Ministry in Haïti

Eben-Ezer Mission of Gonaïves is the parent company of Eben-Ezer Mission, Inc. Its formal name is Mission Evangelique Eben-Ezer Gonaïves, and it defines itself as an indigenous evangelical, non-governmental organization designed to train a generation for Christ in Haïti.

Founded in 1969, Eben-Ezer Mission initiates projects in Haïti and carries them out in Haïti. Eben-Ezer Mission, Inc., is its new venture, reaching out to the people of the Haïti an Diaspora in the US and Canada. Eben-Ezer also receives much help from its partners in France and Switzerland.

In addition to its French subsidiary, Eben-Ezer Mission has also created STEM (Service Technique d'Entraide de la Mission Eben-Ezer), a technical services and network organization, and CECUCCH (Caisse de Pargne et de Credit de l'Union des Co-ops Chretienne d'Haïti), which provides microcredit loans and a wide variety of other financial services to persons in Haïti.

Churches

Haïti can be said to be an evangelized country. Discipleship is the principal task that is left undone. The high rate of illiteracy (85 percent) makes discipleship difficult. Because of our commitment to training a generation for God, teaching is the essence of the ministry of the five Eben-Ezer churches.

Each of these five churches has cell groups and under the cell groups, we operate eight different programs that include every member. These programs include Valiant Men (men's ministry); Virtuous Women (women's ministry); teenagers and children's ministries; Sunday School; Evangelism; Youth; Music; and Literacy.

Education

Our education system ranges from preschool to university, with a total of 4,000 students in our eleven schools.

In the schools, Eben-Ezer’s Integrated Educational Program brings teachers together with students and their parents, so that learning can progress in the homes as well as in the classrooms. In addition to learning the Eben-Ezer curricula, students are taught how to teach their parents, as a double-pronged assault on the illiteracy that is pervasive throughout Haïti. Eben-Ezer recognizes that the educational process begun in the schools cannot flourish when students go home to ignorant family members. In addition to the school system, we hold literacy training and informal teaching sessions.

In addition to the l'Universite Chretienne d'Haïti, we operate schools of commerce and engineering and architecture.

Eben Ezer Mission's school co-ops system has been instrumental in starting many self-sufficiency programs, including agricultural projects, bakeries, a public market, etc.

Health

Eben Ezer Mission operates a hospital and clinics and also works to support affiliate health-care facilities elsewhere in Haïti.

Health education is a big need in the country, and we address the problem through a basic health curriculum for all students in our schools; through the teaching of health sciences to those who want to pursue a career in this field; and through special community health education projects.

Eben-Ezer Hospital

Eben-Ezer Hospital opened its doors to the people of Haïti in 1983. Since then, it has become the hub of a network of about 500 hospitals and health centers throughout the nine Departments (or states) of Haïti.

The group distributes medicine and medical supplies in four ways:

1. During the last six years, an educational/training program was funded and launched by the United States Agency for International Development (U.S. A.I.D.) under a program known as ED 2004. This program enabled Eben-Ezer to provide health care training in 89 schools in only three of the nine Departments (Artibonite, North, and Northeast). Still, 540 teachers were able to train 24,000 students. Under Eben-Ezer's guidance, the program has developed into a multi-faceted project that has become a vital part of the communities in and near the three Departments where it was launched.
2. Eben-Ezer has structured a multi-level training project in which women from all nine Departments will be trained to combat sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), by educating the populace on prevention and the importance of early treatment. This project begins with 50 women (ten from Artibonite and five from each of the other eight Departments). Each of these women trains eight other women. Then, 400 women each trains ten others in a series of ten sessions over an 18-month period. In all, 44,000 women will be trained under this project, working under only one coordinator and three trainers. The women are parents of students in Eben-Ezer and other schools and from the churches across Haïti that are affiliated with the Eben-Ezer network.
3. Eben-Ezer has structured a second training project in which Haïtian young people are organized in a nationwide effort to prevent the spread of STDs through education. Thirty youths attend a ten-day training seminar to become teachers. After a series of three seminars is completed, 90 young men and women will have been trained to be teachers of this program. Each of the 90 teaches 50 students per month in a series of nine monthly training sessions, for a total of 40,500 individuals educated on the prevention, early detection, and treatments of STDs.
4. Eben-Ezer Hospital is a member of the Association of Hospitals and Health Centers, formed through an initiative of the Gonaïves Regional Office of the Ministry of Public Health. Beginning in 20 communities in upper Artibonite and growing to serve up to 200,000 persons, this outreach program educates young people and adults on the prevention, early detection, and treatment of STDs.

In all, this four-component network is able to educate and distribute medicine and medical supplies to more than 300,000 persons.

The tragedy is that no medication of any kind has been provided for the treatment of HIV or AIDS. Medicines and medical supplies include only small quantities of antibiotics, first aid supplies and headache and fever medications. The provision of medicine and medical supplies is inadequate and inconsistent.

Eben-Ezer Hospital badly needs assistance from individuals and organizations that have access to the medicine and medical supplies that could be so easily distributed to those among the 300,000 persons who need them.

Jerusalem City Project

The Jerusalem City Project is a model city to be built on a 1,200 acre tract located west of the city of Gonaïves, Haïti. The land is presently undeveloped. It is bordered to the south by the Bay of Gonaïves and to the north by a mountain range. The land to the east is a residential community that connects into the city of Gonaïves; the land to the west is the Morne de La Pierre and the village of La Pierre itself.

The proposed development will consist of approximately two thousand residential units, a deepwater harbor, tourist facilities, and commercial/light industrial development. Anticipated development support facilities include recreational, educational, and institutional areas.

The project will provide numerous benefits to Gonaïves, Haïti itself, and the local residents, including employment opportunities, decent housing, and a neighborhoood design that simplifies life, encourages human contact, and reduces travel.

The Jerusalem City Project is intended to exemplify a new Haïti, embodying excellence, not hopelessness, and providing a new transportation system, fresh water, storm drainage, and waste management for an entire region.

For more information, please click here.

The Public Market

First organized in 1994 in the midst of the US embargo, dozens of merchants line up twice a week to supply the needs of local residents. The Market provides hullers (sorghum and corn) for hire to meet the need of about 15,000 persons in our vicinity.

Spiritual Training

Eben-Ezer Mission offers unique third-world training opportunities for missionaries visiting us from abroad. Exchange programs between these ministries and Haïti enable us to share our vision and build bridges in the furtherance of God's kingdom.