Wednesday, May 28, 2008

nutrition center stories

Someone asked me for some stories on the kids in the center. I have many but I'll share a few here at the blog:

The first story is about Kelley. He is a young man of around 13. We don't know his exact age. That is a common occurrence around here. People often don't have birth certificates and birthdays are not really celebrated. So, we are guessing 13. You can't tell by his size that he is 13. My 10 year-old, Tana, is about 75 lbs. Kelley weighs 52 lbs and is the same height as Tana. But he is very smart. He comes from a household where his dad is a voodoo witch doctor. Kelley's dad's name is Price. Price has been a voodoo witch doctor all of his adult life. Now he is an old man (he is probably around 50 but looks likes he is 75, easy) and blind. He has glaucoma and we can't get him the medicine needed for this eye disease. He has to take it every day and that is just not possible here. Price has heard the gospel many times but still goes back to the voodoo religion. His wife, Kelley and his brothers and sisters all want to leave voodoo and be Christians but the father resists. When Kelley started hanging out at the nutrition center, we first said that he couldn't come because he was not from our community. He lives in the community next to ours. But, he kept coming, not to eat, but to hear the Bible stories and songs. We talked to him and learned more about his family life and situation. We visited his house. Kelley lives in a house that some Christian in years past made for them because they lived in severe poverty. Now they have a small block house with a dirt floor. They never had a lot of land to put into gardens to feed the family and now Price is blind and can't work it anyway. Kelley won our hearts because of his sweetness of spirit. His sister, Majorie, age 8 is also a sweet little girl. They have been coming to the center for 2 years now. They eat with us and we often catch Kelley taking some of his food home for his dad because they don't have anything at home. Kelley and Majorie are going to church with us every Sunday morning and attend the Sunday afternoon church. They are active in the junior church. Their clothes come from us--shoes, pants, shirt, everything. They are going to school for the first time in their lives. Pray for Kelley. His older brother did not have the advantage of hearing of Jesus's love and he is a young man that beats his brother and is angry all the time. He never got to go to school and spends his days in the streets. We call Kelley "Pastor" now because he loves to sing and pray for the center. He is always the first to come and last to go. He is our song leader and always leads the rest of the children in their verses. He loves to play soccer but he is not strong enough to play with the older boys on the regular team. When teams from the US come, he practices the English he knows with them and makes them feel very welcome. Kelley Cadet is a very special boy.

Jisline and Jislene Joseph are the reasons we first started the nutrition centers. We came down to disciple and teach lay pastors. We didn't have a plan to feed children. But we were visiting families in the community one day and came across our neighbors to the north that have 10 children. They had 4 children and then 3 sets of twins. The first 3 children are pretty well developed but you can tell that the addition of 7 more children was too much for the family. The Joseph family were also heavily involved voodoo. They live in a stick and mud house that is probably the size of a typical American's living room. No beds, no cupboards, no floor, thatch roof that leaks. When we went visiting we saw Jisline and Jislene were in the 'kitchen.' This is outdoors where 3 large stones are placed on the ground so that a fire can burn and cook the food. The two 5 year-old twins had plates in their hands that were full of ashes from the fire. They were eating the ashes with their fingers--scooping it up into their mouths. Their mouths were ringed with ashes. That is when God called us to open the nutrition centers. Jisline and Jislene are terribly stunted. They are 7 1/2 years old right now, 27 inches tall, and 38 lbs. I have a 2 1/2 year old niece that weighs 35 lbs! They had red hair and bloated bellies when we started. Their bellies and hair are normal now and they gained lbs and inches in the years since we started the center. But, it takes a long time to correct all the neglect they received nutritionally. What has been such a blessing is that they used to be so quiet. In the beginning, these 5 year olds wouldn't say anything--we found out it was because they didn't know very many words, yet. They didn't even form sentences. Now they are chatterboxes. Jisline, the girl, is still shy but Jislene is the biggest little flirt. Jisline always has one finger in her mouth. He loves to hold on to team members and sit on their laps. He smiles all the time and giggles. We can even get him to lead the songs for us now. Jisline is afraid of our dogs but Jislene loves to show how brave he is by touching one of our dogs (and our dogs are bigger than he is) with one finger and then darting away. Neither of these kids go to school. It is not because of funds. We have sent them to school already but their mental development was not able to handle first grade, yet. Hard to believe. Also, they still get sick often. Jisline burned her hand last year and it took months and months to heal because their poor immune systems. They get skin diseases all the time due to sleeping on dirt floors and not having clean clothes. Claudius, the father of Jisline and Jislene, recently came to know Christ as his Savior and to burn all his fetishes that tied him to voodoo. The whole family comes to the Sunday afternoon church at our place. The older sister just was baptized. It is very hard for this family because of their poverty and their large family. Please pray for these kids and their parents. Pray that they continue to trust in the Lord.


God bless you all! Krissie

Monday, May 12, 2008

Autobiography of Louimachus Mompremier (JeanJean)

I, Louimachus Mompremier, was born on November 15, 1968 as one of 7 children in the Central Plateau of Haiti. I was raised in a Catholic family as Catholicism was and is the predominant religion of Haiti. We were poor; we only had enough for meals once or twice a day, a house where the kids slept on the dirt floor, and a means to go to primary school. My father died when I was 13 years old and left my mother to try to find means for all her children to go to secondary school. She worked hard as a farmer as was able to provide for all of her children. I was able to secure a scholarship for my secondary education. But, as there were no secondary schools in the area that I lived, I needed to walk 4 hours to the nearest school. I got up at one or two o’clock every Monday morning and walked to school with a donkey laden with food for the week. I stayed in a room that my family rented with 3 other school boys during the week. And every Friday, after school, I walked back home. In this way, I received my full education. The illiteracy rate for Haiti is most often cited as 80%. The percentage of high school graduates is probably more like 10% at the time that I graduated. It was a major accomplishment in my family as well as my community.

I came to know the Lord in 1990. Haiti was the first independent Black republic in the world. But when the slaves revolted in 1791, they did so with the blood of sacrificed animals. Haiti was founded in voodoo since its conception. Voodoo is the main religion and main deterrent for advancement. The statistics state that Catholicism is 90-95% of the religion. But in reality, voodoo should be named. The Catholic church in Haiti is not like the Catholic church in the United States. I grew up in the Catholic church and rarely heard a sermon preached from the Bible. The sermons were all politically motivated. Most Catholics in Haiti are also heavily involved in voodoo. For me, I received a vision from God that told me that I must be baptized that very day. I had some knowledge of the Christian faith due to missionary efforts, but it was not real to me. After that vision, I walked to the nearest church which was 2 hours away and asked to be baptized. Since then my hunger for the Lord has not abated. I felt his call to become a pastor 5 years later and He has been faithful to provide opportunities for this to become true.

In 1994 I was asked to become a secondary school teacher for a mission school. As there were not many qualified people, I was asked to teach a variety of subjects. I taught Math, Physics, Chemistry, Spanish, and French. I had also been hired in the afternoons at another school that was 45 minutes away by bicycle. I had a major accident in 1995. I was bicycling to the second school one afternoon. I was biking down a big hill. I was hit from behind by a large truck that was going too fast because the man had actually stolen the truck earlier that day. He left the scene and I was taken to the hospital. I developed many complications from this accident. Several Haitian doctors and American missionary doctors examined me and they all thought that I would not survive. But, by the grace of God, I am still here. This accident re-affirmed my call to go into the ministry. I later had an opportunity to witness to the driver of the truck that hit me. I shared God’s love with him and prayed with him that he might come to know the Lord.

In 1996, my future wife came to work at the same mission that I was working at. Kristie (DeBoer) is a native of Orange City, Iowa. She attended Northwestern College and obtained a biology degree with a minor in Mathematics. She also has a RN degree and worked several years at the Orange City Hospital while I was studying in seminary. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We met while doing 13 vacation Bible schools in 11 weeks. When we married, I became a more integral part of the administration of the mission. I was able to get involved with more non-formal aspects of education. My passion and talents had always been to teach and to evangelize. I began a program to help the surrounding churches with training. They are quite a few churches in Haiti. Unfortunately, there are not many seminaries available and not many people that could afford them anyway. The churches are mainly lead by lay pastors who have little or no Biblical training. But they do have a heart to serve. I organized quarterly training by myself or by visiting pastors. My wife and I also created Sunday school curriculum and taught people how to teach it. We started the first Children’s church in our area and had 150-200 children attend every week.

I had the opportunity to enroll in a satellite program of a seminary based in the capital. I was able to take 8 classes with this school and profited greatly from it. In the fall of 2000, my wife and I felt that we wanted to take my education as far as we could and traveled back to the states. I immediately took a Bible survey course through Jerry Falwell Ministries. Soon after that, I found out about Trinity and began my studies with the university.

While studying at Trinity, I remained active in a church where we were living. The pastor of the church knew that my desire was to become a pastor and to return to my country where I could continue church leadership training. He helped my in many ways. The church voted to have me become an elder and this experience helped me see how a church should be Biblically governed. My pastor offered a Greek class and a preaching class to his congregation and I participated eagerly. The church sent me to many mission conferences and speakers. My wife and I attended church planting school that was sponsored by the Evangelical Free Church in 2002. All these experiences helped me to grow in my personal faith and cemented my desire to share this knowledge with my country. I also translated the book Firm Foundations from New Tribes missions into Haitian Creole so that I would have a training manual to work with.

Presently, I have been serving our Lord in my country for the past 7 months. I have been teaching lay pastors from many churches the principles of the Bible and church administration. Our ministry has been very well received. The men of my class travel 4-5 hours a day to attend the classes. They are hungry for God’s Word. We have plans to continue this ministry and hopefully, with God’s blessing, to expand it. God has been very faithful through my life.

UCI Ministries

UCI 2007

UCI pastoral training:
UCI’s main goal is to teach the Word of God. JeanJean was trained at the Trinity Theological Seminary in the States. He always felt that God was calling him to return to Haiti to train church leaders in the Word. Haiti has many churches but very few trained pastors. These men have been hunger to learn more about the Word. Some of these men travel 6-8 hours a day to attend classes. And they are happy to do so. UCI has given out bikes to the pastors to help them travel. UCI also distributes Bibles and biblical materials as available to the churches. The newest project is the completion of a dormitory that will house the pastors that have to travel the furtherest. By God’s grace this dormitory will be completed in the spring of 2007.

UTK: United Christian Workers:
The vast majority of churches are unable to support many ministries, or even pay the pastor, due to the poverty of Haiti. UCI has endeavored to help the churches find ways to support itself and ministries of the church. Toward this aim, UCI has hired Saul Louis and Justin Mompremier to work alongside the churches that have attended the pastoral training. Saul is a trained agriculturist that had worked for the government for many years. He is also a church leader. He travels to the different churches and teaches seminars on agricultural techniques and godly stewardship principles. There are now church gardens where the people can practice these techniques and also generate money for ministries. UCI also distributes female pigs to the churches. The litter is distributed to needy families with the understanding that one of the following litter will be tithed back to the church. The newest project is the construction of a tree nursery that will distribute fruit trees to the churchs.


UFK: United Christian Women:
Because women are an integral part to God’s work, UCI has been teaching the Word of God to the wives of the pastors that attended JeanJean’s classes. Kristie and Evenie Louis have been working together to help these women study their Bibles and find their own place in the ministry of the church. Another goal of the class is to expose the women to new learning in other places such as the use of an oven made out of a metal 50 gallon barrel that uses
charcoal.

Nutrition Centers:
Due to the extreme poverty in Haiti, many of its children are severely malnourished. God put a desire in the Mompremiers’ heart to try to help some of these children find good food. In addition to physically feeding the children, UCI is committed to trying to feed the children spiritually. These centers have daily Bible lessons and songs and verses. UCI also teaches the parents basic health and hygiene lessons. The kids also benefit from VBS, Christmas programs and craft time. In 2007, UCI opened it second nutrition center at a church that has participated in JeanJean’s classes. Altogether 88 children are being fed 4 times a week.

School Programs:
UCI has been blessed with several people who have desired to help children find a way to go to school. Because of this, 128 children are able to attend schools that would not have been able otherwise. These gifts also help the schools continue to work and pay its teachers.

Evangelistic Outreach:
The Mompremiers acquired some land last year and decided to set aside some of it for a soccer field for the local kids to play on. From this small ministry, 2 bigger and exciting ministries have formed. Through talking with the kids, JeanJean discovered that many of these young men (teenagers to twenties) do not ever go to church. They gave various reasons, but the bottom line was that they weren’t comfortable with the church setting. UCI opened informal worship services on Sunday afternoon in our gazebo for the nutrition center. It is now attended by many members of the community. People come with bare feet and many questions. Several people, including witch doctors, have given their lives to Christ through this.

Apprenticeship Program:
Another ministry that came from the soccer field is our new apprenticeship program. These same young men that were unchurched also were not able to go to school. Most of them stopped attending school after only a couple years. Some expressed interest in returning to school and will be next term. But others said that they would rather learn a trade to help them in life. UCI hired Odelin Estimable, an experienced carpenter, to show these young men how to earn a living through carpentry. Odelin also prays and studies the Bible with his students before working.

National Missionaries
Voodoo is the prevalent throughout Haiti. This religion spreads fear and distrust throughout the country. UCI’s goal is to teach the Word of God throughout all aspects of Haitian life. There is a big need for evangelism in areas that know only voodoo. UCI employs 2 Haitian men to go door-to-door and pray for people and witness to people about Christianity. These 2 men have graduated from JeanJean’s pastoral class. This ministry has also helped equipped Haitian leaders and showed them how God can work through everyone.

Short-term Mission Teams
In addition to teaching the Word of God and equipping Haitian leaders, UCI wants to unite Christians around the world. UCI encourages Christians from around the world to experience God working in Haiti. The teams work alongside Haitians to work, do mercy ministries, and evangelism. This past year, UCI hosted 3 seven-day mission teams, including a multi-church team and a youth team. UCI also hosted several teams for shorter periods of time. These teams engaged in work/construction projects, mercy ministries, and evangelism. UCI stresses cross-cultural experiences and encourages side-by-side interactions with nationals. UCI
also tries to utilized team members talents and interests in training seminars.

Truck:
For the first 2 years of ministry, UCI used a 2 wheel drive, low clearance, gas truck for transportation. Because of Haiti’s poor infrastructure, travel is very difficult. The nearest large
city is only 45 miles away but it can take over 4 ½ hours to travel. In December, a supporter from
Sioux City, IA donated a 1994 Ford Diesel 4x4 truck to UCI. It arrived in Haiti in January and has been a huge blessing. UCI is able to visit churches, transport people and materials, and travel to the city to pick up provisions. ‘Blueberry,’ as it was named by Tana and Kerri, is a very welcome addition.

Haitian Board and UCI’s employees:
Please pray for the hard workers and visionaries that help UCI every day.

Haitian board:
JeanJean Mompremier
Saul Louis
Justin Mompremier
Benadine Jasmin
Destorel Docteur
Ernest Joseph
Employees:
United Christian Workers coordinators: Saul Louis and Justin Mompremier
National Missionaries: Francio Cadet and Dieumenie Fleurilus
United Christian Women coordinators: Evenie Louis
Nutrition Center workers: Odilia and Dimancia (cooks)
Madanm Jacques (Bible teacher)
Pastor and Madanm Benadin (new nutrition center coordinators)
UCI pastoral ministry: Madanm Ens and Maritha (cooks)
Dieula Mompremier (market lady)
School scholarships: Dilemi (LaFoie Chretien School)
Louis-Jean (Marantha School)
Apprenticeship Program Teacher: Odelin Estimable
Guards: Jean-Claude, Abonel, Ens, Nordius, Goyio, Tisonson, Claude, Tineg
Gardener: Estillaire