Michigan Area Haiti Task Force
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Michigan Area Haiti Task Force |
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One man's dream was fulfilled when the Tovar Elementary School was dedicated during the VIM team trip February 5-13, 2005. Curtis Bartz, of First United Methodist Church, in Ypsilanti, had a dream to build a school in Haiti and that dream is now a reality. In his newsletter he mentioned the following. "In a rural area like Tovar, without electricity or access to transportation, earning a living presents challenges beyond the 80 per cent unemployment in the country. Yet the people remain hopeful and struggle to assure their children's spiritual and physical well being. They also dream that education will enable the children to improve their lives. We dream that along with them."
He said: "before the Tovar School was a reality, we selected the traditional little red schoolhouse icon to remind ourselves how import it is to have a safe place where children can learn about themselves and their world." Work teams and financial supporters, made up of from numerous UM churches from both conferences have now completed the school. Tovar is located in the Cap Haitian District. The dream does not end there because plans are already in the works for a second floor and attention needs to be given to the clinic located next to the school. The children, over 200, receive a hot lunch every day and are most thankful for the generous support Curtis has had and will continue to have from so many supporters.
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Albion District and Chapel Hill UM Church in Battle Creek is fulfilling a long held dream for the congregation in Cayes. There is not a Methodist school in the city, located on the southern coast of Haiti. The work was started in April and when completed the school is destined to be an elementary and secondary school.
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Croix des Mission is located in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and the congregation was started in 1954 as a baucan (house church). The congregation has 58 communicate members and serves a community over 200 people. The present church building is one room that is very small and inadequate to serve this growing congregation. Under the leadership of Pastor Octave Torchon, the church as grown and also offers a vital Sunday School program, Youth Club and other ministries to the neighborhood. Their dream of having a new church was shattered nearly 10 years ago when it was discovered that the land the new church was going to be built on did not have a free and clear deed; and construction was halted.
The dream is now becoming a reality as Court Street UM Church in Flint made the decision to purchase for the congregation in building a new facility on a large piece of land, near the present location at a cost of $ 25,000 (US). The new church will have the sanctuary on the second floor and on the ground level will be an area for Sunday School, a clinic, and various community projects. (The facility is similar to the halls that Wesley built in England). Presently there are no plans for a school, but the congregation would like to provide a Pre-School and Day Care facility to help working mothers. The congregation has worked long and hard to raise 30,000 Haitians Gdes ($ 2,000 US) for their community/church building. Robert Parker, will lead the first VIM team to Croix des Mission in June. He is still looking for others to join the team.
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For information about any of these trips, please contact the Michigan Area Haiti Task Force at mahaititf@yahoo.com.