One of the best parts of my work with Stone of Help Ministry is visiting local churches in Haiti. I recently had the opportunity to visit and worship with a small mountaintop church in the remote Boucan-Carré community of Haiti. Most people in this area make their living by agriculture or the production of charcoal made from cutting down trees.

There is a saying that a church is “the people,” not the building. This is certainly true in the village we visited. As you can see from the photos, the meeting place consists of sticks, thatch, and a mud floor. During the rainy season, worshippers come to services without shoes, carrying rocks, which they place on the floor before them. This allows them to worship freely without sinking into the mud!

When we arrived in Boucan-Carré, the church committee of leaders led us in a wonderful time of genuine praise for all God has provided them. We prayed together, and we asked them to give us specific prayer requests to bring home with us. The sincerity and outward focus of their prayers overwhelmed me, considering the environment I saw around them.

• “Whenever it rains, we are flooded with water. It comes from the roof and beneath. My prayer request is to make progress in my spiritual life.” – Louis Catilis 
• “My prayer request is for the church to advance. They mock us, saying, what we call church is ‘nothing but a mill’ because of the conditions of the church…Despite all that, we stay steadfast in our fellowship.” Saincoit Loubeau
• “We have been praying to have a mission to help us. When I see the missionaries, I am not surprised, because I knew they would come.” – Leonel Dorl’ean
•  “We are fighting. We want to serve God. It is not easy… I thank Madam Pierre [aunt of SoHM Founder and Executive Administrator, Jean Abel Pierre] and the missionaries.” – Jude Jean
• “Please pray for us. Despite all the critics, we stay steadfast. We want to stay in God’s house, and when we make progress, that will be a testimony for God’s work.” – Jenan Dorilis

Stone of Help Ministry provides pastoral oversight and ministry training to community churches and leaders in Haiti as a foundation to all our other services. It is our desire to raise up healthy and well-balanced churches through prayer, praise, and proclamation of God’s Word, the Bible. Our vision is to witness the life-changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it is seen and spoken in lives and relationships.

Won’t you please join us in praying for the church in Boucan-Carré, Haiti?