Haiti Team in Algona

[I encourage anyone who lives in Algona to pick up a copy of this week's edition of the Algona Upper Des Moines newspaper. For everyone else, here is the text of a recent article on our recent Haiti trips]

Making a Difference in Haiti: Teams Find Stepping Out of their Comfort Zone Rewarding
By Mindy Baker, Editor

     If going to Haiti has been a part of your bucket list, but you didn't know how to make that first step, the First United Methodist Church in Algona will give you a hand.

     On Saturday, April 26, the church, located at 201 E. Nebraska Street, will host Haitian missionaries Les and Catherine DeRoos in a special worship service at 5pm, with a question and answer time following the service.

     "We wanted to have them for a Saturday service so that people could go to their home church on Sunday, yet still hear about their mission," said Matthew Wester, Director of Congregational Care and Development.

     First United Methodist Church has partnered with Global Compassion Network, an international group based in Eagle Grove that supports orphanages, provides disaster relief and helps build Safe T Homes. Over the past year, a scout team and two mission teams from the church have traveled to Haiti to help to help with the GCN mission.

     "I read an article on the Safe T Homes in the Iowa Soybean Digest," said Al Koenecke, who was a member of the scout team and part of the first team that traveled to Haiti in February for 10 days to assist with an orphanage for girls, building homes and a sanitation system. "It bothered me that, as a farmer, I had not heard anything about these Safe T Homes, and that corporations were sponsoring these homes. It bothered me as a Christian that they were doing my work. I needed to go and do something."

     Koenecke stated it took less than three phone calls for him to get involved with the GCN.

     A second team went in March, bringing supplies for a widows and infants village. A total of seven suitcases worth of donated baby supplies, each weighing 50 lbs., was taken to the village, which connects widows to abandoned or orphaned children.

     "Two things touched me the most," said Bill Burtnett, who brought his son Tom, a senior at Algona High School, on the March trip. "I've done travel in Mexico, but the poverty in Haiti is on a wider scale than I ever thought. It is so deep, and it is so disheartening."

     The other thing that touched Burtnett was the interaction with the orphaned children.

     "It breaks my heart that they don't know a family," said Burtnett. "They have a good life, but it's not the same."

     Also on the March trip was Doug Anderson, whose experience as a mechanic kept him very busy during his 10 days in Haiti, helping with water sanitation, building solar panels and overseeing construction of the Safe T Homes.

     "Whatever skills you have, they will use," said Anderson. "I was really surprised how well the children are brought up. They are all clean, happy and well-behaved. They are all so appreciative for the help you are giving them."

     For Judy Samp, who went on the February team, the opportunity to work in Haiti became a desire after hearing stories from the scout trip.

     "I was apprehensive at first, but now I want to go back," said Samp.

     For her, it was interacting with the children, teaching them marketable and life skills -- even with the language barrier -- that meant the most to her.

     "They are truly happy people, even with their poverty," said Samp.

     "Our culture is rich in monetary things, and poor in spirit," said Koenecke. "We complain. They are poor, but so rich in spirit. They have more joy in life than we do."

     Wester explained that the program is working on sustainable change for Haitians.

     "This is not a short term project. The Global Compassion Network is making change within for the children and women of Haiti," said Wester.

     Because of that, Wester, and members of both of the first teams, hope that the community attends the special service on Saturday.

     "This is a nondenominational program," said Anderson. "If you have ever even considered going on a mission trip, now is the time. Go with an open mind."

     "This program isn't just addressing physical needs and saving lives, it's also sharing the love of God," said Wester. "You'll work hard, but we're really helping to do major things."

     For more information, attend the question and answer program at First United Methodist Church, which will be held after the 5pm service on Saturday, April 26, or contact Matthew Wester at the church at 515-295-7241