New Hope Community Church
The History of Our Ministry in Haiti
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Our ministry in Haiti has been going strong since 2006. But the foundations of the ministry were established back in 1998, well before Pastor Kirby was called to be the minister of New Hope Community Church (NHCC). To fully understand the foundations of our ministry in Haiti, it will be helpful to read Pastor Kirby's recollection of how the ministry started.
As mentioned above, our church has sent teams to Haiti virtually every year since 2006. Individual slideshows and videos of those trips may be found in the Missions Photo Gallery. For a small church, an amazing percentage of our congregation has joined the outreach in Haiti, building schools, ministering to the poor, worshiping in the churches, and sharing the hope and love of Christ. Those who cannot go have worked from home, supporting the teams, helping to raise funds, filling gift packages, supplying clothese, etc. Our mininstry in Haiti is and has been a group effort engaging the majority of our congregation.
In 2010, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Port au Prince, the ministry in Pignon found itself inundated with orphans who had lost their families in the tragedy in January. Our ministry once again expanded and we have supported as many as five children's homes for what we call "at risk kids" (or ARK), which are children who are either orphans or from families who can no longer care for them.
In 2009, the ministry took on yet another dimension as Pastor Kirby conducted his first Leadership Training Seminar in Pignon in July of that year. The need for pastoral training is intense in Haiti as most churches are led by lay pastors with no formal biblical education. So these seminars have continued.
| 2009 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 |
In 2012 and 2013 subsequent seminars were held in Pignon. But in 2015, the seminars took on a vastly expanded perspective. It was that year that Pastor Jephthe became the president of CLEPH, which is an organization of pastors in the north of Haiti. The seminars were moved from Pignon to Cap Haïtien and have been conducted since then on an average of twice per year, with as many as 1200 pastors in attendance. We are so blessed to have this amazing opportunity to impact the pastors of Haiti who in turn impact a multitude of congregations.
In 2013 our ministry in Haiti took a great leap forward when Sherry Shoemaker accepted the call to be our Mission Director. Mrs. Shoemaker had been a faithful addition to NHCC mission teams since 2010 and had shown a servant's heart and zeal for our mission effort. When she answered the call our Mission efforts simply took off. Sherry has been instrumental in the sewing ministry, the ARK ministry, the Wings of Hope ministry that every year collects gifts for our ARK kids, and many more. She is a constant companion on the mission field and works tirelessly at home.
In 2012 another of the Lucien family, Ephraim moved to Hinche and opened a thrift store. Since that time, NHCC along with New Hope Christian School (NHCS) has sent almost monthly donations to the store so that it can support ministries in that city.
Going forward, we will continue these and other ministries in Haiti as the Lord provides and directs. We are truly blessed to have found the Lucien family and to have been given the opportunity to serve along side them and Jerusalem Baptist Church. With God's help and for His glory, we look forward to a long and fruitful ministry in the future.