Our Sister Church

In 2002 CrossRoad discovered a hidden tropical paradise known as Tiburon, Haiti.  Tiburon is located on the southern peninsula of Haiti, on the far west coast.  It is very remote, accessible only by a long drive down a bumpy road still damaged from the 2008 hurricanes.  While the natural landscape surrounding Tiburon can be breathtaking, the treasure discovered there are the people inhabiting the land. 

Pastor Oland Lundy is the pastor of our sister church, Tiburon Baptist Church.  When he speaks, his passion and courage are felt by all.  Our friend Pastor Lundy may be small in stature but his presence is as a mountain of hope, bringing transformation to his community. 

Tiburon is a very poor village; rice and beans is a staple meal and many people there don’t have shoes to wear.  With God’s help, Pastor Lundy and our sister church are helping to transform the lives of the children and families of this malnourished region.  Under Pastor Lundy’s leadership, our sister church has planted four other churches in remote areas nearby, and each church planted has established a school for the elementary age children in their area. 

Our sister church also operates a Christian school, which we support through the Hope for Kidz program.  Both our sister church relationship and the Hope for Kidz program have helped bring hope and financial resources to the village of Tiburon.  When we first visited, the roads were dirt roads and now they are paved.  Over the years we have helped provide generators, lights, music equipment, a refrigerator and stove, and a variety of other supplies.  We send 1-2 teams from CrossRoad to visit our sister church every year. 

Our teams have helped expand the church facility, building a second floor which is now the church sanctuary.  We have also done a variety of projects around the church grounds, and brought as much clothing and other supplies as we could pack on airplanes.  In the fall of 2009, our visiting team delivered over 3000 pair of children’s underwear.  Through proceeds gathered after a church wide Rice and Beans fast in November of 2009, we purchased 56,000 rice protein meals to be distributed to the village through our sister church.  

Our teams experience amazing times of worship while visiting with our sister church family.  Even though they have so few earthly possessions, they have such joy in the Lord and it is a blessing for our teams to worship together with them!    

Our sister church relationship is made possible through the help of Reciprocal Ministries International (RMI).  RMI is an organization that functions as a bridge between churches in North America and churches in Haiti.  RMI works with a Haitian association of more than 300 churches scattered throughout the southern peninsula of Haiti.  Through RMI, we have developed a wonderful reciprocal relationship with our sister church, as our teams come back stronger in faith and love from having spent time with our church family in Tiburon, Haiti.

For more information about RMI, visit their website:  www.rminet.org.

Hope For Kidz

Quality education is provided through church schools in many of RMI’s sister churches.  Our sister church has a school, and RMI’s Hope For Kidz program enables us to help provide education to kids in the village whose parents can’t afford it.  All Haitian schools require tuition and the village of Tiburon is very remote and impoverished so most families aren’t able to send their kids to school. 

Through RMI’s Hope For Kidz program, individuals and families from CrossRoad currently sponsor over 250 Haitian kids to be able to go to school!  The sponsorship, $28 per month, includes tuition, books, a uniform, one pair of shoes - often their only shoes, a hot lunch, Christian education, and most importantly - hope!

New in 2012, sponsors will have the option to make monthly payments or one annual payment. Current sponsors will receive information directly from RMI; additional information will be available this March.

 

 

Amy Long

Amy Long is a CrossRoad member who is currently serving in Haiti as a missionary with RMI.  Amy went on a number of trips with CrossRoad to visit our sister church, and she fell in love with the people there.  She is serving in a hospitality role for RMI, helping to serve and take care of churches who are visiting their sister churches in Haiti.  To learn more about Amy and her Haitian adventures, and to support her financially, check out her blog:  http://amyrlong.blogspot.com/