We received sad news from Haiti this past month. The mother of Pastor Baptiste died on August 20th. She had a stroke some time ago and just never recovered from it. We assisted the family with the funeral—thanks to everyone who helped financially with the funeral.
I was acquainted with Marie from my first trip to Haiti in 1991, when she lived in an old mud and stick hut with four kids. [Featured photo above: This is not the actual house, but one of similar construction and appearance. This is the type of house Fritznel Baptiste, now known as Pastor Baptiste, lived in when he was a child and teenager.] One of our first major projects in Haiti was to build her a small, simple block house with a metal roof. It was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 2010, so we built her another house. She was my first widow—now there are twenty-seven around the world who receive help each month.
One of my fondest memories on that first trip was when Marie made me some real Haitian coffee. She roasted some coffee beans grown in the mountains of Haiti. We took the roasted beans and ground them in a big mortar and pestle; the mortar was nothing more than a section of a log partially hollowed out and the pestle was a big stick about four inches in diameter. Then she brewed the coffee over an open fire. Man, that was some strong coffee but delicious. We will miss her.
As I reported last month, in July we sent the money for the uniforms for our students in Haiti. This past month we sent money for the school books and roof replacement over two classrooms. School is scheduled to open September 9th. We certainly appreciate your prayers and financial support.
I appreciate the hard work of Mary and Sarah Royal, two young ladies in the Sardis City area who raise the money every year for our chicken leg lunches provided at our school each month. This is a big deal for our kids in Haiti who lack good protein in their diet. Thank you so much Mary and Sarah!
Pathway Outreach has affiliated and partnership ministries in five countries of the world. Two of these open countries are Haiti and USA. The other three countries experience Christian persecution to some degree. We share specific information about these three in some of our printed and direct email updates but communications that goes out on the internet we only speak in generic terms concerning these countries. The purpose of this is not to be secretive but to protect the individuals and churches with whom we partner.
We do not fly into some place just to get a few photo opportunities but we build lasting relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. More and more, our purpose tends to be one of an encourager to those who labor in difficult situations around the world. We go to serve not to be served.
All of that being said, Butch Suddath and I have established plans for a journey to a country in the Eastern Hemisphere in early 2020. The country is less than three percent Christian and we partner with about fifteen associated churches there. Our ministry will include doing several pastor conferences to encourage and equip pastors. This will be my fourth trip to be among these wonderful people and Butch’s first. We can’t wait!! Our trip will last two weeks, so we need your prayers. It will be a rewarding trip but a tough trip.
We are in constant prayer for the Holy Spirit to direct our steps as we continue the ministry of Jesus on this earth. We thank each of you who encourage us, pray for us, and support us financially. Thank you and God bless you!
Rejoicing in the salvation which is by grace through faith, I am…
Yours on the Journey,
Harry L. Whitt
Pathway Journey 