Eva DeHart at For Haiti with Love says American Airlines used to conduct flights through Cap-Haitien, but things got tough for the ministry when they stopped.

“That made it virtually impossible to have an easy way to get from Cap-Haitien back to the United States without doing an overnight in Port-au-Prince,” DeHart says. “It left you trying to make connections with local small planes to get down to Port-au-Prince and then finding someplace to stay overnight and then catching American [Airlines] or one of the big ones to come back out…. It made it virtually impossible to take a team down because of the connection problems.”

For Haiti with Love’s 29th Pilgrim House (Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

Thanks to Spirit Airlines, getting mission teams to northern Haiti should be easier. For Haiti with Love relies on mission teams for projects like building Pilgrim Houses for families in need.

For Haiti with Love recently finished their 29th Pilgrim House and it serves as a tangible expression of Jesus’s love for the family they blessed.

“They were the most excited about it of any family that we’ve ever provided a home for. They kept coming over every single day [and] volunteering their time to help with the construction. When the guys started working on the finer details of the house, then they came over and planted flowers and planted their cactus fence that most Haitians use for security. The enthusiasm was just overwhelming,” DeHart says.

“It was such a delight to be able to present them with the keys and do the dedication of the home. It helps everybody’s morale because everybody around them was excited for them and with them. And it was inspiring to our crew to be able to finish for somebody that was so excited about it.”

(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

If your church is looking for a missions opportunity, consider partnering with For Haiti with Love and helping their Pilgrim House program.

Click here to contact For Haiti with Love!

“It is a bold witness in the area where God is building the home [and] where He’s providing future security for an entire family.”

Header photo courtesy of Jacky Lo via Unsplash.

She says, “Haiti runs in cycles. Their government gets money. Sometimes it doles it out and sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, that means the police can work for months without a paycheck. The teachers can work for the entire school year without a paycheck.”

DeHart says Haitians have learned to expect this kind of sporadic payment, saving money away until whenever the government can provide payment again.

“How they make it in the meantime, I have no idea.”

The situation is so desperate, DeHart says, that theft has become an expected part of the culture. “I mean, you dare not leave anything out or on attended. It will be deemed available to whoever passes by. They’re going to take what they need to survive from people who may have a little more.”

The burn clinic

A home built with the help of For Haiti with Love. (Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love).

In this desperate situation, DeHart says, the burn clinic keeps taking in patients. “[Haitians] are some of the most loving, abused people on the planet. And they are just so openly appreciative of absolutely anything that you can do for them that they make it extremely rewarding to keep trying.”

For Haiti with Love has been sharing the Gospel with Haitians who bring in their children for burn treatment. “People are very open to listening to you when they realize that your reason for being there and for helping their babies is the love of Christ. ‘Who is this Christ who provides all of this help? Tell me about him.’”

How to get involved

Even a little bit of help for the people of Haiti creates a lot of hope, DeHart says. She mentions the Pilgrim House 29 project, which provides homes for homeless people in Haiti. But these houses don’t just benefit homeless families. The entire community is energized and excited by this provision. You can learn more about the program here.

You can also support the burn clinic, which is always needed, DeHart says. It was the only such clinic not to close during the pandemic. Visit For Haiti with Love’s website to learn more.

Pray the needs of Haiti’s people would be provided for, and pray Haiti would see the healing and hope of the risen Christ.

The header photo shows Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Photo by Robin Canfield on Unsplash)

Parts of Haiti are out of gas.

The shortage was first mentioned in December, with both National and Total’s gas stations out of stock. For Haiti With Love’s Eva DeHart says in Cap Haitien, where their ministry is headquartered, “Roseline (FHWL director) reports that there’s absolutely no gasoline at any of the stations.  (Parts of the country) have diesel, so the trucks can go, and anybody who is diesel (can continue work); our backup generator is diesel.”

(Photo courtesy For Haiti With Love)

A gas shortage doesn’t seem like a major crisis at first.   However, it’s more than fewer cars on the streets. It means that houses, hospitals, schools, and businesses can’t run their generators to keep their lights on or the equipment running.  There are some medical facilities still are working out of temporary buildings, reliant on generator-powered equipment, which means a fuel shortage can have devastating consequences.

The race is on to see if the government will respond quickly.   “Right now,” DeHart explains, “the pumps are totally surrounded by motorcycles and cars, waiting to see if there’s going to be fuel and/or if they open the pumps. But, if that doesn’t happen, there will be black market gasoline on the streets, before long.”

The other issue with a black market is security. ”People will pay whatever they have to pay to get a gallon of gas. But, if the government opens the pumps and supplies the gasoline to them but raises the price too high, even though it will be lower than the street price for the black market gas, there will be riots.”

Fuel riots in July

Things in Haiti have only just settled down after violent protests broke out six months ago over fuel prices.  In July, the government hiked prices 38 percent on gas, 47 percent on diesel and 51 percent on kerosene.  Within one day, the government reversed the price hikes. As part of a financial agreement struck with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, the government had agreed to the increases, because it meant $96 million in low-interest loans and grants.

When asked if this was a similar situation, DeHart demurred. She referenced the longstanding bilateral relationship between Venezuela and Haiti that has cooled over the last few years, restricting the access to low-cost fuel.  “I think it probably goes back more to something that might be going on in Venezuela than anything in Haiti, itself. It’s their supplier that’s not coming through.”

Watching, hoping, and praying

(Photo courtesy For Haiti With Love)

As to impact on FHWL, she notes that, “Since we’ve got everything set up either on solar on diesel, it will be the by-products of this (fuel shortage). We’re trying to finish a (Pilgrim #27) house. Getting those supplies will become more and more difficult if the fuel doesn’t start flowing.” Supplies for their burn clinic will still make it through, and they have some in stock.   The one area facing the possible effect of a gas shortage is their food program. “We don’t import the containers of food anymore. We buy locally, so their ability to transport that to a place where we can buy it will be impaired.”

Right now, tension is thick. It feels like anything could trigger a riot. There are large crowds  concentrated now around every service station. It’s hot and humid. Tempers fray. There’s “…the impatience of not being able to get what they need so they can go on about their day.”   If the government doesn’t resolve it soon, she warns “It will end up with manifestations.”

In asking for prayer for peace, she also adds, “In the middle of riots, there’s really not much witnessing you can do, so you turn to prayer. It’s like, ‘God, you have to handle this now. We really need your support. We really need this to calm down. Nobody will hear us now, but you can handle it, we know.’”

Header photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love.

However, For Haiti With Love has been building homes over the years for homeless families. How? Through its Pilgrim House project.

The Pilgrim House Project

(Photo Courtesy For Haiti With Love via Facebook) For Haiti With Love’s 25th Pilgrim House.

“Pilgrim House is a unique project because it has been over the years, totally funded by the Pilgrim Lutheran Church out of Indianapolis,” For Haiti’s Eva DeHart explains.

“So they have built 25 consecutive years of homes for homeless families. We build other homes too, and we definitely welcome any church or any organization or individual that would like to provide a home for a family.”

The funds for these homes come from designated donations. None of the money comes out of For Haiti’s general funds. Furthermore, the houses are built hurricane safe with rebar wire wired throughout the walls and foundation, essentially tying the house together.

Houses are usually built to size based on land size. In Haiti, the land is inherited and rarely bought. So the houses built are built on land that’s already owned by people who might be living in nothing more than a falling down shack or under a tarp. And because homes are being built on inherited land, it can be very challenging.

Choosing For Whom To Build

“The people have come to us and presented where their land is, what their family situation is, and that they would really like to be considered for our construction projects,” DeHart shares.

(Photo Courtesy For Haiti With Love via Facebook)
For Haiti With Love’s 25th Pilgrim House getting rebar wire put inside the walls.

“Our staff then goes out and evaluates what they’re living in now, if anything, and where the land is. In some instances, we simply can’t get to it, [the land], so we can’t build. [For example], it might be a little lot in the middle of an area that’s already so tightly developed, that you just can’t get in there.”

For Haiti, in efforts to properly steward the funds, the ministry leans towards helping families who are showing some initiative to help themselves.

Take for instance, For Haiti has recently filed an application for building a house for a family where the man is a day worker. In other words, he goes out every day looking for work wherever he can find it. His wife also sells whatever she can find to trade.

A Family In Need

“They literally live from day to day, but they are doing well enough at their attempts that they have all three of their children in school. They have her sister living with them and the sister’s child is [also] in school,” DeHart says.

“There is a picture on facebook of the home that the family is living in right now…It’s nothing but pieces of scrap metal that they have found along the way that they have nailed together to create a shelter,” DeHart shares. “It is horrible, but it is [a] shelter for them, and we would love to give them a home.”

(Photo Courtesy For Haiti With Love via Facebook)
For Haiti With Love’s 25th Pilgrim House at the beginning of the building process.

Yet, while building houses for homeless families is an honorable act, it is essentially useless without the Gospel. For this very reason, For Haiti strives to portray Christ’s love in its work.

In fact, For Haiti’s reputation in Haiti is founded in just that, so when the ministry helps to build a house, it’s not only showing a family who Christ is, but also a community.

“It has been fascinating to us over the years that there is no jealousy from neighbors. They’re just absolutely thrilled for the family that’s getting a home and they will sometimes come over and just pitch in and start helping [build the house],” DeHart explains.

“So it strengthens their communities [in] knowing that everything we do is a gift from God. They are thankful to God, they are not thankful to us.”

Help Change Families and Communities

So if you would, will you help build a house and impact a family and their community for Christ?

You can start by praying for the families needing homes built, for their needs to be met, and for them to encounter Christ in the process. Also, please pray for For Haiti in navigating for whom to build a home. Finally, pray for For Haiti to continuously reflect Christ’s love with the Haitian people and for their hearts to be changed for Jesus.

Another way to help is through financial support. Since the costs of materials have risen in Haiti, it now costs between $10,000 to $14,000 to build a home. Will you donate to help build a house? As DeHart said, any church, organizations, or individuals can donate and have a house named after them.

To contact For Haiti about donating for a house, click here!

Housing is hard to come by, especially in the months since
the quake struck Port-au-Prince. Most
Haitians can come up with land, having inherited it, but they will never be
able to save the money to build on it due to the grinding poverty. Prices have
risen dramatically since January, which further complicates the matter.  

Although they're not building in the quake zone, For Haiti
with Love is seeing the influx of survivors in Cap Haitien, a region
ill-equipped to handle the strain on resources. More extended families are crowding into single family dwellings, and the
overcrowding is causing its own problems.

A house is worlds away, as daily survival takes precedence
in the existence of the average Haitian.   

When their land + volunteer labor + financial support
for materials = a home, it speaks volumes for the mission of For Haiti With Love.

Their reputation on the island is already one that shouts
the Gospel. Once the house is completed, the keys go to the new homeowner, but
a relationship has blossomed by that time. A home underscores this message, and frequently the association
blossoms into a discipleship outreach.

A nice concrete block home has a concrete floor, wood
trusses, a corrugated metal roof, and a locking front door. Many church groups have undertaken the
financing of a home. The partnership
with the Pilgrim Lutheran Church is
still going strong. Click here for details.

Aid efforts are severely underfunded,
hampering projects needed to help the country recover from four hurricanes.

At this point, the most-urgent
needs are food, clean water and sanitation, and shelters. Local schools are being pushed back into
session, forcing the people sheltered there to move elsewhere. Their plight highlights the work it will take
to get homes into usable condition.

For Haiti With Love is also making
repairs around their projects damaged by Hurricane Hanna. Among them was the recently-completed Pilgrim
House #18. This project came about as
the result of a partnership with the Pilgrim Lutheran Church of Indianapolis,
Indiana.

The first Pilgrim House was
built, dedicated to the Lord and given free of charge to a homeless family in August 1998.  Since then, the church
has been helping For Haiti with the construction of new homes for selected
families. 

The most recent, Pilgrim House
#18, was finished just as Hurricane Hanna arrived in Haiti. Unfortunately, the new house suffered damaged
when the mountain on which it was built let loose during the hurricane.

The damage Hanna caused was
significant enough that in 2009, the ministry will use construction funds to repair damaged homes rather than start new construction. In this way, they can help more families and
share God's love with more people.

Click here if you can help.