Project Areas: Caribbean: Haiti: Mt. Toro Project

History of Mt. Toro Churches and Schools

In the early '90s God answered the prayers of a young man who had a real desire to spread the gospel message to people that were living in fear and darkness. Year after year he visited a mountainous region in Southern Haiti known as Toro. He developed many friendships with the people there and helped several young people attend schools in the Cayes area. He helped pay the tuition for the schooling of these young people from his salary he received from being a teacher at the MEBSH Trade School in Cayes. Belade Thierry is the evangelist and teacher that God was using to bring people out of the darkness of Spiritism and into the love of Christ.

Some Apostolic Christian Brothers befriended Belade and were led to help pay for part of the construction costs of a church that Belade was building on Mount Toro. Building a church on Mount Toro was a difficult challenge because most of the building material had to be carried in on foot. As a result of not having good roads, this building process took many years. During this construction temporary shelters were built. These temporary structures would typically last until the next big storm.

The area is very rocky and its people have a very high illiteracy rate. Belade is a gifted teacher and he hired a teacher to teach the children in that area how to read and write. God added more students and teachers to this mountain outreach. The time finally came when a sturdy roof was put on the concrete block church that they were also using as a school.

Salem Church and School

Once the roof was installed on the church building they started to concentrate their effort
in
Salem Church
constructing a school building since the church was overflowing with children. With some help from the Bluffton, IN church a roof was finally installed on their school building. The name of this church and school was changed from Toro to Salem. Also during this time they were exposed to some biblical truths that were missing in their church. The lack of these truths was causing a lot of problems in their church and in the operation of the school.

Salem SchoolGod used many “Light from the Word” articles from the Silver Lining, translated into Creole, to inspire the pastors of this church to a closer walk with God. These pastors shared these truths with the congregation and the people witnessed the Holy Spirit bearing fruit in their lives in a mighty way. Fear, jealousy, and strife were being replaced with love, a concern for the lost, and an appreciation of forgiveness through Christ’s blood. This fruit caused a hunger for more of the “Light from the Word” articles. Over time and with funding from the Mission Committee many of these articles were translated and put into booklet form.

Kapoux Church and School

Kapoux ChurchPeople from a nearby area called Kapoux attended their church for a wedding and they liked what they saw. They continue to return to the church with more family and eventually asked Belade to send them a preacher. God answered these family’s prayers and a house was rented for a young man to be sent to start another church. Over time this man settled into this area and God worked in the hearts of many of the people in Kapoux. With the help from work teams, a building was put up to serve as a church and school building for the children. God has blessed this
Kapoux Schooloutreach with steady growth and godly leadership. One of the problems these schools have faced has been the lack of trained teachers. With funding from World Relief, Belade was able to send more local young people to receive higher education to help in these schools. At present there are 14 students involved in a scholarship program that are being trained to help teach in these schools.

Boulard Church and School

Boulard ChurchShortly after the school at Kapoux was in operation, another nearby community witnessed what was going on and asked Belade to start a church and school in their area known as Boulard. Originally they rented a Haitian house and over time God knit a group of believers together to form another church at Boulard. With financial help this group purchased some land and built a building to serve as both a church and school. Altogether
Boulard Schoolthere are churches and schools at Salem, Kapoux and Boulard with around 256 students in total. We have been subsidizing these schools with
around $100 per month per school and have paid for most of the material costs for the construction of their churches and schools. Also we have been funding a scholarship program with $180 per month, which helps send 14 young people to other schools for higher education.

The Needs are Great

In Haiti there are many rural areas that are in desperate need of the true gospel and a school that is operated by Spirit-filled teachers. If Spirit-filled Haitians take ownership of this process and God blesses the efforts, God’s kingdom will continue to grow in Haiti. The people in these churches have a heart for the lost and hurting people around them. They have been willing to make sacrifices to share the love they have received. God has answered their prayers and is blessing their efforts.

Haiti has many children that do not have parents or only have one parent. For the last three years the churches have been feeding and housing some children that were in desperate situations. These children are being housed in the church building at Salem. They hope to provide a home for these children by constructing a Haitian house to be home to 10 to 12 of these destitute children. Godly house parents and good leadership will provide these children with a loving environment. God’s Spirit has worked mightily in this area of Haiti known as Toro, bringing hope, education and a faith that is based on the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and His example.

The Future

God has blessed this work and we hope and pray it will continue to grow and bear fruit. We hope to continue to subsidize these schools and trust that much of their future growth will come from parent participation. That way the ownership of these schools remain Haitian and not just an American project. After the children’s home is complete there will be some request for building funds. This is something the parents cannot come up with and there is a need to finish and expand these schools. The teachers in these schools are Christians and are striving to teach the children God's truths. Many parents have been drawn into these churches by what they see going on at these schools. Also many Haitians are being encouraged and given hope in this part of the country despite all that their country is going through.

If you have any questions feel free to contact any of the following:
Trent Bucher 260-565-360
Ted Habegger 260-694-6765
Bill Rager 419-238-2132
Tim Ringger 260-565-3703
Ed Schwartz 260-565-3880
Eric Tonner 269-827-0906