Announcement for January 20th & 27th, 2013
On January 31, representatives of Haiti Fund, Inc/CODEP will be on hand for a presentation in the Fellowship Center at 7:00PM. CODEP (the Comprehensive Development Project) is a sustainable agriculture development project which has existed for 23 years near Léogâne, Haiti, 23 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Clement Tercelin, one of the 12 Haitian leaders of the project, and his wife, Martine will be accompanied by John Winings, who with his wife Debbie, have served as interim comission workers since June 2010. Tercelin is the ‘animator’ for logistics and Winings is both the Executive Director of Haiti Fund and the Director of CODEP. They will explain how Haiti is doing since the earthquake and how, in particular, the CODEP project has made substantial progress in enabling the people to become much more self-reliant and economically independent.
Originally started by our congregation who had this vision over 25 years ago, the ministry has seen remarkable growth and is now supported by congregations (of several denominations), presbyteries, foundations and agencies across the U.S.A., and eventually a validated ministry of our New Hope Presbytery. We are succeeding at improving nutrition and personal health of the population, while engaging the Haitians in the work of environmental reclamation, reforestation, and agro-forestry techniques to prevent further erosion, create soil, and teach farmers how to plant fruit trees, coffee, and gardens. A community-based approach, CODEP currently has 30 working communities with over 500 Haitian people working to improve their lives through farming, education, leadership development and entrepreneurial skills development.
Through Haiti Fund, Inc., we have begun several schools where Bible is central to the curriculum, while working in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of the country for Christian Worship. Nearly a dozen mission trips by youth and adults in our congregation have gone there to work.
The work of Haiti Fund, Inc./CODEP has received the praise of the Haitian Government who have expressly desired our further expansion in our current location and consideration of doing the same throughout the entire country.
For more information. Visit www.haitifundinc.org .