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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

At the opening worship service at annual conference, May 26, a collection will be taken from churches all across the Baltimore-Washington Conference to assist in the rebuilding of Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake Jan. 12, 2010. Members of the conference recently returned from mission trips to Haiti.

A five-member Baltimore Regional team arrived at Les Cayes, a small city in southwest Haiti, 110 miles and more than a four hour drive southwest of Port au Prince, March 10, where they worked on the Torbeck church, identified as a priority by the Methodist Church of Haiti.

"The building is very small, and Pastor Ablame’s wife Donnette, our hostess, describes it as dilapidated," said the Rev. Gayle Annis-Forder, who led the delegation. "The benches are rickety, the concrete floor is uneven and broken in places. It has seen better days."

After the BWC team and others finish repairing the church, it will serve as a hub for the other 20 churches on the circuit.

The team worked along with local Haitians, putting up outer walls for the building. "We had absolutely no experience or knowledge of how to work with the simple ladders and crude homemade scaffolding they had … but we learned that we were pretty good pack mules." Annis-Forder said.

Supplies, dirt, wood and cement were dropped by the road and had to be carried down a path to the church. "We became quite accomplished at every facet of implementing a bucket brigade," she said, "and pacing ourselves in the heat and humidity of the day."

"God is at work in Haiti, evidenced in passionate worship, life enhancing ministries, and the will to rebuild, Annis-Forder said. It was a great privilege for us to join with others in this movement of God’s Spirit, and we will never be the same."

Theirs was not the only local group working in Haiti this spring.

Howard students in mission

While other college students were on break, frequenting the beaches of Florida, 29 students and their leaders from Howard University were in Haiti doing mission work in Archaie.

It was only 16 to 20 miles from Port au Prince, "but it took us more than an hour to get there," said the Rev. Malcolm Frazier, Howard’s United Methodist campus minister.

Central to establishing the context for the visit, the busload of eager students went up Kenscoff Mountaintop for a panoramic view of Port au Prince, where they could view the destruction and devastation of the 2010 earthquake.

The students’ main focus was the Ecole Bon Samaritan Orphanage and School, where they continued work begun by other students earlier. They assisted in English language instruction and also provided hearing screenings. Part of the group worked on site improvement and clean up. But most of all, they could provide the warm, friendly hugs the children crave.

The young residents of the school, from birth to 14, were all affected by last year’s earthquake, as was everyone in the poverty-stricken country. "Volunteer groups that come provide much needed support to the staff and lighten the day for the children," Frazier said. It was his third alternate spring break trip with students.

The week in Haiti was a time of exploring and learning for the Howard students.

"The most shocking thing about this trip is that as much as I tried to give, I did some learning in the process," said Alicia O. Cobb, a graduate student in social work, who had worked with a homeless population in the U.S. But, she said, "(There) is no comparison to what we observed in Haiti. There was no preparation for the stories and things that we witnessed."

"This trip will have implications on me that I will continually be deciphering for the rest of my life," said Tatiana Bien-Aime, a first-generation Haitian-American. It was the first time she had returned to her motherland.

Bien-Aime perhaps summed up the experience of many on the trip.

"I have never been so challenged and yet so filled with peace and inspiration in my life. … (The Haitians) served as a mirror image for me; seeing the resilience, beauty, strength, love, faith and hope that they have helped me to understand the potential that I carry within me," she said.

There is much to be done in Haiti. Teams and resources continue to be needed.

Contact Annis-Forder with any questions, or for someone to come and share with your church about their ministry in Haiti. She can be reached at or 410-825-0900.