The dream for a church and community transformation in Haiti
by Nelson Martin
Schiler Darelus lived in La Coline, a primitive Haitian mountain village. His parents assisted him to move to Mountrouis, a much larger commercial coastal town, to enroll in his last two years of high school. While there, he joined Temple of the Bible Church, led by Precol and Amante Charles and soon became a youth small group leader. As he was completing his education, Schiler also held a job to pay for his education and costs of living.
During this season of his life, Schiler shared with Pastor Precol a vision for his home village. His community did not have a school, a church or public toilets but he desired to work to establish all three. He wanted to see God bless this village and had a huge dream to help.
After graduation from high school, Schiler began making the half-day journey to his hometown once a month. It required several hours of horseback riding, crossing a major river on foot and a two-hour hike for the last portion. His monthly mission was to lead a small group of believers in prayer, Bible reading and worship. Six months later, his brother, who was elected to serve as the district magistrate, began to rally the community to acquire finances and land to build a school building. Villagers volunteered their time and horses to travel the half-day journey to Mountrouis to purchase cement and deliver it to the construction site. They quarried sand and gravel, and excavated the construction site by hand. They manufactured cement block and poured the concrete to build the school. The building was completed and the first school year included 100 students.
The dream for transformation continues! The next year a donor purchased benches in Mountrouis and volunteers from La Coline transported them to be used in the school and Sunday morning meeting. A leadership team has been established in the church and two small groups continue to meet. Presently an international donor provides six teachers a minimal salary for teaching in the school. The hopes of constructing a toilet for the school remain. And, a dream to install a water pump and lines for agriculture irrigation will one day in the future increase sustainability in Schiler’s hometown.
It’s a large dream, but one that Schiler is actually seeing God bring to reality!
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About Nelson Martin
Nelson oversees DOVE churches in Haiti, serves on DOVE USA Regional Apostolic Council and coordinates the 24-Hour Prayer Watch. With a unique gift of encouragement and teaching, Nelson enjoys serving in practical ways in order to build genuine community and relationships with the people he serves. He envisions every believer living a victorious life as they connect in relationships with others and function as healthy members. Nelson and his wife, Sue, have three adult sons.
