Our Mission Work In Haiti

  Thank you for visiting the Haiti page of our web site.  By doing so you have already demonstrated a degree of interest in this important ministry.   Mission work is an important part of the ministerial mandate for Christians. 

Our Lord taught the poor would always be with us.  It is our job as believers to evidence the love of God in our hearts by way of our actions.  One of those actions is how respond to the cries of those less well off than we are.

  Why Haiti?

   You may wonder why should you consider supporting Haiti when there and hundreds and thousands of other mission fields to consider?  As you may already be aware, Haiti is among the poorest nations in the world.  It is in fact the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.   It is poorer than Mexico, Chile, Brazil or any other nation in the Caribbean.  The average life span for adult males is about fifty-five years old.  The unemployment rate is astronomical due to the lack of industry.  Haiti is primarily an agrarian society meaning that it relies on farm products.   Yet, farmland is scarce due to soil erosion and poor maintenance, therefore there is dearth of grown goods. 

   The health of the Haitian population is significantly sub-standard.  There is one large hospital in the capital, Port-Au-Prince.  Most localities don’t even have a clinic or a doctor’s office to refer to in times of medical emergencies.  Consequently the population in general and children in particular, are greatly at risk due to poor or non-existent health care.  The need for medicine and skilled health providers cannot be overstated.   There are some Haitian natives who have come to the United States and received medical training and have decided to return to Haiti to help their people.  Even with these most earnest of intentions, this is somewhat like the little boy plugging the dike with his finger in a vain attempt to hold back the impending flood.  The need is just overwhelming but we must try. 

Paradise Lost 

   At one time, Haiti was the jewel of the Caribbean.  Surrounded by beautiful azure waters and scenic mountains. It became known as the “Island Country”.  It occupies the island called Hispanola and is shared with the country of the Dominican Republic.  It was known for plenteous sea life as well as it’s fertile fields for sugar, and rice as their primary produce.  All this was lost, ironically, I believe, when Haiti achieved it’s independence from France.  It was then that the Founding Fathers of Haiti, swore under blood to regard the gods of voodoo in exchange for victory and  freedom.  Haiti became the first black nation to achieve it’s freedom from a European power.

It seems that they achieved natural freedom but it cost them spiritual freedom in the process.

   It is now this union with darkness that I believe keeps Haiti in these oppressive conditions to this day.  The economic depression, the medical jeopardy and social stigma that follows the Haitian people are, I believe,  the result of this pact.  It is a common saying among the Haitians that, “ninety percent of the people believe Catholicism but one-hundred percent believe in voodoo”.  This hybrid worship of African gods of nature and elements of Christianity is at the very heart of the Haitian culture.  It figures prominently in virtually every artistic expression.  Like a leech, voodooism drains the very life’s blood from the people of Haiti.  It distracts and detracts them from the power that is in the blood of Jesus Christ.  It saps the power and vigor that should be part of the Haitian way of life.   Whether it is perceived as valid or not I believe that the power of things spiritual is not to be underestimated. 

Our Missions in Haiti

    I had my first personal exposure to Haiti in May of 1990.  I was asked by the Honorable Bishop Alphonso Scott, who became the Diocesan to Haiti for the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, to work with him as his administrative assistant.  Bishop Scott sponsored my first trip to Haiti and the experience changed my life.  One of the things that captured my attention on my first visit was a large billboard featuring a condom.  It was evidently a warning to Haitians to practice “safe sex”.  This was especially poignant because the Aids epidemic was still relatively new.  When first discussed, it was suggested that Aids had come to the U.S. from Haiti.  Like most medically deprived countries no doubt that Haiti had more than it’s share of troubles with Aids and other diseases.   It was later discovered much of the Aids traffic was due to a Caucasian  airline attendant who traveled all over North America, spreading the disease as he went. 

I was immediately aware of the up-hill struggle that confronted these people as a whole.  Our interest however was focused on that part of the population that we were directly involved with and that was the Christian element.  We had then three primary Missionaries who were then District Elders in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Incorporated.  Each of these men oversaw as many as ninety churches and addressed themselves to not only meeting the spiritual needs of their people but also their natural needs as well.

Bishop Joseph Saline Montinor

Our current Diocesan, the Honorable Bishop, Joseph Saline Montinor has a school and an orphanage on the premises of his church.  He houses about twenty five children in the orphanage and trains about one hundred and fifty children in their school.  As Saint Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:28 and “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches..”.   So is the case with Bishop Montinor and our other Missionaries as well.  Bishop Montinor’s school not only provides education on the K through 12 levels, he also provides training in vocational skills.  Likewise does District Elder Yves Regaillard.  His work is primarily in a town called Petit Grove.  There, his church serves as a hub for his other works, the Lively Stone Training School and The orphanage and school called CCS (Christian School).  In the orphanage District Elder Yves

 supports ten boys under the age of twelve.   His school primarily trains young girls and boys (about seventy-five) in vocational skills like sewing and carpentry as well as computer skills. 

    In addition to providing educational support these Missionaries are trying to help address the needs of their people. Of their regular stipend of One Hundred and Fifty dollars a month, they try to help provide food and clothing for other ministers and the people that they serve.   We in America, who know the Grace of God are trying to do something, however little or much to help. 

   As Administrator to the Haitian District Council, and in behalf of the Haitian Saints, I ask your help and support.  You may make your contributions directly to the Haitian District Council (P.A.W., Inc), P.O. Box 412, O’Fallon, Illinois, 62269.  A copy of your check or money order is forwarded to the Headquarters Office of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., in Indianapolis, Indiana.   We will send you an acknowledgment letter indicating that your gift has been received.  We will send you updates regularly, demonstrating that your gifts are being put to positive use.  If you wish, you may earmark your donations to some specific area of work such as the Orphanages or the Schools conducted by our Missionaries.  Please be assured whatever you give will be forwarded to those for whom it is intended.  Only the most minimal amount of money is ever used for administrative purposes.  The overwhelming majority of such expenses are absorbed by the O’Fallon Apostolic Assembly Church.  It is but another way in which we add to the effort.  As always, your help will most definitely be appreciated.  Thanks again for visiting this page and please pray for Haiti.   

God Bless 
Bishop Wells