Claude and David were reunited in a Miami airport.  They were on the road again, two friends traveling in the spirit of Jesus with eyes to see and ears to hear what God was doing in Haiti.  Within hours of landing they met up with friends Raymond and Walter. These Haitian men (pictured here with Raymond’s wife who is also Walter’s sister) have their ear to the ground and their eyes set on the communities around them.  These men, friends and  also family, want to be a part of God’s transformative work in their country.

Raymond and Walter grew up in Lasource village, about four hours outside of Port au Prince.  This small community exists on the edges of deep poverty.  Both men recall growing up far from a school, far from opportunity and far from any sense of hope.  Yet they found goodness in their friendship forged in their school days and they embarked on good endeavors together in their seminary days and ever since.  They discovered a hope rooted in Christ and determined to live that out in their village and beyond.

In their hometown they started a school close enough for kids to walk to class each day.  Funds are scarce, so they have recruited a volunteer corps of teachers.  These men and women all grew up in Lasource and all want to see a better education for the children, so they all volunteer hours of teaching while working second (and third) jobs.  Amazing!

Raymond and Walter also started some small-scale animal husbandry projects to provide both food and income for these neighborhood families.  The biggest initiative is the talapia farms – fish to eat and fish to take to market!  They farm thousands of fish in this community.  They also train families to raise chickens and rabbits in the hope that this will bring some future sustainability.  These men are thinking about food security and economic development for their neighbors.

But their efforts reach beyond Lasource.  They noticed that on the fringe of Port au Prince people struggle to live.  While Haiti is the first black nation to know independence from colonial rule, development has been too slow in coming to the people – even in the capital city. Life was further complicated by the devastating  earthquake that shook what little stability they could claim.  People are hungry for food, hungry for hope.  These men did not turn a deaf ear to their cries.

Instead, these brothers in Christ reached out and began more talapia farms!  More food for the neighborhood of Croix de Bouquet.  They planted a church to be a beacon of good news where only bad news gets publicity.

These men are like the messenger we read about in Isaiah… the one running down the mountain terrain with good news to share with those who were on the underside of life.  The messenger is running with news that God is here, really here!  God is here and He will bring shalom, a better kind of life that will transform all the bad news.  Our God reigns… with a different kind of rule than the current world.

Raymond and Walter are harbingers of hope… in a place where bad news is all that is expected they are running with unexpected good news about hope coming to Croix de Bouquets and Lasource!  God reigns – and sometimes that looks like fish to feed your family or chickens to take to market.  Sometimes God’s shalom includes a school close by with volunteer teachers and a church where good news can be heard.

So meet Raymond:

Meet Walter:

They cultivate pockets of hope in Haiti… bringing God’s good news to their neighborhood and their country’s capital city.  We are so honored to join them in their good work.  The friendship has just expanded – and now we can all be part of these communities of hope growing in Haiti.  Please keep Raymond and Walter and their communities in your prayers and they demonstrate God’s goodness and proclaim that there is hope rooted in Christ!