Shortly before Christmas, the VGR team from Montreal returned home from a trip to Haiti to assess the damage from Hurricane Matthew which devastated that country in October of 2016. The brothers expressed that the trip went extremely well with many objectives met, and resources put in place for the work to be done in the next few months. VGR has been sending relief aid since just after the hurricane hit. 

The brothers were able to host ministers' meetings in both Croix-des-Bouquets, and Les Cayes where they met with local ministers and discussed a strategy for reconstructing the houses and churches that were so badly damaged. The highlight was definitely the ministers' meeting in Les Cayes. The brothers there had a wonderful spirit of unity and brotherly love. They all came together with a common goal: to help God's people in this desperate time of need.

Here is a short report from the VGR team who made the trip to assist in the Haiti relief effort:

Haiti Trip Report

We held a couple of meetings in Croix-des-Bouquets and Les Cayes. The region of the Southeast of Haiti, Les Cayes, is the biggest town and the agriculture bread basket of Haiti. It is the most affected. This region depends on agriculture and fishing to survive.

The hurricane destroyed all the fruit trees, all the banana plantations, and all the crops, leaving the people with nothing. Food is being imported into the region now, so people are able to purchase food locally. The main focus is now reconstruction.

The ministers meeting in Les Cayes was on Sunday (Dec. 18) evening. Almost every pastor, missionary, evangelist, and deacon of the region were present, which added up to about 100 brothers. There was a wonderful spirit of cooperation and they expressed from their heart the desire to work with us 100%.

We had several discussions regarding the project to rebuild and repair the homes, resupply the Message material that was lost or damaged by the storm, and the possibility of help to rebuild the Message church buildings that were destroyed or damaged by the hurricane.

The brothers asked if VGR could supply the building materials and said that the local families will provide the labor to build the walls and put the roof on their own homes. Each family can help one another. They felt that it was important for the people to have the opportunity to participate in the reconstruction themselves. The brothers assured us it should not be a problem for them to rebuild the homes once they have the materials, because Christian families will help Christian families.

There are over 400 houses that need to be completely rebuilt and 89 houses that need the roof repaired.

In the next few weeks we hope to get more information from the brothers in order to finalize the cost of the project. There is much work to be done, so please keep this project in your prayers.