On Sabbath, Oct. 8, 2011, while the Cave Junction, Ore., congregation looked on, Jeannette Stevenson, church treasurer, presented to Harold Premdas, retired church pastor, the first check for the needy children at the Beer-Scheba Adventist Church in Haiti. The Cave Junction congregation is deeply involved in a project to relieve poverty among the children of Haiti by providing the means to secure clothing, food, school supplies, medicines and more. Rather than scatter their contributions widely and possibly ineffectively, the church decided recently to select one of the 481 churches in Haiti to focus their anti-poverty relief efforts.
With the help of Haitian Union executive secretary Pierre Caporal and Inter-American Division Balvin Braham, field secretary, a specific church was chosen in a few weeks.
Haiti is one of the poorest territories in the Western Hemisphere — a fact greatly aggravated by the devastating 7.0 earthquake of Jan. 12, 2010, which killed 316,000, injured 300,000, and left more than a million homeless, including many Adventists. General rebuilding and relief efforts are progressing slowly compared to the huge need.
Inspired by "inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least My children, you have done it for Me," Cave Junction members hope that many other congregations will join them in their humanitarian effort until all of the churches in Haiti are touched by a similar plan.
The Cave Junction Church plans to continue its efforts until no more children in Beer-Scheba are feeling the ugly bite of poverty.
