The following was printed in our church newsletter, the ARChive, on Feb. 21st of this year. It describes our plans for H.I.M. (Haitian International Missions), which was a project we worked on the last few years to support Haitian ministries and leaders. If you have any questions about this plan please don't hesitate to contact us personally for more information...
I was excited to hear that one of our life groups is
considering doing a study on the book, “When Helping Hurts” (by Steve Corbett), which is a standard text
in the study of missions and outreach. The premise of this book is that helping
people can actually do more harm than good if it isn’t done properly. For example, one of the key principles when
administering aid to developing countries is to determine if the situation
requires relief or development. When the
2010 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, over 200,000 people were killed, one
million were displaced from their homes, and the entire region was without
access to food and water. That is a
great example of when relief-style aid is needed. Without an immediate influx of organized help
and supplies, many more would have perished.
However,
it is important to transition quickly from relief to development. If relief continues indefinitely, dependency
is fostered and people become crippled in their ability to function as a
self-sustaining society. One simple
example of this is the donation of free used clothing to countries in Africa
who are not in need of relief. When boat
loads of such goods are offered to the public it undermines the local economy,
putting out of business native shop owners who would seek to manufacture and/or
sell clothing. Sadly, such situations
are constantly occurring in developing countries, and many times at the hands
of well-meaning American Christians.
All of
that provides a backdrop to an important announcement we are ready to make. We feel God is directing us to conclude the
work of H.I.M. (Haitian International Missions) in 2016. Our goal was to transition the ministries and
individuals we supported from relief to development to long-term
self-sustainability. In the case of the
Deaf/Disabled School, when we became aware of its existence the director feared
they would have to close soon. With some
financial support and oversight from Zacharie (H.I.M. director), we believe we
were able to solidify the ministry somewhat and allow it to begin to develop
the program further and plan for the future.
One unintended side effect of this support was a reluctance of parents
to pay for their children’s tuition. We
feel the time is right now to discontinue outside financial support and allow
the school director to reinvigorate the commitment of parents to the program,
which has been improved through our development efforts.
As for
Zacharie, when we began a relationship with him he had recently lost his job as
a director of a high school and felt a call to enter seminary, but had no
funding to make it possible. In a sense
his family was in need of immediate relief, but the salary we offered him not
only allowed him to provide for his family’s needs but also to develop his
skills by attending seminary. He also
provided some oversight and mentorship to the Deaf/Disabled School and other
young college students we were supporting.
After 2016 Zacharie’s salary will also be discontinued as he will be
better equipped to find a job as pastor or school administrator (or both which
is common in Haiti).
Though
it is difficult to make these decisions to discontinue financial support to
leaders and ministries in developing nations, it is absolutely essential for
their spiritual and leadership growth.
The worst-case scenario would be to create permanent dependency on
outside funding. As a general rule, we
belief it is this type of “help” (addressing developing situations as if they
need relief) that continues to hold Haiti back from thriving and taking control
of its own future. Both because we felt the ministries and
leaders of H.I.M. were ready, and because we ourselves will be transitioning to
a different role in Haiti, we knew the time was right to make this step of
faith.
We
want to thank all those who have supported this ministry for this season,
especially those who sponsored the children in the school. Please continue to pray for them and know
that your investment in their lives will continue to make a difference. Above all, know that the discontinuation of
H.I.M. is not a failure! Just the
opposite. Though it was by no means carried
out with perfection, we believe this type of medium-term approach to international
aid (RELIEF – DEVELOPMENT – SUSTAINABILITY) is backed by biblical principles
and best practices in missions. Let’s
celebrate what God has done and may we all quickly find the next place where He
is leading us to serve! Blessings,
Grimm Family Adventurers
No comments:
Post a Comment