Spring 2007 Newsletter — Contents
Faith and Hope: Haitians Helping Haitians
By Matt Kaiser, Faith Based Outreach Coordinator
Tabernacle of Bethlehem Mennonite Church is located in Opa Locka, Florida. Pastor Dieudonne Brutus welcomed me to their evening services on a balmy summer evening last fall.
The service opened with several hymns sung in Kreyol and accompanied by clapping, tambourines, and guitars both Pastor Brutus and I were playing. That Sunday evening, as my English words about the Lambi Fund were being translated into Kreyol, I felt unsure of how my message came across to my listeners in a different language. Then, as I spoke of how Lambi works from the bottom up, listens to the needs of Haitian communities, and funds and trains Haitians to work on their own development projects, eyes lit up, my message was affirmed with enthusiastic shouts of "Amen!" and "Wi! Wi!"
Then it was business time. Pastor Brutus later translated for me that their congregation had to stop paying their organist because they couldn't afford to pay rent, keep the church doors open, and give money to Haitian refugees that came to their church…and here I was asking them to give some of what little they had to support peasants through the Lambi Fund! Despite their financial situation Pastor Brutus and the people gathered agreed and were excited to take a collection for the Lambi Fund of Haiti because they believed there is hope for change in Haiti through Lambi Fund's bottom-up approach of partnering with peasant organizations.
It reminded me of the following passage.
"And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." —Mark 12:41-44.
A few weeks ago I returned to visit Tabernacle of Bethlehem for a Sunday morning service. The congregation took an offering for the Lambi Fund to support our brothers and sisters in Haiti. They apologized because they did not have much, but they looked in their pockets and put in everything they had. The congregation's humble gift was enough to help support a project that will make an immense impact in the lives of Haitian families!
If the tiny Tabernacle of Bethlehem can make a difference, so can you. If your congregation would like to make a difference in Haiti contact Matt Kaiser (620) 242-3387 or !
