My son Kerby is the engineer building the houses. They are strong, earthquake-proof, fireproof and expected to last more than 100 years. We have a lot of painting jobs to do if any group wants to come help in that area.

Warehouse - Last year we received several donations of food from Kids Against Hunger. With food supplies like this we are able to alleviate hunger pangs among the Haitian people. We have come to realize our need for a storage and distribution center and so Kerby designed a warehouse that is now being constructed. The warehouse will serve churches, schools, orphanages and other interest groups. We intend to set up a place in Florida to fill three to four containers per month to ship to Haiti. This activity will be announced shortly. We intend to enlist school children to fill bags of mixed food and hold peanut butter drives to fill up containers. We are already launching an appeal to all interested groups to help us feed the hungry in Haiti. This warehouse will hold the contents of at least ten 40-foot containers at once.

Wheelchairs - Sid Davis doanted sixty-two wheelchairs that we were able to pick up from Dominican Republic. After quite a struggle to get them across the border, the distribution has started. Bodler and his brother Wasner Joseph contended with the Haitian and Dominican governments to bring those chairs into Haiti. It was not at a cheap price, but it was worth it. Edwidge Mesadieu is an example one of the typical people in need of wheelchairs. She was operated on three times after the January 12th quake but still has not recovered. She is in pain and needs help.

Seminars - This year we have been blessed in a tremendous way by two great speakers: Dr. John Caldwell and Joanie Grimm. Both of them are well known in the Christian community for their firm standing in the faith and commitment to Bible teaching. While they were with us we were able to make a large distribution of Bibles donated by Concordia Christian Church.

Tangible Results: Jonas Dorlus, evangelistic director, reports the following numbers for 2010: church members (11,257), baptisms (1,242), births (438), marriages (148), school children (11,555), and under nourished children fed (1,757). He also gives these numbers for the hospital: patients treated (18,842), births (201), and deaths (102).

We thank all those who have been praying and feeding Haitian Christian Mission so this baby could grow. HCM has matured into a thriving ministry but your support is still greatly needed. We count on you all the more.

With the KINGDOM in mind, the best is yet to come.

Alison recently produced a newsletter that includes insight from Thonny Fabien, the program director in Haiti.  In addition, there are profiles of two of the Play It Forward athletes and a piece by one of the coaches.  Coach Ribenson's article appears below but we encourage you to check out the whole newsletter in PDF form here. 

Build It and They Will Come

I am Ribinson Cherisma, one of the coaches of Play It Forward. I thank you for the opportunity to talk about a need of the kids of Play It Forward, of the community of Fonds-Parisien and of Haiti which is a soccer fields. Before I became a coach, I used to play soccer barefoot on a soccer field that was so small each team could only have three players on the field. Most of the boys in my neighborhood were part of a team. We had no other place to go so that field was our treasure.  Eventually the owner of the field decided to build a house on it and there was no more soccer for us.  No more distraction. For those young guys that caused more stress and led to more sexual promiscuity.  Also, friends started to come up missing.

 

But me, I had a dream. My dream was to fulfill my dad's dream for he wanted to see me become a famous soccer player. One day I left my neighborhood and went to play in another neighborhood. I saw someone looking at me. After the game he called me over and said he had a soccer school and that he wanted to make me a professional soccer player. I was very excited and I accepted. I became the secretary of that soccer school and felt like I was already becoming a great soccer player. Things were going great. The soccer school even gave me a business where I sold protein supplements and helped me  pay for school. My family was very happy but unfortunately we couldn't continue with the soccer school because we lacked soccer fields. I decided not to play soccer anymore. I sold the soccer shoes but I did not sell the knowledge.

 

I went to Fonds-Parisien to work as an interpreter. There I would play soccer with my friends in the schoolyard. One day a fellow interpreter, Thonny,

Ribinson and Thonny

asked me if I would coach a soccer team. I told him about my career in soccer and he accepted me as a coach at Play It Forward. I enjoy it and I enjoy the kids. We give them presents, such as soccer jerseys, that I know they can't find in Fonds and we tell them to say no to drugs and alcohol, and that they should score at least 60% in school so we can keep them at the club. They are all my friends.

 

One of them, Jean Dady Terane, recently told me about the importance of soccer for the community. He told me soccer is all they have for fun and that it is a very good medicine for them after the earthquake. He told me sometimes when they feel bored they go to the lake and swim a little bit, but as for soccer, they can play until dark. He told me if you have to gather people, to deliver a message, the best thing to do is to tell the community that there's going to be a soccer game. They love watching soccer, especially the kids. I asked him, "Are you a good soccer player?" He answered, "No." I said, "I see you playing well." He told me, "If you put me in a good soccer field with soccer shoes I would tremble; I wouldn't be able to play." I said, "You are right because I used to be like that too." Then I asked him, "What does soccer means for you?" He said, "After God, soccer and going to school are the keys to my future." I asked what he needed to become a good soccer player. He did not say that he needs a coach, soccer shoes, or even a soccer ball.  He said, "I need a soccer field to practice in."

 

I can't stop being grateful to Alison, Wendy, Thonny and the supporters for the joy and hope that they put in the heart of those kids and the community of Fonds-Parisien. Now they have better training with the coaches and equipment such as: soccer jerseys, balls and shoes. Honestly, guys! Haiti has just one soccer field that can hold only about 14,000 people.  The government is pretending that they are spending money on healthcare, schools, road cleaning, building, etc. but you never hear what

they do for our sports. I am telling you, instead of sending money for those people to put in their pockets you'd be better to come and invest it in sports like building soccer fields. I believe we would have a country like Brazil. We would have fewer kids in the streets begging, stealing, and killing.  You'd see less drug use, fewer 14-year-old girls getting pregnant, fewer 16-year-old boys becoming fathers, and less stress.  You'd see kids wasting less time and instead being more focused on school. More kids would being saying, "I can't go to the dance clubs because my coach will find out." And "Let me study so I can keep my scholarship." There would be more people working, more tourists, more investors, and more ambassadors playing for peace.

 

I pray you can understand my thoughts so you can see just how important a soccer field is for the kids of Play It Forward, the community of Fonds-Parisien, and Haiti. Thank you for this opportunity and for your understanding.