Missions at Work in Haiti

Did you ever see an individual or maybe a family and thought, “I wish there was some way to get to know them, a way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them”?  Paul prayed for open doors for this very reason.  Have you ever had the thought, “I’d be so embarrassed if my friends came over just now”?    Maybe the house is in disarray, we’re having a bad hair day, or fill-in-the-blank.  One day, having returned to Haiti after a prolonged absence, these two thoughts ran into each other!  I was confronted with a family’s sense of indignity (not to mention total discomfort!) at not having bathroom facilities.    I saw how my visits to families in this situation stirred their feelings of shame.   Then I saw it ... the very thing that was hindering could become the open door!!

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Directed and coordinated by Bito (one of our dear brothers in Haiti), we’ve begun digging pit latrines, double-seaters which are strategically placed to serve several families together.  Such a simple thing, such a BIG DOOR to share the love of Christ!  I have to laugh when realizing I’m suggesting people join me in throwing their money down the toilet!  We have completed nine projects so far, and our next one is for a school in Tovà.  Their lack of facilities has been blocking receipt of much-needed aid available through World Vision.  We’re excited and grateful for the privilege of restoring a sense of dignity to these precious people, and excited too that so many of you participate through prayer and financial support.  

Looking ahead, we’re studying dry-composting toilets ...  much smaller, less expensive individual units which make possible the conversion of waste to soil-enriching compost.  More open doors for us to walk through, bringing hope and light and good news to those in darkness.  To God be the glory; great things He has done, and continues to do!

Candy Rieger, Field Coordinator, Missionary Ventures Int’l.

Candy Rieger is a Missionary in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.   She left the U.S. in 1996 for the Dominican  Republic after being called to Missions and has been there ever since.  

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