Another Work & Witness team led by the Southern Florida District (USA) returned to Gros-Morne, Haiti with some amazing God-led accomplishments. The team with a group of educators from Olivet Nazarene University was in Haiti from January 4 – 12, 2014.
Following the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010, the Southern Florida District established a partnership with the Gros-Morne Church of the Nazarene. Gros-Morne is about 100 miles north of Port-au-Prince. In that time the church has become Haiti’s largest congregation and largest church structure. Over the past three years Southern Florida has sent six teams to Gros-Morne and has contributed over a quarter-million dollars to assist with improvements. Pastor Roy Shuck of Naples Faith Community has led all six groups.
In the latest effort, Olivet Nazarene University, in Bourbonnais, Illinois (USA) sponsored a group of three educators and one student, led by Dr. Dena Reams, to begin a pilot program in Gros-Morne. Their goal was to train parochial teachers with new methods to better teach and inspire elementary and secondary school students to read books in French. Sixty teachers were expected for the training but over 130 local teachers showed up for two days of training in the Gros-Morne church sanctuary. The response from the 130 teachers was overwhelmingly positive and they cherished the “Certificate of Participation” given to them by Olivet Nazarene University (ONU).
The ONU educators then worked one-on-one with some of the teachers at the Gros-Morne Nazarene School, which has about 800 students. The educators did a demonstration of best teaching methods for 5th and 6th grade students in the Gros-Morne computer lab provided earlier by the Southern Florida District.
Southern Florida District Superintendent, Dr. David Nixon and Pastor Pascal Permis, USA/Canada Haitian Coordinator, conducted two days of intensive training for pastors on spiritual leadership. Forty pastors were expected, but 82 showed up for the two-day training. Some pastors walked as many as six hours before they could secure public transportation to Gros-Morne.
Dr. Nixon said, “This training experience was extremely rewarding and extremely humbling to see all these pastors eager to learn how to better lead their congregations.” The training concluded with a special recommitment to their calling and original baptism through a symbolic water hand washing baptism.
Meanwhile, the other team members completely rewired the local District Center and guesthouse with nearly 2,000 feet of Romex wire and 400 feet of electrical conduit. Civil engineer, Jim McLellan of the Palm Beach Gardens Northlake Blvd. Nazarene Church, led this part of the project. Numerous plumbing and other improvements were made to the guesthouse, which is used to host visiting teams, pastors in training and district meetings.
Tai Peachey, a junior from ONU, led part of the team in repainting the exterior walls to the church’s Pre-School Center. Tai designed and painted several educational murals for the students.
For the past three years, Southern Florida has been working to provide a clean water well for the Gros-Morne church, school and community. While touring the city, with Gros-Morne Pastor Paul Edouard Zamor, the group had a divinely inspired “chance” meeting with a well driller who was from a distant town, but working in Gros-Morne on another project. The owner of the drilling equipment is a Christian. He agreed to drill a well for the church and provide a submersible electric pump for about half the price of what was expected. The Southern Florida team quickly raised the money to undertake the expense. The well and pump installation will be complete within a week.
God is at work in Gros-Morne, Haiti.
http://sfnazarene.org/
