Parishioners Return from Trip to Haiti with Renewed Passion and Hope

Six of our parishioners returned from a five day trip to Haiti on May 27, 2008. Four of them had been before and two went for the first time. All of them returned with an excitement for the work that is being done in Christ’s name.

Reggie Brooker, Allen Ladd, Jim and Margot Stewart, Joel Tassie, and Gillaine Warne all share a vision for Christ Church mission work in Cange, Haiti. Reggie Brooker was the trip leader. He is a long time supporter and volunteer with our mission work in Haiti. Reggie simply says, “I wanted to introduce other people to this mission work with the hope that they would be inspired to lead others and our church on this great endeavor in missions.”

You will feel their passion in the interviews below and their hope is that you too, will be inspired to make Haiti a part of your prayer world and your mission experience.

What was the most meaningful part of your time spent in Haiti?

Reggie Brooker: “Seeing old friends. We have had a personal relationship with our friends in Cange for many years. Although much work has been done, it is still very much a matter of friendships and understandings between the people here and in Cange. This is a person-to-person and church-to-church relationship. The relationship needs to be nourished, and expanded to include more people.”

Allen Ladd: “Visiting the classrooms of mission schools. You see the primitive conditions, but the orderliness and cheer too.”

Jim and Margot Stewart: “We saw opportunities in two of the schools that we visited. One is on the dusty top of a mountain and had six grades under a metal roof that had recently been added. The school still doesn’t have walls, but the students were learning. The second school is one that is associated with a mission church from Cange. They have over five hundred students and their buildings are in desperate need of repair and painting.”

Joel Tassie: “Being able to travel around and see the depth and breadth of ministry our Parish and Diocese has supported for the past 25-30 years, from the incredible Cange complex to the open air school that crammed six classrooms under a metal roof on a hill with barren rock teaching kids who are obviously severely undernourished. And seeing these kids get a good meal for lunch and the possibility of a future.

What do you feel is the biggest impact that our church can make on Haiti in the future?

Reggie Brooker: “We need continuity. This year there will be a diocesan campaign, ‘The Gifts of Bread and Water’. This will help to expand the present water system, started by Pierce Williams, and to develop a vocational school emphasizing agriculture. This will extend the work in agriculture begun and led by Gillaine Warne for the treatment of malnourished children and adults.”

Allen Ladd: “EDUCATING THE CHILDREN. We contribute generously to feeding the children of Cange. We ought to do everything in our power to ensure that the same children get a good education, whether as far as vocational school or on to university. This could be done by providing basic support and sustenance, incentives, and scholarships. They, with our help, are a bright future for Haiti.”

Jim and Margot Stewart: “Margot and I went on mission trips to Haiti with high school students for five consecutive years, but hadn’t been back for five years, so for us this was a chance to see what had changed and to assess the possibility of future mission trips.”

Joel Tassie: “To continue the work in the area that we have been involved in the most. Continue the work for the secondary water system (without water there is no Cange). Start taking mission trips to Cange regularly with different groups of people.”

Would you recommend this trip to others?

Reggie Brooker: “I heartily recommend this trip. You will learn a great deal more about other people, the world, and about yourself.”

Allen Ladd: “Yes. You will learn a lot about your own capacity, or propensity, to love other people. You will learn a lot about how close we all really are.”

Jim and Margot Stewart: “Yes. Haiti is still a difficult trip to make, but the opportunities abound for helping our brothers and sisters in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.”

Joel Tassie: “Yes. Because you can not only build on a ministry that has left a legacy for the entire region, you can help real needs, in a real 3rd world country in our hemisphere.”