Dear family and friends:
May grace and peace be multiplied to each of you today and every day. As you know on January 12, 2010, the Island nation of Haiti was hit by a severe earthquake, damaging and destroying thousands of homes and buildings. Of the more than two million affected survivors, 1.3 million are still displaced and living in settlement sites.
Soon after the earthquake, I was contacted by numerous people who were aware of my missions work to Haiti over the past 23 years, asking what they could do to help. Since that time, I have focused nearly 100 percent of my time to bringing much needed aid to the people of Haiti. I honestly believe this is my assignment and I am humbled that God has chosen to use me in this capacity.
On Feb 28th, I departed from Norfolk, VA to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, along with Dr. Phillip Lucas, Pastor of Greater Bethlehem Christian Assembly (Hampton, VA), and Bro. Wayne Steiner of Warwick River Mennonite Church, (Newport News, VA), for 10 days with lots of donated items: clothing, care packages, school supplies, and work gloves from ABC Supply, a computer and printer for the Baptist Mission Hospital, where Sis La Shawn Clark was treated, on our last mission trip to Haiti (See enclosure by Dr Phillip Lucas), after being found in a coma around 2:00 AM two days before our return trip back to the states in October, 2010. We spent four entire days waiting for her to recover enough to fly home. God in His great mercy gave La Shawn renewal of life and the team an experience we will never forget as long as we live. Praise God for His love.
This was the second mission trip in five months that Dr. Phil, Bro Wayne and I have taken together. We participated with a team of 14 people made up of churches in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida led by Michael Fisher, President of Bethanie Mission of Haiti, Inc, to begin the first phase of the 1st Church Port-Au-Prince building project. We met up with Albert Allen of International Cooperating Ministries, (Hampton, VA) in Miami, FL, who went to Haiti for 4 days to see the temporary construction sites for families needing shelters, and dedicated a school building for children 1st thru 6th grades. ICM has been faithfully financing and supporting the ministry through Pastor Ignace Augustin for Bethanie Evangelical Mission of Haiti, Inc. Albert also introduced about 16 pastors to the Mini Bible College curriculum. I am especially thankful to God for the evidence of the missionary work of translating English to Creole, so pastors can teach the gospel to “whosoever will come” to Jesus. A few days later, Pastor Ignace, Dr Phil, Bro Wayne and I went back to the school area and repaired the roof of Pastor Clarence’s home and church which had been leaking since the earthquake. Dr. Philip taught pastors for 5 days at the Bible College in Les Cayes, Haiti and also preached two services on Sunday.
The rest of the team began building the new facility, 1st church of Port-.Au-Prince (a congregation of over 250 members, led by Pastor Livard Altema), to replace the former facility, which was greatly damaged during the earthquake. The new building will be built a few blocks away from the downtown area, located in the heart of the city. Plans for the existing building consist of repairing and using it as a guest house for missionaries and other guests.
The first project challenge came at the beginning, in which the engineer of construction stated, the footing needed to be 8 ft. deep. Of my 45 years in construction, I have never participated in digging that deep for a footing and foundation. The new earthquake codes require it because of the soil. Praise God for new codes, because if we had built it before 1/12/2011, there probably would be nothing but a pile of rubbish now.
Building a church in Haiti is a unique experience in and of itself. We personally make many of the materials needed for the building on the job site, because they are not readily available, as in America. For example, we first built a gate to close the construction site. We rented a backhoe and operator, squared walls of footing, cleaned out excess soil, carried rocks to be placed in footing, built forms for concrete, placed re-bar, and manually made the concrete by mixing gravel, sand, cement and water. We then formed a bucket brigade line (a line of people passing 5 gallon buckets of concrete) to the footing, placed large rocks, and poured concrete to build foundation (see pictures). We also made all building blocks for walls by mixing cement, lime, and water, which is poured into a mold and allowed to cure. We returned home on March 10, 2011 after completing approximately 75% of the footing and foundation. Many of the members of the congregation and the pastor worked along with the team. It was a delightful time giving our labor of love. It was a special joy to witness one of the church leaders, a woman who is a community organizer, lead the congregational members in removing debris and garbage from streets and ditches. It was truly a congregational team effort and we were honored to be a part of the team.
I am especially excited about this project because it has a two-fold meaning for me. We are building a facility that will be dedicated as a memorial in honor of my beloved wife, Tina, who went home to be with the Lord on August 8, 2009. Tina had a special love for the people of Haiti. From the beginning, she supported me in whatever the Lord directed me to do, whether building churches, furniture, or digging wells to provide clean water. Tina and I participated in numerous mission trips together including Africa (Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana), Jamaica, and Haiti. She was known for her love of God, His people, and her passion for teaching His Word. She was a leader and role model who touched and brought positive change to the lives of so many people. Therefore, your generous gifts of support for this project will not only bring great relief to the people of Haiti, but also will serve as a memorial to the life of a woman who was truly a servant of God. The building dedication will be held in late summer or early fall 2011.
We may not all be able to go to Haiti to work on site, however, those who are unable to go, have just as great an opportunity to support those of us who are willing and able to go, through your generous financial support. The total cost for this project is roughly $66,000. I am asking that you consider making a tax deductible contribution to this worthy cause. Thank you in advance for partnering with us in this endeavor. All checks should be made payable to: ICM (International Cooperating Ministries), with whom I have worked for the past 10 years building churches in China and Haiti. Also, please document on the bottom left corner of your check, C/O 1st Church Port-au-Prince. Thank you in advance for your generous gift, it is much needed and greatly appreciated. I will update you regarding the progress of the Port-au-Prince church in the near future.
Serving with joy and gladness,
Vasco D. Boyd
BEMH Missions Coordinator