Author: Haitian Ministries

Dear Family and Friends,

We give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies for His love and faithfulness. We wait patiently knowing God has plans for good and not for disaster. We pray every Haitian will have hope for a future. We know God hears our prayers and listens.

We know the Lord says, “If you look for Me wholeheartedly you will find Me. I will be found by you says the LORD. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.” Oh Lord, You are our only hope in our country and in Haiti.

I struggle for the words to adequately share an image of what is happening in the country of Haiti. It’s exceedingly difficult for our brothers and sisters to find the strength to keep going. One friend told me, “It feels like we do not have a future.” We need to pray that God will heal this land and remove the evil that exists there. Pray God will restore the land (Jeremiah 32).

I believe God has led me to the prophet Jeremiah and his ministry, to remind us of the difficulty he experienced and how the people ignored his warnings and the words of hope. We must never lose sight that there is always hope. We can share our prayers and what we can do to help and encourage the people of Haiti, especially our partners that face the challenges there every day. I sense when reading Jeremiah that there is a great deal of similarity to Jeremiah’s life and the nation of Israel to what’s happening in Haiti today. What Jeremiah witnessed is what our team is witnessing every single day. It’s happening right now: Haiti is deteriorating right before our eyes.

We’ve never seen the situation in Haiti as dire as it is now. Food insecurity, businesses closed, limited gas access, gangs growing in power, kidnapping has increased by 200 percent, and murders. Unemployment is currently 85 percent. Idle hands do not help all the widespread destruction of people and property that now exists.

Families have no money for food and obtaining it is not easy; families also have no money for necessary life-saving medication for their elderly parents, their children, or themselves. The people in Haiti are suffering immensely.

This last year we’ve had to cancel two trips due to safety issues for us and for our team in the field. Luke and I are blessed that the ministry’s day-to-day operation does not depend on us – we have “boots on the ground.” Our team is unified in our mission of “Haitians helping Haitians for the glory of God.” We communicate almost daily with our team. We serve with our partner John Pericles, as well as our nurse, Ertha Pierre. Pastor Jovite Noel is our building project coordinator. This team continues serving the people in the communities and out in the even more rural villages, persevering in their work as difficult as it is. The medical support provided by both Ertha and John addresses a wide range of conditions, including infections, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, STDs, diabetes, anemia, and the ever-constant malnutrition, to name just a few.

John’s dogged determination to find the precious commodity of gas for the ministry’s truck makes it possible for our team to reach the communities. Most days it is very difficult to acquire gas and if they do it is exceedingly expensive, with the very real potential of fighting breaking out at any time. Gangs are barring the fuel tankers from making their deliveries, kicking the drivers out and hijacking the loads of fuel, then selling it on the black market.

We have many people ask whether Haiti is changing in a positive way at all. As of right now we would have to say it is changing – one person, one family at a time. We have pastor friends who are committed to the people and sharing biblical truth. We have families that have put their trust in God, praying at midnight and again first thing in the morning. Praising God and trusting His promises. Claiming the promises of God. His faithful love endures forever.

The Word of God says He is with us and He will take care of us. Haitian Ministries brings hope to the people and light to the darkness. We are making a difference; we are meeting needs:

• John and Pastor Maurice who disciple and share the Bible, life skills, and friendship with the “sand boys.”
• The women who we’ve helped start micro-loans to help with their children’s school and food.
• The children that needed surgery.
• The widow who has 5 children and no work, whom we helped with food.
• Building families’ homes (currently trying to buy a small piece of land to build a small home for a young woman whose son has cerebral palsy, for whom she is the sole caregiver and provider).
• Building a church for Pastor Aly in the mountaintop community of Coupe David, where materials must be carried up the mountain.
• Providing peanut butter sandwiches and water to school children.
• Baby Grace who is safe at Justinien University Hospital, being cared for until she gets strong enough to undergo surgery.
• The elderly with blood pressure so high they could have a stroke at any time. They count on us to treat and provide blood pressure medication each month.
• The children that have scabies.
• The ministry team who has become family to so many. Each month the people look forward to having them visit and share. When John and Ertha go home to home, they meet the family and treat the person who is sick. They have conversations about the power of prayer and reassure them that voodoo cannot have a hold on them. They share scripture reassuring the people that He who is in them is greater than he that’s in the world, and they pray with them. The team is important to so many elderly who have no families because they’ve exited the country.

The prophet Jeremiah for 45 to 47 years preached messages the Lord gave him. Reflecting on this scripture is a reminder Of God’s faithfulness to His people, and I like to insert “Haiti” in place of Israel. In Chapter 31 the Scripture says,

“In that day,” says the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of [Haiti], and they will be my people. This is what the LORD says: “Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of [Haiti].” Long ago the LORD said to [Haiti]: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. I will rebuild you, my virgin [Haiti]. You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines. Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there. The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of [Haiti], ‘Come, let us go up to [choosing to] to worship the LORD our God.’”

Please pray this scripture as we do, replacing ‘Israel’ with ‘Haiti.’ Cry out to the Lord for the people of Haiti with us! We pray one day the Haitians will shout out with praise and joy and walk beside quiet streams on smooth paths and will not stumble. “For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past,” says the Lord. Pray God will restore, redeem, and rescue the Haitian people, that their lives will be like a watered garden and all of their sorrows will be gone; the young women will dance for joy; and the men old and young will join in the celebration. (From Jeremiah 31, 32 & 33)

Our hearts weep for the people in Haiti, but we will continue to give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. His love never fails, and His mercies are new every morning.

Thank you for caring, giving, and praying with us. Knowing you stand with us brings us courage and strength.

In His Strength,

Luke and Pam

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you have all stayed sane, healthy, and have drawn closer to God through all the madness of this past year. It’s been a while since we last communicated with you and we have much to share.

Luke and I are trying to trust God with His answers and believe He always knows best. It sounds easy, but for me personally it is a lifelong journey and is not always painless.

This winter we’ve had to cancel our plans twice to travel to Haiti. One was because of political unrest and we were advised not to go. The second cancellation was due to our son’s illness and Covid. Our son Nate is now in the end stage of Huntington Disease. He contracted Covid in March but recovered remarkably. We had planned to go into Haiti on April 6; however, because we are his caregivers we had to cancel.

Nate will be 29 in July. He was diagnosed with Huntington Disease when he was 18. It has been one of the most difficult things we have had to walk through and watch, but God does know best. He knew our family was the perfect family that would love Nate and take care of him through it all. God knew He would provide everything we would need to give him the best possible care anyone could receive. He brought us the perfect people to support us 24/7 in providing his care. It is an emotional rollercoaster ride. I believe the only way we have survived it is through God’s grace and wisdom we have acquired ~ or out of sheer desperation to understand the importance of giving it to God day by day. Our friends in Haiti live this out on a daily basis, because every day they wake up not knowing what troubles they will face. 

Our team in Haiti continues to visit the communities whether we get to be with them or not. They do a wonderful job building relationships with some of the leaders, the elderly, and the families, and providing medical care when needed, in addition to spiritual hope and encouragement.  Many times we are the only ministry that goes to these outlying communities. They do not have medical access nearby.  Routinely our team shares the gospel and witnesses to witchdoctors, where voodoo spirituality has a stronghold in the villages. The team also regularly encounters young moms with their babies, who have been abandoned by fathers and/or their families. The people know we are there to help them, not to judge but speak truth lovingly to them. Ertha & John have a wonderful quiet, humble way about them. Recently, they met a young girl who was distraught because she found she was pregnant and the baby’s father was very abusive, so she was considering having an abortion. But with Ertha and John’s loving counsel, she has chosen to keep the baby. We are blessed to have them on our team.

Ertha and John have also been dealing with a scabies epidemic in the country and are doing lots of teaching and administering medicine to families in need.

Pastor Jovite Noel has been traveling with the team a couple days per week sharing the gospel in the communities we’re visiting. John and Pastor Maurice are also serving in the community of Garat, ministering to a group of young people.

We now have two schools that receive peanut butter sandwiches and a drink 3-5 days a week!

In April, we held a 2-day pastors’ conference.  We were elated when Guenson and Claudia Charlot from Emmaus Bible Seminary in Haiti agreed to teach. We are thankful that Pastor Codo agreed to teach 2 sessions on marriage and family relationships. We were blessed to have 168 pastors attend, even in the midst of flood conditions and countrywide unrest! Praise God for these dear ones who are committed to grow in the Lord and serve!! Our desire has always been to stand with our brothers and sisters to embrace and encourage them in using their gifts and talents.

Praises:

• The team has been safe when traveling.
• The Pastors’ Conference was taught by Haitian leaders and was greatly successful.
• The riots have quieted down in the north.
• Our partners faithfully continue to come alongside Haitian Ministries.

Prayers:

• Plans for a trip in the first part of June (currently planning to go June 2 through June 11).
• Our team encountered a baby girl born with a cleft palate and other deformities who has been abandoned. Pray she will gain strength and find a safe home.
• Many of the families lack knowledge about health issues, i.e. scabies, etc.
• The people will understand their need of a Savior.
• We need to build a fence around our Moringa plants.
• Pray for safe travel for Dick and Linda Snook from MFI, who will be traveling to Maine.
• Pray that John Pericles will be able to put a roof on his home.

We update our Facebook page weekly, so be sure to check it out!

This is what the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)

We thank you all and praise our heavenly Father for your continued support!!

For Him alone,
Pam & Luke Brochu

We had an incredible trip to Haiti this month, and we are very thankful God provided a way for us to go. It was a wonderful time of tears and laughter! We wish each one of you could’ve been there and experienced every emotion, enjoyed every person, engaged in every conversation, embrace every child and together esteemed our sovereign Lord. I hope when you read this it will bring you “up close and personal”; we will do our best to bring you along!

The first day we took the challenge to hike up the mountain to Coupe David, an area never visited by missionaries. The hike takes around two hours and it’s straight up, (or at least felt like it!). It was exciting, exhausting, and exhilarating, all at the same time. The area is visited monthly by HM’s team to provide medical care and encourage the families and the pastor. The pastor told us we were the first missionaries to ever visit, to ever make that climb. He shared his testimony and the call on his life. He had a motorcycle accident and broke both his legs, and while he was recovering a vision came to him to go up to the mountain. He is praying to have the funds to build a church building, for now they worship in a small church made out of bamboo and mud. He hikes up the mountain 4 times a week! We have several work projects we are praying for but will continue praying for Pastor Arly.

Ertha, our nurse who serves with HM, saw a need during her time in Coupe David. The community told her it takes hours to get someone who is sick down the mountain. They put them on a makeshift door and carry them down that way. So, she offered to teach first-aid classes to help the community save lives. Twelve young people signed up for her first-aid training! When we arrived, the 12 students did a skit and a song of appreciation for Ertha and the rest of us, and each student received a certificate of completion. With the training and the medication she will leave with them, we hope they will be able to stabilize patients who are sick until they can be taken off the mountain; she hopes to do this training in the other communities where we serve.

Another happy time is when we met the family for whom we built a home in March. When the mother saw us coming, she started jumping up and down and squealing for joy. “Pa gen lapli! Mesi Jezi! Mesi Jezi” (No rain! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You, Jesus!)!!! And we all rejoiced together.

One of the newest communities we serve in is called Samson. We visit there on a regular basis. We have 50 children that receive peanut butter sandwiches and a pouch of water. While we were there a mom brought her son over to the nurse and showed us one of the worst hernias I’ve seen. Her son was 10 years old and has had it since birth; it is bigger than a baseball! We talked with the pastor and the mom and explained how serious this is and that he will need surgery. We shared the gospel with her, and she listened intently but was not ready to receive Jesus as her Savior. We asked her to think about it and explained she could ask Jesus into her heart anytime! We are hoping she will see and feel the love demonstrated to her and her little boy and that it will resonate in her heart and draw her to the Lord. The surgery has been scheduled for him, so we ask that you please pray for James. We will update you on our Haitian Ministries Facebook page.

We feel it is necessary and time to partner with the hospital in Quartier Morin and we are making arrangements so that when John and Ertha find a situation with a patient that needs more care than we can provide, they will send them to the hospital where that person will receive what they need. We are so blessed to have the partners we have!

The brother of Jesus, James, says in his letter, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” And when any of us work for the Lord, we will always “face trials of many kinds.” It has not been easy, and we have gone through some difficult times over the last few years. Our most recent trial has been separating from Max Fleury. There have been unfortunately many situations over the last three years that we have prayerfully and diligently tried to resolve with Max that have led to this decision, and we believe that as ministry leaders, and in agreement with our board of directors, we had no choice. To be honest, we were starting to question whether it was time to leave Haiti. This trip was especially important to us and we were asking God for answers. Every time we wondered if it was God’s answer, or whether we wanted to continue so badly, we were relying on our own answers. But praise God! There is no doubt in our minds that during this week we received the answers from God alone! He brought us to the mountaintop! It was a time for healing, growing, and learning. Of course, we are not naïve enough to realize that after the mountaintop come the inevitable valleys, but we will praise Him on the mountaintop and be thankful for His unlimited grace and mercy, and we will savor every minute! God poured out His favor on us. Our prayer for years was that God would build a team that love the Lord and love each other as family, unity that would be obvious to others and be an example in the communities.

Acts 2:42-47 says it best: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

We are in this together serving God and doing His will; at times it feels overwhelming but together our load is light. John, Ertha, Marc-Endy and Jovite. Each have their personal gifts and talents they bring to the ministry. John is married with almost a one-year-old son; he said to me, “I just want to serve.” Ertha, a young 26-year-old that is serving as a nurse, said, “I love to teach!” Marc-Endy is married with a sweet wife and he has said many times, “This ministry encourages Nani and I to serve more.” Marc-Endy and his wife live near our precious boy who is disabled and lives in terrible conditions. Each day they bring him food. We are still praying for a family that would take care of him, but it is complicated. In Galatians chapter 6 it talks about how together we carry each other’s burdens, that no one can handle it alone.

The situation has not improved in Haiti; if anything, it’s gotten a lot worse. Pastor Jovite is always there to lend a hand wherever it is needed. Our hearts were touched to see how much they deeply care, the tears they shed and the smiles they gave, watching them discuss different situations among themselves. We saw their hearts and their love for our Father. Each week we see how thorough and conscientious they are. One scripture that depicts the ministry as we see it is in Matthew 25:34-40: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” God is strengthening our bond with one another, an answer to prayer! Trust is an anomaly in the Haitian culture, but with God we can break down those barriers, and He is!

Another day we took time and stopped at the site where Pastor Saintil’s church building was. We stood on a pile of rubble, all that is left of the building now; it was incredibly overwhelming to see the destruction that has been done by the Haitian government, not just at Pastor Saintil’s church, but the whole road was demolished. We know that God sees the whole picture and He knows everything, but it was extremely hard to bear witness. We must trust this was in God’s Hands and His plan, whether we understand it or not. We took a few minutes to pray and thank God for a dear friend and faithful saint; it’s not the same without him.

We thank God for this incredible week, and we thank God for His protection and provision.

We praise God for His love and faithfulness.

He created us to serve and what a privilege it is to serve Him and our faithful brothers and sisters. We thank God for our partners and their support and prayers.

Praises

• For our safety.
• Being able to help many patients with high blood sugar and high blood pressure.
• Friends that wrote letters to the hospital for a partnership.
• That COVID has not hit the country hard.
• Our faithful team.
• Pray the individuals we shared the gospel with will be drawn to God.

Prayers

• The little boy Jason will recover nicely from the hernia operation.
• The young man with a swollen tonsil will be able to get a surgeon that has the right equipment.
• Pray we will find partners that will help us build a family home.
• Safety for our team and Haiti. There is a lot of gang activity now in Cap.
• The best time to schedule a pastors’ conference.
• Please pray for the pastoral committee Pastor Josue, Pastor Maxi, Pastor Paul and Dr. Casseus.
• The partnership with HCBH.
• That we will love at all times and we will be in tune to God’s will and His plan.
• That our ministry will be effective, and we see improvement in the communities that we serve.
• The political unrest.
• Future teams.
• That we would find more partners.
• For a young 21-year-old mom that has a three-year-old and a two-month-old baby, that she surrenders her life to Christ, that she will stay strong and courageous and say no to the men who take advantage of her situation, and that she will be successful in her micro loan business.
• Ronel will find a family.

I hope this update gives you insight to the beautiful ministry we are so blessed to serve. We would love to come to your church and share more!

Please call if you have any questions for us at 207-491-4775.

We update our Facebook page regularly so feel free to read and share!

We thank you for your support and prayers.

For His glory,

Luke and Pam

Haitian Ministries US

Dear Friends,

Greetings! Luke and I want you to know how much we appreciate each one of you. Your support and your prayers have meant so much to us and our dear Haitian friends. Each of you holds a special place in our hearts.
We probably all can agree that what we are experiencing around the globe is a little crazy. Many of us have never witnessed or been a part of something of this magnitude. Over the last few days, the Lord has led me to the book of Exodus and the story of the plagues.

It hits hard when you realize that one person, Pharaoh, who’s heart was hardened, caused the spiraling downward plight of so many people. I can only imagine what Haiti could be like if it was not for the behavior, pride and sin that rivets their country. But then again, we do not have to look to far into our country and see what sin has done in our land. Pray with me,that after this virus has passed, our hearts will be open to who God is and turn to Him.

Our hearts have been heavy for the stories we hear on the news. People dying with no one by their side. These stories immediately bring me back to Haiti. For so many, in Haiti, this is normal and the elderly rarely have anyone by their side. Our home to home visits bring hope to each one of them. We have the chance to meet so many and hear their stories and help when we can. Our Haitian Ministries team has built a rapport within the communities. Due to these strong relationships, they help us help others. They will show us where the sick or abandoned live. The Lord uses each of us at different times to make a difference. Your faithful prayers give us strength and courage and your faithful support allows us to buy medications, food, and supplies for families. We also purchase food for children that are malnourished, have helped with hernia surgeries and paid for proper care for a child with a sever burn on her hand. When each of these events happen it is not without a gathering of people and our team is able to share and teach the gospel with them. With the help of our financial partners Haitian Ministries has built three homes, helped with three church buildings and recently replaced an old roof with a completely new roof at one church. We are helping children attend Christian schools and University. We have many children that receive a peanut butter sandwich and water as their daily bread thanks to our donations. Each of these beautiful blessings are only the surface of what we do because of you.

Your faithful giving supports four families that serve with us. Daily we stay in close contact with John, Marc-endy, Pastor Jovite, Ertha and Dr.Muadelin Mesedieu. Right now, we are trying to respond to some of the immediate needs of these families. The team has gone into several communities and has distributed soap, Clorox, pails, and shared information about the virus. They are now preparing food to distribute. Marc-endy said, “the people will jump and praise God.” For those of you who have served in Haiti with us, can’t you picture this celebration!!

God used Moses and Aaron in a big way. They were right in the middle of all the plagues being obedient to what the Lord had called them to do. Our team is being faithful in sharing and praying that this virus would pass over the people of Haiti. I hope that after this dreaded virus has passed over all our families, we will be able to reflect on God’s unfailing love. As Moses said. “Let it be according to your word, that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. El – Shaddai.”

Please pray:

• Right now, they report there are 40 cases and 3 deaths. We all feel this may not be accurate but also trust our God is Mighty and He fights for us. Let us pray the virus passes over Haiti.
• Families will find food. It is getting more and more difficult to find food. Our friends are concerned that many will suffer from lack of food. The economy is even worse than it was earlier in the year (it takes $1 to get 20 gdes.).
• We are moving forward with our Pastor’s conference in July. We are pleased that Dr. Terry Smith will be teaching again. This will be a beautiful time for them. They give so much and this is a way we can give back to them.
• For our ministry team and their families. One of our dear brothers is experiencing some very challenging circumstances.

At the end of all this please remember, you are all special to God and to us and our faithful team serving up close.

For His Glory,
Luke and Pam

It has taken me a few days to get my thoughts together to share how incredible this last trip in February was. Incredible but very difficult. But we praise God, our Ultimate Guide, for how He did indeed direct and shepherd us every step of the way.

As you are all aware, we have been praying for a nurse to work alongside Max after Dieudonne’s passing. We prayed and believed God would bring someone that would fit just right in the ministry. And He did!

We praise God for a 2-day interview process – interviewing being something practically unheard of in Haiti – and then unanimously a decision was made, by not only our US team but our brothers and staff in Haiti, to bring Ertha Pieree on the mission team serving with us as a nurse. This was amazing confirmation by the Holy Spirit to have everyone independently select Ertha to work with Haitian Ministries! Praise God!

Ertha (pronounced “Air-ta”) loves God and is excited to serve with us. One of the things she said during the interview is that she went on-line to check us out, and liked what she saw and read.  Ertha was a nursing instructor and possessed some experience in community health – just what we had prayed for! She is 26 years old, and Max and the rest of the team have taken her under their wings. Max is already calling her his daughter!

Over this week, we spent time in the book of Ephesians with the team. One thing that the Lord kept reminding me of was the ‘incredible greatness of God’s power and how He will empower us with inner strength through the Holy Spirit.’ And how we need that! What wonderful encouragement He provides through His Word!

This story that I’m going to share with you, a very difficult one, will hopefully give you an understanding why missionaries need your consistent, fervent prayers.

On our team, we have a young woman who has served with us several times. She does anything she can to help, but her passion is children and adults with disabilities.  She asked us if she could specifically help us with this if Max discovered anyone with these needs during his home-to-home visits. We had a few discussions about this and what that would look like, and agreed it fit perfectly with what we are already doing. We were blessed that this young woman came with us this last trip and by the end of the week we found 4 people: 2 children and 2 women.

But I feel a burden to share one of our discoveries and how difficult life can be for so many we serve. We will call her Penny. She is 34 years old and is a paraplegic. She also has a mental disability.  We were invited into her home to do an assessment and what we found was very sad. She and her grandmother, 80-some years old who is going blind, live in the ghetto. Their home has mud walls, dirt floor, a rusty tin roof, only 2 rooms. Each space had an old twin mattress. Penny’s mattress was all soiled with brown spots and a hole in the middle where you could see the springs, but the hole was open right to the floor, and it was 2 feet in diameter.  We still do not know how she could ever sleep on this. The grandmother’s mattress was very thin, and it looked like it was a pile of cardboard with blankets over it.

Penny was sitting outside on a small Haitian chair. She was all wet from urine. She mumbled a few words but we didn’t understand her.  Our team member examined her skin condition, how she transferred and how she managed her food intake. We received a little history from a cousin. We found something very disturbing about her: She has been violated many times by men in the past and has had 4 pregnancies. They have had to remove the babies and place them in an orphanage.  As you can well imagine, this was heartbreaking. By the time we left this home, we were all in shock and struggled with what to do next. If only we had more money, I kept thinking we could pay someone to take care of her, maybe we should build a home for patients with disabilities. So many things ran through our minds.

And later that afternoon we found another very difficult situation, worse than the one I just shared about Penny, but just too painful to share with you now.

On that following Sunday, we all went to Pastor Jovite’s church. The message and worship were wonderful! It always feels like we are going to our home church when we are there, with many familiar faces and children that we’ve watched grow up.

But during church I received a message that Penny was raped in the night.  Yes, again. There are no words for this. They did find the man and will prosecute him.  My thoughts were to immediately remove her from the community. One of the family members said they would not be able to find anyone to take care of her and it would take money and wouldn’t know who they could trust. In the community where she is, there is some family that can check on her. Right now, they have a few men that are guarding her home until we can get better doors installed.  We have been asked to put better doors on her home with locks. We will be doing that this week. We also have replaced the old mattresses with 2 new ones with new frames.

None of this makes any sense and it’s very hard to understand. I don’t have any answers. Please trust me when I say this is probably not an isolated case; in fact, we know it isn’t.  Please pray for this young woman and her grandmother. The damage this does to a woman’s mind, heart and soul is horrific. Only God can heal this woman. Penny went to church before she became disabled and the grandmother goes to a Catholic church.

Pastor Jovite has introduced us to a family of 9 who live in a home across from the church. The home is buckling in on the sides. The roof  has holes and is rusting and when it rains it goes into the home. And there are dirt floors.

Jovite asked if we would consider helping them by building a new home.  The mother has been faithful for over 15 years. She attends Pastor Jovite’s church with her family.  We all agreed this would be a good project to undertake. On Thursday, March 5, as I drafted this newsletter, we were shy $1000.00. But by the time of sending this newsletter, we have received ALL the money to build this home ~ this just affirms to us not only God’s goodness, but His sovereignty as well!! I believe this home will be built by the end of summer.

I also want to mention that we will be having another wedding in July! Clara and Saintfort are getting married. You may remember they are the elderly couple who were living together, and their home was falling down. They started going to church, received Christ as their Savior and want to get married.  There are rumors I will be the “marenn maryaj la” – the matron of honor!

Further confirmation of God’s working is that John Pericles, whom we have known for many years, has joined the ministry. He has served with us in the past and we love his gentle spirit.

His passion is serving the Lord and he loves to teach Bible. John will be helping us serve the at‑risk population. He is married with a beautiful family.

Prayer Requests

• Unity with the team in the field.
• Our children we found with disabilities
• Penny and the grandmother(she is going blind from cataracts but we’re pursuing cataract surgery down there).
• Pastor Jovite as he coordinates the team that will be building a family home.
• Marc-Endy as he organizes and explains to groups about micro-loans, then finds a group that wants to start a micro-loan business and become a co-op that will hold each other accountable and encourage one another.
• John and his pastor friends as they explore and decide the best approach and ways to help the children at risk.
• The pastors’ conference in July.
• Travel back in April.
• The country, its political situation and economic instability
• Our nurse, Ertha, and Max.  Pray Ertha will not be overwhelmed with the responsibilities of her job.
• Pray for Max and his family.

Praises

• Our new nurse.
• Team building.
• The gifts of money that came in for our new home construction.
• Safety while we travel on the roads.
• The direction the ministry is going.

Thank you all for being there for us, always through God’s working at just the right times!

~ Pam Brochu

Greetings Friends,

We cannot believe we are finishing 2019!

The years seem to go faster and time flies. Some folks say this is one of the signs we are getting older. I’m not sure if that’s the reason, but we are very sure that God is faithful and we praise his name for all He has accomplished in which he allows us to participate. We find comfort and have confidence in knowing that God is with us.

LOOKING BACK

We praise God – nou fè lwanj Bondye!

We had some wonderful teams who served with us that provided medical care, taught the Bible, played basketball, & soccer with the youth, went to homes to visit and pray with the families and listen to their stories and their praises for God. We cried and laughed. We served with pastors doing VBS programs. Discipled women and youth. With your generous giving, we finished building a family home and put a roof on a church.

It was a very difficult year for our dear brothers and sisters due to civil unrest, an unstable economy, high prices for food and no gas. In the end the Lord prevailed and worked it out. Some things have improved now and we will be going back in February!

We still need prayers for change in the country; good, fair, and principled leaders; and jobs for the people. We have said many times that the majority of problems are due to sin. The sad part as usual are the remnants from sin: fatherless homes, abandoned children, malnutrition, starvation, sickness, and elderly ones who are left alone.

One of the things that keeps us serving there is the beautiful children and elderly. We see genuine Christians – “saints” – who are devoted to the Lord and want our help to continue and improve what they are doing. They would be the first to say their strength and nourishment comes from the Lord, and “I can do all things through Christ because He gives me strength, but it was good that you helped me when I needed it” Phil 4:13-14 (NCV) The word of God is the best! We love that at just the right time God brings from the Word or from a partner just what we need to hear. We are blessed to serve with so many that are family to us: Max, Pastor Jovite, Marc-Endy, John, and Daniel, to name just a few.

We’ve been committed to sharing God’s love to families and loving them like Jesus. We try to encourage and strengthen the saints that are committed to God’s will and His plan for their lives and help the people that Gods puts before us.

LOOKING AHEAD

Please pray for our plans in 2020 –

• We would like to build another family home.
• We have been praying for the past 4 years how we can help the children who are “restavecs,” Restavecs are children that have been taken into homes and used for child labor, sexual gain and physically abused. In most cases they are not given an education, clothed or fed properly. God has opened a door and we have a friend that lives in Haiti who approached us about serving with us and would like to help in this. So it appears that this is now God’s timing. The door has opened and He has a plan for us. We are excited but want to make sure we go slowly. We know that if we “commit it to the Lord, He will establish it”( Proverbs 16:3). Also Proverbs 15:22 tells us that “plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” We are seeking advice and asking questions with a pastor who is involved with this. Please join us in prayer for God’s will and His plan going forward.
• We will continue growing Moringa plants for our medical outreach.
• We will be going back in February to hire a new nurse.
• Max and the nurse will continue to serve in communities doing home-to-home medical visits and sharing the gospel.
• We are planning a marriage conference in July for the pastors and their wives.
• We have 2 young people in school that we help, and we also have a peanut butter sandwich program we help with in 2 schools.

We look forward to 2020 and the plans and people our Father will put on our path. Our desire is to bring hope in the name of Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”; “For my Father‘s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:35,40).

In January, we will be serving with a team from The Rock Church in Bangor. Our focus will be medical and always sharing Jesus. Due to the prolonged unrest in Haiti and only its recent apparent resolution, we and this team will be serving in the Dominican Republic, with a missionary in a Haitian community there.

We are so very thankful to God for our Board of Directors, who serve and advise so faithfully, always seeking the Father’s will for Haitian Ministries to “go…and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 6:15).

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. Thank you for the precious pillowcase dresses, the sweet baby hats, and receiving blankets that you make for us. They are very much appreciated by us and treasured by those who receive them. You are a blessing over and over again and touch many little lives.

We pray that you have a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you with a joyful, healthy New Year.

We love you all,

Luke and Pam

Warmest wishes for this holiday season. We are humbled when reflecting on 2018. It is difficult to comprehend all the work done through Haitian Ministries this year; we don’t have to fully understand because God knows the inner workings and His accomplishments are wonderful. He has called us to serve and we cling to His truth and His word. When we start to feel totally inadequate Luke and I remind each other. God has it covered, “He will do it” and he wants us to be a participant. Hallelujah. As I write this today my spirit is giddy and I am excited. We thank God for the work he established and accomplished in 2018. We thank God for the beautiful people he brings along to serve with us an those that give in so many other ways, especially with prayer.

As a reminder, the Haitian Ministries mission statement is: Creating Lasting change by Helping Haitians help Haitians for God’s Glory.

To implement our mission statement we focus on 4 cornerstones, here are a few highlights from 2018 that we want to share with you.

1. Education, Discipleship and Evangelism

• In 2018 we ministered to over 340 pastors. The book of James and teaching on Islam.
• We held a ladies conference in 3 different communities.
• A one day youth conference.

We get so much enjoyment from the pastors and positive feedback on how much the appreciate the training and how necessary it is. The ladies conferences are a joy. The topic this time was, We can live victoriously! They not only enjoy the teaching but the fellowship, games and the crafts that are done with them. These gatherings give us time to get to know the ladies personally. They share their burdens and prayer requests. W have been told that anything at all we can do for the women is a blessing. They have so many responsibilities and if we can bring reprieve for one day, and they feel special and know that we love them and more importantly God loves them. It is a blessing to serve these women.

2. Medical

In 2018, Max and Dieudonne visited over 2500 families providing medical care. They are treating many conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes, anemia, malnutrition, skin infection, respiratory infections, worms, inguinal hernias on young children and older men. During the home to home medical visits they discover so many problems, elderly that are abandoned widows, some grandparents that now are responsible for their grandchildren or other children that are orphaned. During the visits Max and Dieudonne will do an exam, consult, encourage, and listen to their stories. If needed they give medication that’s needed to treat the condition, sometimes refer them to a doctor or transport to Milot hospital. They take time to pray, share the gospel, sometimes they give a small amounts of food or money when they have it. This outreach is the heart beat of our ministry. We are reaching out to families that are discouraged, defeated and have given up on life. Max shares the gospel with witch doctor, and listens to their stories. One witch doctor received Christ. We have witness how just one visit lifts their spirit. By the time Max leaves they are smiling, and waving good bye and asking when can he come back. Dieudonne has a burden for the pregnant women she sees in the community. She has has 45 women this year some as young as 14. She visits with each one monthly. She does medical assessments, measures the abdomen which gives her an idea of the size of the baby, weights, blood pressure and listen to the heart beat, which gives the mom a chance to hear their babies heart beat. Gifts are given when we have them, clean birthing kits, and prenatal vitamins. She gets to teach the moms on their pregnancy. Some have never been to a doctor. Building relationships and taking time to get to know some of these families is very important to us. We don’t always have the resources necessary to meet the needs of the patient or request made but we find when we take time to listen, hold their hands, and pray with them you can see and feel that we have brought hope. It speaks volumes that, Someone cares, Someone has reached out, showed up and returns.

Last year we have 3 teams serve with us. This helps us tremendously, and accomplishes extras we would not be able to do. We enjoy our teams, the spiritual gifts and talents they bring and share with us and our brothers and sisters in Haiti. During our home to home visits the team members led 5 different people to the Lord. We see over 125-150 in patients in a day when we hold our mobile medical clinics.

3. Benevolence

Last year we rebuilt 3 water pumps in the community of Paulette. Our partners raised enough money to purchase pedal bikes for students in Paulette these young people would walk 7 miles one way to school. Over 200 children each week receive peanut butter sandwiches and water during their school year. 1000 Moringa plants have been planted. The moringa leaves have important health benefits that we are able to distribute to the children, and families we serve. We buildt a home for a family of 5. it has been a blessing to this young family. Three patients had successful inguinal operations.

We started another lady in a small business. We are helping Pastor Jovite with an education fund for his school and peanut butter sandwich and drink for his students.

4. Construction

We completed the work on the church building in Bazin. In October we participated in a celebration with Pastor Petit Pierre and the church family praising God for completing the construction of this church.

Please pray for:

January’s pastor’s conference. Dr. Kevin Grant will be teaching on King Saul.

The teams that will be serving with us in March, June, and October.

In March we will concentrate on home to home medical visits, evangelizing and soccer training.

In June we will be holding a basketball camp, including bible teaching. A VBS and home to home evangelizing.

In October we have a small team that will be teaching a group of ladies how to crochet pot holders and dish cloths to sell for small business to help with their children’s schooling and food to eat. We will visit some of the communities and provide medical care.

Prayers for 2019

Please pray Pastor Saintil’s wife, Yanick and his church family. Our dear friend passed away in November. This has been a shock to everyone. Joseph was a dear friend and instrumental in helping with the Pastor training. Dr. Jules Casseus, Pastor Maxis Michel and Pastor Josue Jacques who are part of the pastors committee have a strong desire to see the pastors conferences continue. They will be my new contacts. We will miss Pastor Saintil but are confident the conferences will continue.

Pray for the church that needs a roof to be replaced.

A family that needs help building a small home.

The political unrest.

Safety for Max and Dieudonne traveling on the roads, good health for their children who live in Mexico now.

Please pray for Pastor Jovite and his family.

Marc-endy who is helping us with the micro loans. We love these families.

Luke and I appreciate your prayers as we continue to serve and seek God’s will for the future.

Merry Christmas and may You feel His presence and peace in 2019.

All our love,

Luke and Pam