History

The Need for Restoration

How could an island nation that only two centuries ago produced more crops and revenue than any of France's many colonies now be home to the poorest and most destitute people in the Western hemisphere? It’s really just a matter of history.

Since Columbus discovered the New World, Haiti has played a little-known, yet critical role in the colonization of the West. When Columbus made landfall on the fantastically beautiful island called Hispaniola, he and his crew were warmly welcomed by a peace-loving, family-oriented people called the Tainos. These According to Columbus's journal, they lived in perfect harmony. It wasn't long before European opportunists came to exploit the riches of this island paradise. When they arrived, they enslaved the Tainos and made them dig for the nonexistent gold. When the Tainos resisted, the well-armed Spaniards annihilated entire villages and communities. Soon the Spaniards grew bored with their search for gold, and the Taino people were hunted for sport. In 60 years, the entire native population was wiped out by the sword, slave labor and European diseases. This is the only known case of total genocide.

At the turn of the 18th century, the French colonized the western portion of Hispaniola (Haiti), and immediately began importing African slaves to work the fields. By 1790, black slaves outnumbered the white plantation owners by more than 300 to one. Fearing revolt, the landowners introduced extreme measures against insubordinate slaves. Public dismemberment and torture were common.

In the summer of 1791, hundreds of slaves slipped away by night and met in the mountains. There, denouncing the gods of the white men, they sacrificed to the spirits of their Voodoo heritage, crying out for power to murder their masters. The revolt spread across Haiti. Plantations were burned, tens of thousands of French land owners and merchants were butchered as human history's first successful slave revolt birthed the Haitian Republic. Civil wars followed as greedy leaders forced the Haitian people to fight and die for their own ambitions until the warring factions were forced to band together to fight off Napoleon’s army. 

It's been two centuries and the unrest remains. Haiti's history is scarred by a long line of leaders who, in their lust for power, have exploited their own people. While this struggling nation has enjoyed brief periods of respite, Haiti’s soul remains marred by corruption, poverty and disease.

According to the World Health Organization, Haiti is the most impoverished Western nation in nearly every category:

• Lowest Life Expectancy (45 years for men)
• Highest Infant Mortality Rate (1/10)
• Lowest Gross Domestic Product
• Highest Unemployment Rate (70-80%)
• Worst Sanitation Conditions
• Highest Rate of Illiteracy (55%)
• Highest Rate of HIV (1/10) 

A lot of people have gotten into trouble for linking Haiti’s condition to her spiritual heritage. Although we hate to say it, this is indeed the case. Haiti needs spiritually before these other problems can be fixed. Passionate prayer for revival is intensifying in Haitian churches. Believers are gathering to pray around the clock. In the summer of 2003, we ministered in a church like this in the city of Cap Haitian. During that trip, we felt that we needed to travel to the site of Columbus’s landing and pray there for the future of Haiti. As we knelt together on that beach in Bor-Damir, we began to repent for harboring the same attitudes of exploitation and racial supremacy that so badly hurt this island nation. God’s presence descended in a tangible way. We knew we had somehow touched His heart. After preaching the next day in Cap Haitian, the group was invited to the Grand Goave area to see the work of the Good Samaritan Orphanage. We spoke to a gathering of local Pastors who weren’t even willing to talk with each other. Several months later we returned to minister to a gathering of 65 area pastors and witnessed a remarkable miracle of reconciliation. Today, 60 area leaders have joined the Pastor’s Association of Grand Goave and are praying together for God to bless their community.

The Future

We believe that Grand Goave’s spiritual restoration will soon overflow into the social, economic and political arenas. Currently, a multinational team is gathering to serve in this work of restoration.

The work of Restoration Global in Grand Goave will be fourfold:

• Rebuilding the Good Samaritan Orphanage
• Supporting and supplying area schools and orphanages
•Initiating a job corps for unemployed adults
• Securing a single property to serve as a:

  • Medical Clinic
  • City Prayer Center
  • Bible College     
  • English Language Institute
  • Pastor’s Association Headquarters
  • Missionary Training Center

Together, with God’s help, we can make a difference in the lives of Haiti's children, her greatest asset. We will see Haiti restored to the glorious and beautiful island nation that the Creator intended her to be.