Western Boulevard Presbyterian

Yahve-Jire Orphanage

Yahve Jire (God Provides) Orphanage, Haiti

The work with Yahve-Jire Orphanage is coordinated by Kathy Johnson. Our congregation has welcomed Chedlin Justinval the founder of the orphanage and we have given financial aid to the children through our Endowment Fund and by furnishing medical supplies, tuition, uniforms, and water for the orphanage through our Alternative Gift Fair. WBPC has written and received several grants from the New Hope Presbytery International Hunger program to buy needed items for the children, pay staff salary, and purchase food and water after the Earthquake in 2010. In addition we were the recipients for a Thank Offering Grant from the Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church USA in Louisville, KY. We also assisted in paying the tuition for one of the founders who attended Covenant College in Georgia and who is now in the doctoral program at the School of Sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill.

We are partnering with The Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation; The Discovery Presbyterian Church in Clayton; the YJ Children’s Foundation USA 501(c) nonprofit in Pittsburgh PA; Rev. Terry Hall at Inwood Baptist Church, Raleigh; and Rev. Gary Meyers, Retired Presbyterian Minister, Kansas City, KS, to share our love and ministry with these children so that they, too, will know the love of Christ.

2013

When all the planning is done and the trip is complete, we are left with our memories. For the 2013 Haiti Mission Team, we have incredible memories and a long list of accomplishments and experiences we can’t wait to share. It doesn’t seem possible that we did so much in such a short time and in the process exampled again that with God’s help all things are possible. We attended a small church started by a mission group from Kansas City. We had the privilege of participating in the Lord’s Supper and singing several songs we knew in English.

We traveled 4 ½ hours by bus to visit with Mark Hare, Presbyterian Missionary to Haiti, to learn about the 40 year old organization called MPP (similar to Agriculture Extension Services) and on to the EcoVillages. We had to travel along some pretty rocky roads and then finish by walking into the village. We saw firsthand the difference between “giving a person a fish and in teaching them to fish.” This Village took displaced people from the earthquake, brought them to the country side; provided them with a home; taught them to farm a small garden; and enabled them to create a small community together.

During the week we completed all of the projects we had scheduled including building 4 closets for the girl’s dorm, digging 2 gray water ponds and lining them with stones, building an award winning chicken coop at the base of the water tower, and transporting concrete blocks and more concrete blocks from the block factory to the workmen raising the security wall around the perimeter of the complex.

The highlight of our week among others was bringing all the children out to their soon to be new home and making individual stepping stones with them. The children were ecstatic to be there and ran all over in so much joy.

“Lord I lift Your name on high, Lord I love to sing Your praises, I’m so glad You’re in my life, I’m so glad You came to save us.” Thank you again WBPC, Discovery Church and United Church of Chapel Hill for your financial assistance, your love and your prayers. We could not have done it without your blessings.

2012

2012 Team Haiti was such a success:

We were not only able to paint the inside of the new dormitories, get running water in the bathrooms, build bedroom closets and shelves in the kitchen but we also took the children to the Baptist Mission and up to Ft. Jacques. This was quite an adventure and the first time the children had been on a field trip. The highlight was taking all the children to MacEpi (McDonalds, Haitian style) for ice cream. What a delight.

2011

At the orphanage under construction site, we were able to landscape the new dormitories by putting in a walkway around the domes, we built a swale to help with the water runoff to Ed’s specifications, the ladies put in a 60’ by 60’ parking lot, the men raised a 30’ water tower, we picked up trash and construction debris, and we all put in plant beds and planted coconut palm trees and Australian pines. On the last day we were blessed with a request from Chedlin, the director, to leave our handprint in the front steps of the new orphanage.  Thank you WBPC for your love, your support and your prayers. With God’s continued blessing of our mission work in Haiti we will bring hope to these children that all things are possible.

Figure: The 2011 Haiti Mission Team at the Caribe in Petionville. We had a wonderful dinner, but it didn’t compare to Lily’s national rice and turkey at Mon chez moi guesthouse.