August 23, 2011 by Carly

I hope you have heard the story of how UPC has become attached to a village called Foison in Northwest Haiti. If you haven’t, take a minute to explore this blog.

This story is 30 years in the making, starting when UPC commissioned Bruce Robinson to be a missionary in Haiti. It picks up again in 2009 when Convergence decided to send a group of young adults to serve with Bruce and his wife Deb.

From Convergence’s involvement has sprung a partnership with one church in one village called Foison. This church runs a school with over 700 children in attendance. But they don’t have enough buildings to house them, and the ones they do have are not the most structurally sound. After the earthquake hit Port-au-Prince in 2010, this took on an entirely new level of importance.

Together, UPC and the church at Foison have created a space for God to do an amazing work. There are so many stories – little instances of God showing up to bless leaders in Foison and their community, the children, Bruce and Deb, and UPC team members alike.

In the following video, we take a quick look through numbers, videos and photos at some of the ways God has been working.

Since the last team from Convergence went to Foison and poured the floor for this new school building in April 2011, the community has been active in continuing the work. They have constructed walls and hope to have two classrooms finished for use in September.

I continue to be amazed by the people in Foison, and the passion and desire they have. A spark has been ignited in their hearts, and I am eager to see God continue a mighty work in their community.

Carly

April 2, 2011

Poverty is reinforced by isolation. But one of the gifts of participating with Bruce and Deb Robinson in building the school in Foison is that it helps us to break down that isolation. Our relationship with the Robinson provides us with a pathway to walk together with families in Haiti. As they live and share their lives with the community in Haiti, the Robinsons help us to know how to connect to the community in ways that bring dignity, respect. and meaningful, long-term benefit to children and families. The school itself will provide a gathering place for learning and education which will be an invaluable asset to the entire community for years to come.

This is more than just responding to the immediate needs that arise after a crisis. This is about helping to build the infrastructure that will create of growth, hope and vitality for children and families for generations to come. And tangibly, this year the community itself will benefit greatly through the encouragement of knowing once again that they are not alone.

Our UPC mission personnel are physical witnesses of Jesus Christ – demonstrating his love as “the Word who became flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14. In standing with the Robinsons to help build this school – we get to join in their witness of the gospel.

Mike McCormick Huentelman

Posted on April 13, 2011

Hey Everyone,

We are all doing really well. We can’t believe it has almost been a week since we left. We have made some amazing progress. Last Friday when we visited the school and began work, Bruce told us our goal for the week was to lay the cement for two of the four rooms. Today, with the help of a great crew of Haitians (or more appropriately, a great crew of Haitians with the help of a few Americans), we were able to lay the floor for two of the rooms and prepare some of the third room for cement. It was a very long day of labor. We got up at 5:30am, loaded the truck, drove up and the work began. We helped scour the hillside for rocks, move gravel in buckets, tie rebar, bend rebar, measure for accuracy,fasten the forms, compress dirt, entertain a lot of children, and many other activities. We just got home at 5:45pm and are showering before dinner. We broke our record from last January and had 20 people in the land rover along with a lot of other building supplies. It is really dry here and we are all covered in dust after any time in the truck. We were all extra dirty today after working hard, sweating, and driving. We’ve attached a picture of Keith in all his dirty glory. He is on the way to a well earned shower. We are looking forward to more time at Foison working at the school. We hope to finish laying cement in all four rooms by the end of the week. Prayers would be appreciated.

We had a great Sunday worshiping at the church in Foison, lunch at Pastor Chrisbon’s (the best Hatian food ever!), and finished the night off with a Shannon coordinated “missionary fashion show” compliments of the trunks of clothes half the team had to wear until we got the second half of our bags on Sunday. It was quite entertaining.

Thanks for all your prayers, please keep praying that everything continues to go smoothly.We appreciate your support.

Much love,

Amber & Team Haiti

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Carly

Picture from Bruce of the finished floor in Foison.

Below is a message that we received from Bruce Robinson on May 1, about two weeks after our team left.

I finally got up to Foison and saw the finished slab. Pretty impressive! And the people up there are really pumped about it.

Today Deb and I were able to go up to the special once a year harvest and thanksgiving service at Foison. They took the back wall out of the church and added 30 more feet of benches and the place was SRO. It was pretty neat up to the end. Then they put two chairs in front of the podium and asked if anyone who was there wanted to accept Christ as their savior. Remember they had been having meetings every night for a week and this was the big culmination. One lady and one child came forward and sat in the chairs. So they got another chair. Another child. And another chair. And another. And another and another…some teenagers, and one or two adults, but mostly children. At fourteen, I asked the Lord for one more. We kept singing more songs and people kept coming. I lost count in the 20s and one of the choirs had to vacate a bench when they ran out of chairs.

I have heard of things happening like this in Haiti but have never been present. Something special happened. I don’t know how many of the children who went forward were ones that were working with us on the floor, or you were playing soccer with, or were in the Shannon Special Team Water Hauling Brigade. Concrete floors and school buildings are really important parts of mission work… when they are part of the ministry of a church where people are coming to Christ. And the precious children. They kept coming even while we were doing the last hymn. I think probably 30 people came forward to accept Christ. I have never seen that many at one time.

We received a further update on this from Bruce a couple days later, and he said that the final tally of people who came forward to accept Christ was up to 40!

God is moving and working in Foison!

Posted on April 2, 2011

Beginning construction on the school in the village of Foison has truly been a miracle. Currently, there is a strong foundation for the new school building in Foison. This is a direct result of the partnership of UPC’s children and the community of Foison. Last year, all of the children at UPC learned about Haiti and the work of Bruce and Deb Robinson. The kids prayed for Bruce and Deb as well as the Haitian people and communities. They also collected their change to put towards the foundation of the new school building in Foison. These kids believe that there is a reason for hope in Haiti and in their own lives. They have shown this by investing their prayers and money into a partnership with their peers in Haiti.

I was able to see the impact of our kids’ on our missionaries, partners, and the children of Foison. When Bruce, Deb, and local Haitian pastors heard that the money given for the foundation came from children and in the form of coins, they were amazed. This news seemed to inspire the community. The news of our kid’s prayers and offering ignited the community of Foison. People of every age came out to help contribute to the building process: old women hauled rocks for concrete, young kids brought water, men moved boulders and dug holes. It was beautiful to see. As of now, the foundation has been laid. A strong foundation. With your help, together with the community of Foison, we can finish pouring the floor, building up the walls, and putting on a roof.

Amber Evanson