November 2022 Ministry Update
Dear Mission Friends and Supporters,
Good evening, it’s exactly 8 PM in La Victoire, Haiti. After a long week of ministry, we are excited it is the weekend where we will be able to spend a day with our family as we prepare to face new challenges in the coming week. You’ve might have heard it has been very difficult for the whole country and our community with all that is happening due to political crisis, kidnappings, and gang situation. It has been a long three months living in Haiti. It hasn’t been easy at all, but the Lord has sustained us, and we are thankful to all of you who prayed and continue to pray for our family and our lovely country and the community of La Victoire.
Despite all the challenges that we have faced within these three months living here in La Victoire, we also have experienced the powerful hands of God working within our community and within our family.
Click HERE to visit our giving page if you'd like to start supporting SAI on a monthly basis!
Food & Water Insecurity
A great challenge we’ve faced is witness such extreme poverty. People are hungry and they have no means of getting food. They live in fear and desperation, and they are hopeless with the situation of their country. The food and drinking water shortage in Haiti is very challenging. Many of the ports have been closed due to protests and food and other valuable resources are hard to get in country. Clean water to drink was often hard to find. Without generators that are run by gasoline, water companies cannot produce much drinking water.
My wife made sure to stock up on emergency food supplies before we came to Haiti. If the situation had gotten worse, we were able to have food and water for about two weeks. My wife is a planner, so I wasn’t surprised when she showed me the two huge plastic bins filled with food when we left to Haiti.
Gas Shortages Causing Real Problems
A second challenge we face is lack of gas within the whole country. No institution can properly function because most of the employees use gas for their vehicles (motorcycles and cars) to go to work. There were times where we need gas and had to pay around $30 US dollars for a gallon of gasoline in the street but despite all that is happening again, God continues to be faithful to our family. We have heard the hearts of so many moms who would love to send their children to school, but unfortunately are unable to accomplish this task because all the schools’ doors are closed due to the insecurity issues and gas shortage.
But God Continues to Provide
Though things may be hard, we see so many opportunities where we can encourage, love and serve our community and the communities around us. During the whole month of October, we were full of activities. We opened our local church for a week of worship service where the whole community gather every night to pray for our country, sing, and to connect. It was an amazing experience, and we cannot believe how encouraged and how powerful this week was as we all gathered to worship the Lord and lift up our country in the palm of God’s hands.
At the end of October, we were able to host 800 youth in the church for a small youth conference. Many stayed in the primary school classrooms to sleep because they lived so far from the church and others who lived close by came walking to church for those three days. We were able to feed them 3 times a day through a grant that we received with CWRD for Leadership Development, and they were with us for 3 full and amazing days. We had some awesome leaders who came from different communities to share with our youths because we understand how a great number of them want to escape Haiti and travel somewhere else for a better life.
We wanted to create a sacred space for them where they can lament, pray and praise God and learn despite all that is happening how to be good leaders within their communities. Through their own testimonies, again we witness the Holy Spirit of God within us who convince us to host the leadership development of young community leaders through 17 different communities within the North and the center region.
SAI Support for Community
Support for Food Security
In the same month we create a campaign to help the least of the least. Through that campaign we were able to bless 150 families in great need with food package such as rice and oil. We are truly grateful and thankful to all of you who contributed toward this campaign. Together we have made an awesome difference in the lives of these 150 families. As funds continue to come toward this campaign, we want to continue to bless another 150 families in great need throughout the month of November and around the Christmas season so that these families in great need could experience God’s love and grace as well within the holiday season. Please continue to pray for us and with us for this goal to become a reality.
Support for Children
Although school is still not open, we want to thank our God and some amazing families and friends who contributed with us in making our primary and high school campus become a reality. Throughout this construction project we have 16 classrooms to host both our high school and primary section. Also, every summer we will use this classroom as a camp site to host youth, children, and family conferences because this is a multipurpose campus. We want to continue to provide a safe space for youth, children, and adults within our community and this is the only ministry as such that exist within our area.
Support for Healthcare
Despite most hospitals and clinics closing within our country, we are thankful that our medical team understands the need to assist our community to have access to good health care which is our passion. We want to thank the Park’s family who provided a good solar system for our medical clinic which allows our lab and dental department use electricity to serve our community in such difficult time.
Prayer Request
Please continue to pray for us, God continues to show us mercy, love and His grace. We are truly thankful for all of you, and we love serving God and the Haitian people in this time of hardship with you all. We would love to start hosting teams again, but due to the insecurity of the country we haven’t been able to do so. We would love to start hosting teams in the summer of 2023. Continue to pray for the country and our ministry. We would love to see you one day here in Haiti to experience all the great things we have going on because of your prayers and generous donations. Blessing!
Supporting SAI's Mission
As you've seen in this month's Ministry Update, we continue to support the La Victoire community in the face of extreme challenges. Your continued support is helping us by:
-
Sourcing and buying food that we can then distribute to families in need.
-
Creating Christ-centered events for our youth as schools are still not in session.
-
Finishing the build-out of our new school campus building, with funds also paying the salaries of our many wonderful teachers.
-
Sustaining a constant flow of medical equipment and drugs for our Medical Center.
You can support us by hitting "Donate Now" below or following this link.
May the Lord keep and continue to bless all of your abundantly! With Love, Even & Karina Paul & Family
Evens & Karina Paul & Family
