Hello!
As you may know, Kris & I are on the Board of Brent Gambrell Ministries (BGM). A main component of the ministry is an outreach to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti. With a population of around 8 million, 80% are unemployed. Only 53% of children age 6-12 attend school, and of those age 13-18 only 14% attend. Of those children that are enrolled in school, only 29% of them ever make it to the sixth grade due to the high cost of education. About 75% of the Haitian population practice Voodoo.
How do you impact a country in such despair? You start with the children – by offering free education in private, Christian schools. The school buildings are then also utilized as a community church on Sundays, and Wednesday evenings. And you offer free medical clinics to the community. In this way the child, the family, and the entire community is impacted. BGM partners with New Missions in Haiti to do just that. Over 9,000 children are currently enrolled in the 22 school/churches and high school established by New Missions to date. More than 300 Haitians are employed throughout the ministry by teaching, preaching, and serving. And approximately 1,000 Haitians receive medical care each month through the mission.
Education is the pathway to a better future. Among the graduates of the New Missions schools (the ministry began in 1983) are teachers, pastors, attorneys, engineers, medical professionals, and mechanics – to name a few. A generation of Christian leaders is being raised up in Haiti and it shows – ten years ago approximately 90% of Haitians practiced Voodoo.
There are many needs to be filled in Haiti, but today I ask for your help to fulfill one very specific need – relief from the brutal Haitian heat. While 22 school/churches and a central high school have been established they have no air conditioners and very few have working ceiling fans. The BGM board has personally accepted the challenge to change this. We have found a company willing to sell us durable outdoor-quality ceiling fans for $50 each. We will then have to provide for the shipping and installation of those fans. I ask that you prayerfully consider joining us in this effort. By clicking on the link below you will be directed to a page on the BGM website with more specific details on how to give. All donations are fully tax deductible.
Thanks!
Mary Kelso