Dear Friends of Haiti,

We recently had the opportunity to spend an evening with Dr. Cebien Alexis, the founder of Army of Christ in Haiti. As you may know, Cebien has a multi-faceted ministry there including educating 8500 children, training pastors, overseeing an orphanage, operating a daily medical clinic and training college age students in agricultural and animal husbandry.

We were excited to hear that in January Cebien will graduate the first 25 students from the agricultural and animal husbandry training course. These students will fan out in teams of three to the poor village areas where Army of Christ has established churches. Working with the villagers, they will train them how to make better use of their land and teach them how to take good care of their animals. All important water conservation techniques will be especially helpful to these villagers where a lack of an abundant water supply can mean a poor harvest and empty stomachs. The income earned from better crop yields and herd development will mean a better standard of living for the villagers, an income supply for the students, and a return to Army of Christ for the training invested in them.

Another exciting project that Cebien shared with us is the opening of a school in the rural, poverty stricken village of Robinette. This village of 3000 Haitians is about two hours from Cap H’aitian where Army of Christ has its headquarters. Despite its nearness, this village has never had an elementary school where its children can be educated. Sadly, this is not unusual in Haiti where 50% of children do not attend school and 60% of those who do leave school before the 6th grade. To Cebien, an education that is infused with Christian principles is the greatest gift he can give to the coming generation.

A rudimentary structure has been set up in Robinette and three teachers have been hired to do the teaching. So far 212 children want to register for the school but only 86 of them have been able to attend. The others have no shoes or proper clothing to wear.
As they have no desks yet, the students work on benches or on the dirt floor. Cebien’s vision is to have six classrooms, an office, a place to store food for the noon meal that will be provided and bathroom facilities for boys and girls. The buildings will be constructed from concrete blocks made on site from local materials.

Cebien figures the cost of the school will come to about $30,000. Student sponsorships of $30 per month will help greatly in enabling the school to literally get off the ground. Cebien knows that receiving an education drastically changes the lives of the children who receive it for the good.

We are excited to partner with Cebien in this new endeavor. If you’d like to have a part, contributions can be sent for the Robinette School project in the enclosed envelope or made online at www.hope-builders.org.

On behalf of Cebien and our Haitian Brothers and Sisters,

Lance Thollander