Haiti (MNN) — The story of Haiti is heavy and depressing,
particularly in Grand Bassin. Seeing the needs there opens many doors for
ministry.
Roger Thomas with
AMG International says, "It's a very
poor community of about 20,000." The
community has no electricity or power lines. Jobs are scarce. There is no water
piped into homes. An education is a
precious commodity. The closest hospital is 18 miles away."
Thomas continues, "They have one clinic in town, but the doctor
there is just not capable of seeing more than 10 patients. Also, they have to
pay up front. If they can't pay, they get no treatment."
The average wage is under $3 a day, and that makes medical
care costs exorbitant. It would be easy to look at
Grand Bassin and feel hopeless, but Thomas says God is working through
partners there who are responding.
"We have a school of about 800 children," he explains,
where AMG donors sponsor
children. The sponsorships help pay for schooling, supplies, uniform, and a daily meal. Students range from
pre-school to 7th grade.
However, not
all the students had sponsors, and that's when a local Tennessee church
stepped in. They are subsidising the feeding program to ensure that the
children get fed.
When a pastor noticed that many of the students and
teachers at school were sick, the AMG team built a clinic. It opened three months ago.
"The clinic is brand new, and we need to
furnish it. We're getting by, but we need equipment for it, and we need national
worker support for the medical staff, the nurse, and the medical lab
technician." The goal is for
Haitian medical staff to keep the clinic open year round.
Even more importantly, Thomas says, "People have come
to know the Lord because the message of the Gospel is explained every day to
the patients as they wait to see the medical staff."
Pray that many Haitians will hear and believe the Gospel through the ministry of AMG.
