Home for a time and life never seems to slow down. Brief trip to Colorado for a "family fix" now back to presentations and preparations for the future of KEC future on La Gonave.
Pastor Gesner Paul will be inaugurated as the new President of the Haitian Methodist church on August 30th and gives us hope for some new directions for ministry on the island. We will continue to serve on a regular basis but reversed, until he can issue an invitation for replacements to GBGM. Community and teacher development along with the continued water well issues will continue to be addressed with his approval. He asked us to begin recruiting to build a manse at Nan Kafe to house a full time La Gonave Circuit Superintendent. We are excited by his plans for the island and for the church on La Gonave.
Recently 16 community leaders completed intensive leadership training by AAPLAG, and organization active on North La Gonave for 25 years. Our group called Friday, grateful for the training and excited that AAPLAG had given them resources to begin building groups for agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. This is a most positive move for sud la gonave.
We continue to seek marketing resources for the Haitian Prayer Angels and some beautiful embroidery and other art work. We have a estimate to begin a vocational school for fabric art and baking. There are no opportunities for vocational training on the south side.
As we completed a presentation Sunday evening, one of the participants sang to us. The song was about the options for building bridges that connect or walls that isolate.
Haiti, and particularly, La Gonave has a long history of isolation, not only geologically but excluded from communication and technology with the rest of the world.
There is an unrealistic idea to build a bridge from the island to the mainland, but it is realistic to think of a bridge between our church and the Haitian Methodists; between our culture and theirs; our technology, and our resources and their need.
In two years we have seen despair turn to hope, discouragement turn to plans for the future, and dreams with hope for reality. Building bridges seems to begin with sharing and caring about our neighbor more than steel and cable. We have encountered many walls but they seem to be crumbling. Thanks be to the God of Bridge builders.
