Evergreen Association Mission Trip to Haiti
We went to Haiti to be part of American Baptist Mission work at Cap Haitien, Haiti, and we found that work to be inspiring. Nzunga Mabudiga and his wife Kihomi minister to the poorest country in our hemisphere.
There are most certainly some serious problems in Haiti. Their government leaders allowed a devastating destruction of Haiti’s trees, and this led to massive soil erosion, and a greatly limited ability to grow crops. Garbage and pollution was on every street corner and poured into the waterways, and was strewn across the beaches. Disease comes not only from this publicly-disposed waste, but also from water systems compromised by the quake. Cholera, (though it has eased off a little) is widespread. Around 60% of the children never finish grade school.
But we also found much to be hopeful about, not the least of which are our missionaries who work there. Kihomi and Nzunga serve as a vital link between International Ministries and the Haitian Baptist Convention. Nzunga teaches theology at the Christian University of Northern Haiti, trains assistant professors in teaching and writing books, administers a scholarship program, and visits and preaches in churches. He also administers the "Kids for Kids" goat project that provides needed school and personal supplies for children and university students.
Kihomi works with families in the areas of counseling, family planning, and women's health issues. She also coordinates and advises the women's association of the Haitian Baptist Convention, representing women of all the Baptist denominations of Haiti at international conferences. She also assists women in getting assistance money for economic development. It has been discovered in many Third World countries that the best way to help with development is to help the women!!
American Baptists, through missionaries like Nzunga and Kihomi, are also running a hospital to treat those injured in the quake, including a center for handicapped children; they have a much-used eye clinic, and an orphanage, as well as a school and a university. We had as our task starting the building of another school, a school which Nzunga is determined to fill with the highest quality teachers. We who went on this trip have seen the hope of these institutions as well. The churches of the Evergreen Association have already given money to fan this flicker of light to flame. In the months and years to come, our dream is that we can do even more to keep this hope alive and help Haiti re-build.
Our team arrives in Haiti, and Clem Winbush is greeted by Kihomi.
"We always appreci-ate the visits...Once you are in our place, we don't feel lonely and left alone on the island of Haiti."
-Nzunga Mabudiga
Eye Clinic exam room at the eye clinic in Cap Haitian. Evergreen Association helped pay for a back-up generator to supply the clinic with reliable power.
Children at our orphanage in Port-au-Prince, wanting more "horsey" rides from Pastor Keith Madsen
Team members, including Mary Cline (far left) and Angeline Schreib (center), helping to build school in Cap Haitian .
