By Message Staff
The Children’s Village in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti was dedicated Sunday, October 14.
The dedication was the culmination of five years of hard work by LA Reach Haiti, which is sponsored by the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Haitian Baptist Convention and 30 Louisiana Baptist churches.
“What an emotional and exciting day of seeing vision become reality,” said Wayne Sheppard, the former executive assistant to Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director David Hankins. “Thank you, Dr. Perry Hancock and the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home for your generous partnership in this work.”
Haiti was devastated by a Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and left hundreds of thousands more homeless.
Louisiana Baptists were among the first to provide disaster relief and have maintained a ministry presence through mission trips.
In the time since the earthquake response, a vision developed for a permanent presence in Haiti, Sheppard said. The vision, called LA Reach Haiti, included building a mission center with a church plant and a children’s village, a housing community, a micro-business center and trade school, and a school for educating the children.
Stan Statham, director of missions for the Baptist Associations of Southeast Louisiana, (right) is all smiles as he celebrates the dedication of a children’s village in Haiti.
Along with helping with construction projects at the mission center, numerous mission groups also helped put on Vacation Bible Schools and Backyard Bible Clubs, host pastors’ conferences, lead evangelistic crusades, outreach projects, and prayer walks, plant churches, work at medical clinics, and install safe drinking water systems.
On October 14, Louisiana Baptists finally saw that vision come to fruition with the completion of the children’s village.
Now, the hope is to build a housing community next, followed with the development of micro businesses and trade schools, according to Sheppard, and as the project expands, there is a vision for constructing a hotel, operated by Haitians, and a school for educating the children.
Darrin Badon, facilities director at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, has been to Haiti nearly 30 times since 2010. He said the completion of the children’s village opens the door to receive children in early 2019.
“It’s unbelievable to be a part of and see what God is doing since we started working toward completing this facility,” Badon said. “God has placed His hand on this partnership.
“Our whole purpose to what we are doing is to take care of the kids and help reestablish as many of those orphan kids to their families,” he continued. “While they are with us, we want to meet their physical needs and show them the love of Christ.”
While the children’s village is now finished, volunteer missionaries are still needed.
To volunteer, contact Peggy Moffett at 318.343.2244 or peggy@lbch.org. For more information, go to www.lbchorphansembrace.org.
A wall surrounding the children’s village was previously completed.
