HISTORY AND PARTNERSHIP IN HAITI

In response to the massive and catastrophic earthquake the rocked the nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010, Sturbridge Worship Center (SWC) is working to provide efficient and crucial disaster relief, in conjunction with the Mission of Hope in Grand-Goave, Haiti. This work will continue into the future, but it began well before the earthquake.

Sturbridge Worship Center, a local church in Sturbridge, MA, led by Senior Pastor Daniel Lee, has been committed to serving the poor locally as well as in many different nations, such as Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Haiti. This commitment has been expressed primarily through financial investment and in the sending of teams with a diversity of skills.

Since 2003, Sturbridge Worship Center has been sending teams to the Mission of Hope in Grand-Goave, Haiti. Sturbridge Worship Center has shared a number of projects with the Mission of Hope:

Between 2003 – 2006:
o Taught Leadership Training to church and community leaders
o Provided financial investment into the Mission of Hope and School
o Provided needed items such as food, clothing, children’s materials, and construction materials
o Brought construction teams that have laid foundation for a kitchen, and raised structures for the school
o Taught Children’s programs
In 2007- 2008:
o Sent a team of 21 people for two weeks
o Provided food and drink for a special New Years Eve party for 350 people.
o With doctors and nurses providing medical clinics every day across the southern peninsula of the country
o Provision of thousands of dollars of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals
o In conjunction with Kids Against Hunger, we provided 3 containers worth of highly-enriched food (120,000 lbs), and distributed over 66,000 lbs across the southern peninsula of the country
o Provision of Children’s activities across the southern peninsula of the country
o Teaching a 3-day Leadership Conference
o Provision of medical treatment and food to 229 orphans living in destitute conditions
The year 2008 saw a large amount of financial and relational resources being invested into the Mission of Hope for the rescue of 32 orphans from destitute conditions, and the establishment of a new and loving home for them.
In 2008-2009:
o Sent a 12 member team for two weeks
o Provided food and drink for a special New Years Eve party for 400 people
o Provided medical clinics, including some joint efforts with the U.N.
o Leadership Training
o Children’s activities
o Orphanage Work
o Food distribution
o Helped to establish a school and church in St. Etienne
In 2009-2010:
o Sent a 9 member team
o Provided food and drink for special New Years Eve party for 450 people
o Providing Medical Clinics
o Leadership Training
o Home-based care to families in the impoverished mountain area (provided clothing, shoes, and toys)
o Orphanage work
o Experienced the January 12 earthquake with the Mission of Hope community and the orphanage
o Searched and found Haitians in the Grand-Goave area on behalf of relatives in the U.S. who were looking for them
o Conducted interviews with survivors
o Analyzed and documented much of the damage to the Grand-Goave area and Mission of Hope structures