A Diverse, Christ-centered Community United in Compassion, Worship, & Service
In 2013, the Church Coordinating Council adopted a plan to build a covenant relationship with the Duplan Methodist community and school outside of Petion-ville in the hills above Port Au Prince, Haiti. This relationship is rooted in our mutual love of Jesus Christ and the recognition that we were created for community. Probably the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, the people of Haiti continue to struggle to rebuild their lives and communities following the devastating earthquake of 2010 and the people of Park UMC want to respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers.
Park & Duplan: A Covenant of Love
Duplan is one of the oldest Methodist church communities in Haiti. A special dispensation was granted by the Haitian
government (an official Roman Catholic nation at the time) in the early 19th
century that Methodist missionaries could establish churches if they also
established schools in those communities. In 1998,
the Church had 113 primary and secondary schools with 22,700 children attending and provided services
to more than 200,000 people. The Duplan Methodist School educates 400+ K-12th grade
students and the church serves hundreds more.
RESPONSE TO HURRICANE MATTHEW
Park United Methodist Church of Bloomfield, New
Jersey has been working with the Duplan community outside Petion-ville, Haiti
since 2012. During the last two work trips teams (alongside local workers)
built new bathroom facilities for students, renovated the teachers facility,
installed a new sanitary water pump and reservoirs, distributed medical
supplies to local clinics, and provided the first 5 laptop computers for the
500 student K-12th grade school.
We recently sent a member to Texas to train in hand
digging wells in developing countries so we can expand this work in Haiti. After
the recent hurricane which ravaged Southern Haiti we with our partners there
and will be sending a team in late December or early January to dig 6 community
wells in villages that were decimated, as well as collecting new or GENTLY USED
non-winter clothing (including shoes), and medical supplies to be shipped in 75
gallon containers.
Another church member just returned from Haiti,
where he was assessing the damage. He reported that scores of villages are
without access to clean water, thereby affecting tens of thousands of people in
one of the most impoverished areas of Haiti.
We work directly with the people of Haiti and will
be coordinating our efforts with the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the
Americas, specifically the Superintendent of the Methodist Schools in Haiti,
the Reverend Edzaire Paul and local community groups and leaders.
YOU can be a part of this critical humanitarian
effort by contributing goods, financial gifts of any amount, or being a member
of the onsite mission team. JOIN US as what seems a daunting task for one, can
be accomplished by many! ANY and EVERY gift is important.
· COST FOR 1 WELL: $900
Digging: $700 Pump:
$100 Holding Tank: $100
· COST TO SEND ONE 75 GALLON
CONTAINER OF CLOTHES: $150
· COST TO BE A MEMBER OF THE MISSION
TEAM:
Airfare: $400 Food & Lodging: $150
For more information contact Park United Methodist
Church, 12 Park St., Bloomfield, NJ 07003 at www.parkumc.park@verizon.net,
or call 973-429-7745. Our website is www.parkumcbloomfield.org
and on FACEBOOK at “Park United
Methodist Church of Bloomfield, NJ”
OTHER
RELATED LINKS/RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:
http://www.umcor.org
(United Methodist Committee on Relief)
http://www.cws.org (Church World Service)
http://www.mccalive.org/index.php
(The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas)
Park United Methodist Church is a recognized 501.c3
and all contributions are tax deductable.
PROJECTS:
FUNDED
AND COMPLETED! PRAISE GOD!
- Renovation of broken rainwater cistern (2015);
- Installation of new sanitation water pumps and rooftop reservoirs
(11/15);
- Construction of new boys/girls bathroom with running
water (11/15);
- Renovation of teacher’s
bathroom facilities (11/15);
- established a computer lab of 5 lap tops - they had
internet access and college trained personnel, but no computers (4/16);
- Distribution of 7000 doses of prescription medications to community clinics & 1,500 personal hygiene kits to female students (4/16)
ON GOING PROJECTS:
- Provide classroom support for the faculty whose average
monthly salary is $60.
- Stock the library, which currently has approximately 75
books;
YOU CAN HELP BY:
- Becoming a PRAYER PARTNER and corresponding with
the teachers/administrators/students at the Duplan School;
- Sending a tax deductible gift to Park United Methodist Church - Haiti Initiative (100% of which will be used for materials or salary
support of Haitian teachers);
- Becoming a MISSION PARTNER with one of the
classes of the Duplan School;
- Contributing a NEW laptop computer (or a portion of one) for the computer lab ;
ALL MONEY DONATED will go directly to the projects listed and will not be used for ANY administrative, travel, or other costs.
For more information speak to Pastor Harrriet Johnson, Blaise Ganthier, Fernandez Abud, a member of the church staff, or contact the
church office (www.parkumc.park@verizon.net or call 973-429-7745).
Park United Methodist Church is an authorized religious 501C3 and we are also working with
an established non-religious 501C3 foundation if your employer provides matching grants.
A Brief
History: Methodism in
Haiti began with a pre-stated acceptance or
tolerance from President Alexandre Petion. On February 17, 1817, the Reverends John Brown and James Catts
arrived in Port-au-Prince. Though the government stated they would
accept the missionaries, the Catholic church was very intolerant and the
missionaries had to leave. The Methodist witness was carried on by the lay
people who had to meet in secret for their safety. Missionary Mark Bird arrived
in 1840. In December 1842, the "Wesleyan Church" was opened in Port-au-Prince. Four years later a school was opened.
Cap Haitian was the site of the next Methodist "church" building in
1849.
The Methodist
Church of Haiti is part of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). It is currently
divided into seven circuits. Each circuit has a superintendent, who may be the
only ordained minister for all the churches. As of September 2000, there were 7
active ordained pastors significantly reinforced and supported by 400 lay
ministers/local preachers, deacons and deaconesses in unity with the church
leadership. It has six regions of Rural Protestant Rehabilitation, 9 medical
clinics, a vocational program and a teacher's college. The church provides
services to 200,000 people all over Haiti. The Reverend Gestner Paul is the current
President of the Haiti District of the MCCA.
The missional
issues facing the Methodist Church of Haiti as described by Rev. Keith D. Rae,
the Executive Secretary Latin America / Caribbean in 1995 are twofold. The first issue he
discussed was the historic divisions which are structures along social class
and caste, skin color, education or lack of it, rich and poor, the oppressed
and the oppressor and the French-speaking verses the creole-speaking Haitians.
The second issue was justice without retaliation and revenge. (Occasional
Alternatives 1995)
In 1995, since
the return of President Aristide, the United Methodist Church returned to Haiti with a new kind of missionary effort
through the Volunteers in Mission program. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has also been
an active participant in the rebuilding of Haiti. Hundreds of everyday people go to Haiti every year in a partnership of United
Methodists and the Methodist Church of Haiti as a way of working toward
increasing resources for the Haiti Church and building relationships between
diverse people who have Christ in common.