August, 2005
Dear Friends and Partners of
OFCB Ministries,
Peace and Grace to you all in His Wonderful and Holy Name. Dimilsaint and I are
enjoying being in North Carolina.
We have come with greetings of love and words of appreciation for you from your
Haitian brothers and sisters living in Bayonnais and Gonaives, Haiti.
As you all know, since September 17th, 2004, the State of Artibonite has been
having the most terrible times to deal with and even more so for Gonaives, where
we live and Bayonnais, where OFCB Ministries is located. Survivors are still
suffering badly from the trauma of the floods.
For
example,
Clautilde Saint-Louis Aime, a former secretary of OFCB has been facing big
psychological problems. Those that were somehow well off are now struggling on
a daily basis to survive. Those (the majority of the population) who were
always poor have become poorer and poorer and even some have become street
beggars. It is painful. Gonaïves still has a large lake
nearby
from the
floods which we call Lake Jeanne
after the
hurricane. Numbers of people who died are still countless. Bayonnais was
severely hit. No one in Bayonnais got killed, but in town, yes. Yet, crops,
animals, and thatched-roofed mud huts were washed away. Certainly, after such a
disaster, the soil, in terms of agriculture, has become even poorer than
before.
OFCB Ministries’ schools have had to deal with that on a much broader level. To
give you an idea, out of 404 students in high school, from 7th to 13th grades,
more than 230 of them were not able to pay any tuition or less than 50 percent
of their tuition. That has made a negative impact on our budget for the year,
which is over $18,000 US dollars. In spite of all the political unrest,
disastrous flooding, kidnappings, and killings in the Capital where 7
of our
college students are, we are moving forward. The great Commission is being
fulfilled. After our week of preaching and teaching in October/November 2004,
171 souls came to know the Lord and since then every other Sunday or monthly we
have a family or young boys and girls to come to know Him. This is the mandate
of the Church of Jesus Christ on Earth.
The school had 1245 students for the year 2004-2005,
including the new
adult night school.
Out of this number, 170 are expecting results from the National exams Department
......6th graders: 52, 9th graders: 82, 12th graders: 19, and 13th
graders: 17. I will keep you posted on the results. For the school year
2005-2006, we are expecting over 1300 students plus night school.
The year was terrible, yes: but lots of wonderful and spectacular things
happened, such as your sending three 60-seat school buses to us with tons of
food, clothes, shoes, and electrical items for the survivors and OFCB
Ministries. Those 3 buses are being used to generate funds for the ministry.
For our dream is to become self-sufficient someday. Another shorter school bus
will be in Haiti soon to transport teachers from Gonaïves to Bayonnais from
Monday through Saturday each week. A
new double
cab 4-door pickup truck will be picked up by us on August 30th. We have been
praying for a reliable vehicle for a long, long time. Now we will not need to
rent vehicles at a high cost to transport missionaries, work groups, or friends
from Port-au-Prince to Bayonnais anymore. Praise the Lord, Alleluia.
Praise God for a bridge that, hopefully, will be completed by the end of the
year. The Engineers Without Borders is working with us on that. Since we must
drive across the river to reach the mission from Gonaives, we cannot reach it if
the river is too high. Some people have lost their lives in this way.
Also,
many school children must cross the river to reach the school.
Well, we are in debt to God and to each of you singularly. Our thanks go to our
85 brothers and sisters
from SMPC and other
places, who
are giving monthly through the sponsorship program. To the whole church that
has been the backbone of OFCB Ministries since 1994, we owe big debts. To the
Light of Christ Methodist, working with SMPC to make so many great things happen
since after the floods.
To First Presbyterian of
Charlotte, whose generous gifts allowed finishing the new church and aiding
flood victims.
Our thanks and gratitude go
to many dear friends all across the country that have strongly supported the
ministry in many ways. Without those prayers, letters of encouragement and
monetary support the situation could have been much worse for us and for OFCB
Ministries. We are like the 3 friends of Daniel. We are in the den together.
We feel the heat. It is really hot, but we are not burning. Let’s keep
standing together for one hand alone does not clap.
Let’s stand and pray together this year for:
More spiritual strength and wisdom,
More souls to come to know the Lord,
Safety for our young students going to college in a very dangerous Port-au-Prince and continued successful academic work for all of the OFCB college students,
The elections to be held in November in Haiti,
A wonderful school year in Bayonnais,
More space to accommodate classes,
More partners and monthly support,
Zoranger, a place way up in the mountains, 5 Km away from OFCB headquarters, we are currently strategizing for a school and possibly church outpost,
The over $18,000 debts we have......the borrower is a slave to the lender.
A medical clinic to serve the Bayonnais people; too many people have died from simple minor disease
In His mercy and peace,
For
the Board of OFCB Ministries,
Actionnel Fleurisma and
Dimilsaint Mondelus
OFCB stands for Organisation de la Force Chretienne de Bayonnais or, in English,
The
Organization of
Christian Strength of Bayonnais
If more details are needed, contact:
David Nichols,
Missions Chairman, South
Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church
704-847-3059
Tom Harman,
Light of Christ United
Methodist Church
704-543-400l or 704-543-4943
Bob Bodenhamer, Pastor, Christ Fellowship Community Church, Gastonia NC
704-864-8535
Helen Hunter,
original contact of OFCB
in the U.S.
704-364-0482