Haiti Church Plant Closeout Report

First Baptist Church Tulsa, we are thrilled to share with you this final report to close out your church planting effort for the Nazarene Church of Dame in Dame, Haiti. Like the community of Dame, we cannot thank you enough for your partnership in this incredible undertaking. You have truly blessed Dame. May God bless you in equal measure!

This has been a remarkable experience for the community, as you will see below. The child development center currently serves 70 registered children and 130 adults attend the church regularly. Because churches usually double as schools in Haiti, you have not only brought a church and child development center to Dame, but also a local school. As you can read below, this is another game-changer for the community. Most field reports for Compassion projects offer straightforward details of the progress to inform supporters of faithful stewardship. With this report, however, the writer in Dame, Tsadok Dalien, went above and beyond the reporting standards by writing a narrative account to help you more fully understand the impact of your support.

Construction Review

Having and executing projects is worthless unless they impact people’s lives. Making an impact on the community of Dame through church planting is worthwhile, especially in a community which was so eager to receive the gospel that one of the new believers’ houses was used as the temporary church. Then, our church members moved to a piece of land we struggled to buy but where we built our own little church to worship – one which followed no construction rules at all. Faith does move mountains, as our vision to have a structure to welcome more people in the community comfortably just became a reality.

The gospel is being spread, and the presence of a local church continues to transform the lives and touch the souls of many unbelievers, as we expected. In addition to meeting spiritual needs, physical, emotional and cognitive needs are also being met in the community because Compassion has implemented a child development center in the local church through which children are being sponsored. Now parents and their children no longer have to walk miles to get an education and hear the Word of God.

The end result of this intervention is a beautiful multipurpose room to use for a sanctuary as well as church and club activities. Three initial classrooms, a sanitation facility and a kitchen and cafeteria were built at the same time. The people in Dame were so happy, they joyfully gave their local contributions with the hope that God would do what they couldn’t do. God touched the donors’ hearts to contribute and make a miracle to happen in Dame. This is now seen as God’s blessings on the community.

Through this final report, let’s look back at what was done during the process. This project went through several milestones before getting to this point:

First of all, a visit was planned to prospect the site, and a successful meeting was held with the stakeholders.
A bid process was carried out in June 2018, and one company was chosen to do three of four churches in the region, and Dame was one of the them.
A contract was signed with the construction firm, and two weeks later the construction started.
A visit was made to the construction site by Compassion’s CIV implementer engineer for the launch of the construction, and four other supervisory visits were made while the construction continued until the opening ceremony.
A final visit was made in conjunction with the commencement ceremony to verify that all the buildings were done and to verify that everything was completed perfectly.

The Impact of Your Support

Complete satisfaction is felt in the community after the construction of these buildings. More children in this community are attending school and child development center activities. As stated above, the church is growing as the Word of God is being spread.

Local contributions, even in their limited aspect, were key for the success of this intervention, especially because it makes the church members feel they have ownership of the structure. People in this community were active with their contributions and construction assistance for this church plant. Their participation was highly beneficial for this project as it has helped accomplish something that can serve the community in many ways.

This church represents more than a blessing to the people in Dame. The expectation is that more people will continue to come to know the Lord through this outstanding ministry. More children will be raised in a community where God’s Word is applied consistently. Further, the children will be able to receive a solid education and also learn skills that will help them get released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Q&A with the Center Director

Jean Sivra Ambeau has lived in Dame for 45 years and is the director of the new child development center there.

How have the lives of the affected beneficiaries been changed since the project’s completion?

The beneficiaries of this intervention have become more confident about the future of the community. Many of them are no longer reluctant to come to church to hear the word of God.

Since this project began, many have accepted Jesus Christ into their lives as their Savior. They are more motivated than ever before in this community and they feel comfortable to give their help to shape their future.

This intervention brought a mindset of development in the community. Many of the children no longer have to go to school far away: They prefer to go to school near their homes. We have a lot of children attending the school.

For that reason, we are now building three more classrooms to receive more pupils.

How has this project benefited the community?

This intervention has brought many benefits in the community including: Many have come to know God; more parents are sending their children to school; most of the community’s construction workers worked on this project – the jobs that were created are continuing now as we build the three additional classrooms.

How has this project affected your ability to minister to the beneficiaries?

People learned to trust us. They are not afraid to get along with others. They are ready to accompany the center in further projects that we may have for the community. They are ready to help us in everything.

What would you like to say to those who provided the financial support for this project?

I would like to wish them success in their activities and their community. We will pray for them and their families. May God always bless them.

: A wide view of the buildings

Challenges

The project was not so easy to complete because it went through many challenges, including:

Transportation: Attaining materials such as blocks, cement and metal was the greatest challenge. Because Dame is located in a remote area, people had to go to Gonaives, about 62 miles away, to get materials to Dame.

Water: There is no water available in the community. The people had to travel far on horseback to get water. This situation affected the construction process and slowed down activities in some ways.

Cost: The project was successfully completed, the landscape of the community has changed, and beneficiaries are very happy for those new buildings.

The full amount of budgeted funds was used, plus an estimated local contribution equivalent to U.S. $3,585.

Q&A with a Beneficiary Parent

Cherelus Ruthberchise, has lived in Dame for five years in a household with seven people.

What was your life like before the project was implemented?

Before the project, our lives were more difficult because the community does not have enough resources, such as schools for the children, and we did care about the health of our children. They had to walk kilometers to attend school, and we did not have enough money to pay the fees. Before this project, we had fewer people who followed God.

How has your life changed now that this project is complete?

This has changed my life completely. Before, we had difficulties with school and now we do not. The health of our children is very important for us. Now our children have better healthcare because of the presence of a nurse at the center who takes care of our children, so we do not feel upset about the health of our children.

I think the center is like a resource and a tool of development for the community.

What will this change mean for your future or the future of your family?

We can confirm that this change means a lot for us. Now, we are not afraid of the future of our children. Because of the project, we are sure that tomorrow will be brighter for us and our family. We will have more human resources in the community. Hope is back in the community; people are not so in a hurry to leave this community anymore.

What lessons have you learned from this project?

The lesson we have learned is the power of unity. This project inspires in us a mindset of development. It allows us to see what we can do when we are united. A new mentality has taken place in the community, and it shows us the good way to live together.

What would you like to say to those who provided the financial support for this project?

I would like to thank them for their devotion for this community. May God bless them and their families. We will pray for them and their families. We wish them success in everything, and we also would like to ask them to always remember us.