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Church Building Destroyed, but Attendance Doubles

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Pastor Rony Lapointe stood on the flat pile of rubble that used to be his church building, talking with Chris Hindal, director of International Ministries for the GARBC. Pastor Lapointe told Chris how the believers had erected a wooden cross at the entrance of the church destroyed by the Haiti earthquake. Now they meet on church benches under a large green parachute they scavenged for shade. While some members of his church were killed, including his assistant pastor, attendance has doubled since the quake and many people have made professions of faith.

Chris Hindal, director of International Ministries for the GARBC, is arranging relief through the International Partnership of Fundamental Baptist Ministries. During a recent trip to Haiti, Hindal rented a guesthouse in Port-au-Prince to house missions teams traveling this summer to rebuild churches and pastors’ homes. Noting that construction in Haiti will likely use cement block walls, wood trusses, and sheet-metal roofing, Hindal is recruiting work teams with carpentry and masonry skills.

In addition to organizing church-based relief teams, Hindal is coordinating other relief efforts, suggesting that churches consider a $5,000 offering for building materials that can be purchased and delivered to the construction sites in advance of their team’s arrival.

  • Donate online to the Gospel Literature Services Emergency Relief Fund.
  • Receive a church offering and send it payable to Gospel Literature Services with “Emergency Relief” on the memo line.
  • Invite Chris Hindal to present GARBC International Ministries at your church. E-mail Chris: chindal@garbc.org.

Pastor Prédestin Hérard, president of Association des Énglises Evangeliques Baptistes d´ Haiti (the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Haiti), will be coordinating work teams and their transportation in the Port-au-Prince area. Of the 28 Baptist churches in this fellowship, 17 were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, along with the homes of 10 pastors.

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