haiti partner update

Our friends at United Christians International are witnessing God working in great and glorious ways  through the Christian community development in their region.  Here's an update on their recently built and opened university:

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men

who will also be qualified to teach others.”

Both professors and students are using

the university dorm. We have been

joining them for some meals to get to

know them better. It has been very

enjoyable to talk to these young men

and women. Pastor Geffrard, professor

of theology and our administrator, has

had even more opportunities to get to

know the students. Yesterday

morning, at 3:00 AM, one of the

students woke him up to hand over his

vodou fetishes! We suspected that this

student didn’t know Christ as his

Savior, but we weren’t sure. He was

convicted through the prayers and

devotions that start and end every

class, the lectures, and the informal

talks that he has experienced since

starting at UCCC. We also believe that

the prayers that have been lifted—in

the US and in Haiti—for UCCC have

also contributed to his conversion.

Thank you and praise God!

UCI’s Vision for all of Haiti

Our job is to teach the reality of what

God did here at UCI in 7 short years.

It is not about us; it is about God

working. It is possible for this lifechanging

development to occur in

any other community—as long as

God is at the center of it. We never

want to forget all that God has done

and what He can do. We will

continue to tell the students about

who God is and what He did at UCI.

Education is the Key

If we do the math on paper, the students’ tuition will

pay for the professors’ salaries but realistically we see

that some students can’t afford the tuition. We have had

student after student asking us for work—any kind of

work—so that they can pay for their schooling. It is

amazing to see the hunger that they have for their

education. Many students were going all day in class

without any food, at all. We have students that walk

hours to come and stay for 6-7 hours without eating and

then walked back home each day because they can’t

afford the $1.25 US/day for a meal at the cafeteria. There

is one man, Mussot Marcelus, who is married and has 5

children living in a town a 3-hour walk one way. He

wants to provide a better life for his family and walks

every day, 6 days/week, to come to class. Many times he

arrives home at 10-11 PM. But, as always, God is good

and we have been able to reduce the cost of a meal to

$0.50 so that the students can pay for at least one big

meal before classes. The students are so excited and

interested in the school but we didn’t even realize how

strapped these families were for money.

Next Year…

Next year we will have a lot of students. Many people

were watching to see what kind of school UCCC would

be. They were waiting to see what kind of professors we

would hire. Due to the testimony of the students, we

have many more students already calling us to sign

them up for next year.