a New MMT SiteThis past May, I made a preliminary trip to the island nation of Haiti to lay the groundwork for the Mercy Medical Team trip scheduled for this coming August. This will be our first MMT trip to Haiti and will be as much about relationship building and assessing need as it will be about serving the sick. We will be partnering with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Haiti to offer a series of medical clinics in the remote town of Thomassique in the central plateau of Haiti near the border with the Dominican Republic.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Haiti is a relatively young church body, having been officially organized in 1995. Despite its short history, the church has expanded its attendants from less than 2000 in 1995, to around 20,000 currently. Of these approximately 11,000 are baptized according to Pastor Marky Kessa, President of the ELCH. With only 16 ordained pastors and around 100 lay pastors, the ELCH has 102 congregations, 65 schools, 3 orphanages, and a medical clinic. This is all in the context of a nation with around 9 million inhabitants living in less than 11,000 square miles. Haiti is a very poor country; in fact, it is the poorest and least developed nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Looking at these numbers, the challenges faced by the church and the pastors are many. Like many other church bodies in developing countries, the ELCH is drastically limited by a lack of resources.
Like many of young church bodies, the ELCH has congregation forming in small communities around the country with groups of 10-20 attendants growing over a few years to 60-70 attendants. These congregations generally meet in small simple shelters containing a metal sheet roof and a few pillars.
One pastor may be responsible for 10 congregations across an area of 100km. While 100km may not seem like much, the roads in Haiti are quite poor and it could take three or four hours to drive that distance. Most of these pastors do not have a reliable means of transportation, so making rounds to each of the congregations becomes next to impossible.
Another challenge to the ELCH is theological training for pastors and lay pastors. Many of the leaders and founding members of the ELCH received training from LCMS seminaries in the United States; yet, they have not had the resources to pass this knowledge on in their own seminaries. Although there are many men who are interested in becoming pastors, they do not have to means to attain it. This is in part due to the cost of the education, but primarily due to the opportunity cost of taking four years away from work and/or agricultural land.
So one can imagine the difficulties the ELCH faces as it attempts to introduce humanitarian programs and develop its capacity as a diakonic entity. If they cannot afford to bui
ld an adequate church building, how can they open a medical clinic or initiate an orphan support program? Yet they have expressed a desire to improve and build their capacity as such, in order to better meet the needs of their members.
This is not something that can be done overnight. It is something that inevitably needs to derive from their ideas, efforts, and actions.
Until then, the role of LCMS World Relief is to help the ELCH develop its capacity as a church body with humanitarian capabilities as they continue to grow. The ELCH has done
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Haiti is a relatively young church body, having been officially organized in 1995. Despite its short history, the church has expanded its attendants from less than 2000 in 1995, to around 20,000 currently. Of these approximately 11,000 are baptized according to Pastor Marky Kessa, President of the ELCH. With only 16 ordained pastors and around 100 lay pastors, the ELCH has 102 congregations, 65 schools, 3 orphanages, and a medical clinic. This is all in the context of a nation with around 9 million inhabitants living in less than 11,000 square miles. Haiti is a very poor country; in fact, it is the poorest and least developed nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Looking at these numbers, the challenges faced by the church and the pastors are many. Like many other church bodies in developing countries, the ELCH is drastically limited by a lack of resources.
Like many of young church bodies, the ELCH has congregation forming in small communities around the country with groups of 10-20 attendants growing over a few years to 60-70 attendants. These congregations generally meet in small simple shelters containing a metal sheet roof and a few pillars.
One pastor may be responsible for 10 congregations across an area of 100km. While 100km may not seem like much, the roads in Haiti are quite poor and it could take three or four hours to drive that distance. Most of these pastors do not have a reliable means of transportation, so making rounds to each of the congregations becomes next to impossible.
Another challenge to the ELCH is theological training for pastors and lay pastors. Many of the leaders and founding members of the ELCH received training from LCMS seminaries in the United States; yet, they have not had the resources to pass this knowledge on in their own seminaries. Although there are many men who are interested in becoming pastors, they do not have to means to attain it. This is in part due to the cost of the education, but primarily due to the opportunity cost of taking four years away from work and/or agricultural land.
So one can imagine the difficulties the ELCH faces as it attempts to introduce humanitarian programs and develop its capacity as a diakonic entity. If they cannot afford to bui
ld an adequate church building, how can they open a medical clinic or initiate an orphan support program? Yet they have expressed a desire to improve and build their capacity as such, in order to better meet the needs of their members.This is not something that can be done overnight. It is something that inevitably needs to derive from their ideas, efforts, and actions.
Until then, the role of LCMS World Relief is to help the ELCH develop its capacity as a church body with humanitarian capabilities as they continue to grow. The ELCH has done
an excellent job planting churches and drawing new members through the Lutheran Confessions. They have done an excellent job caring for the souls of their members. Now we want to help them care for both body and soul. And we will attempt to begin this partnership through a Mercy Medical Team expedition.
The trip will be from August 3rd-13th and will provide free general medical care to the surrounding community of Thomassique.
Other trips coming up include: Kenya, July 2nd – 12th and Madagascar, October 21st – November 1st. (there are still limited openings for both Haiti and Madagascar)
The trip will be from August 3rd-13th and will provide free general medical care to the surrounding community of Thomassique.
Other trips coming up include: Kenya, July 2nd – 12th and Madagascar, October 21st – November 1st. (there are still limited openings for both Haiti and Madagascar)
