Members Help Rebuild Haiti

Marc Henry Thomas

How are Columbia Union members helping rebuild Haiti? See some of their projects below.

Story by Taashi Rowe

Maranatha French: Led by Pastor Smith Olivier, some 15 medically trained congregants of this 600-member Allegheny East church in Newark, N.J., first visited Port Margot in the summer of 2012. They set up a clinic and helped 1,000-1,200 community members. They also held evangelism meetings and baptized 63. The next year, they built a church and dug a well on the property.

Mt. Pocono Haitian Mission Group: Marc Henry Thomas, the church’s head elder, didn’t always believe he could start a ministry in his native country, but on a chance visit to Villa, he started preaching about Jesus. As a result, there were several marriages and eight baptisms, but the closest church is an hour and a half on foot. This Pennsylvania Conference group in Mount Pocono, led by Pastor Darnel Marius, is helping Thomas raise funds to build a church there.

Allegheny East Conference: Administrators have donated $66,000 to the Haiti Union Mission for several renovation projects. One project includes the Voice of Hope radio station located on the grounds of the Haitian Adventist University in Port-au-Prince. The donation allowed them to build a bigger tower with an antenna that allows them to now spread the message of salvation even farther.