Infomation provide by Virginia Bell: The very beginning of the "Boys Home" was about 2004. It was discovered that a group of boys were in an orphanage/home situation where there was much abuse-physical and sexual. The manager of the facility was taken to court when some of the older boys complained to authorities that some were not being "paid" the same as others.(they were not complaining about the abuse) The man was arrested and possibly sent back to the states. A Haitian Methodist pastor, Rev Dissieu heard about this and with the help of a friend in British West Indies was able to find a house for the children to stay for short term. The older boys were a problem due to the fact that they never had rules to follow. They were very distructive to the other children and home. They had to leave and the younger boys were kept.
A house on Delmas 54 street, right next to Sister Paulette Holley's home( who is a deconess in the Methodist Church of Haiti) was up for sale. This was in the year of 2005. This house was designed to be a Guest House run by JoAnn Dimmit. It had bedrooms for 2-3 people, multiple bathrooms and a swimming pool. It was for missionaries. However, it was not successful and there were many thefts. This home was converted into the "Boys Home" by abandoning the twin bed atmosphere and putting in metal bunk beds and cots that would better accomodate the children.
Virginia Bell was managing the Haiti Methodist Guest house at the time. She took teams of missionaries to visit the home to acquaint them with the needs of the children. (She had such a soft spot in her soul for them, she could not walk away.) It was thru her dilegent work that teams began to make donations and thru her personal financial support the chidren were provided 2 meals a day, clean water, 1/2 day of schooling with uniforms, safety from the streets and a place to sleep.She advocated for any money she could from the Haiti Methodist Church and grant money from Crusade for Christ in the Caribbean.
In 2006 Traverse Bay United Methodist Church of Traverse City MI became involved. I met Virginia Bell at the Haiti Methodist Guest House on a mission trip for construction of a church in 2006. I had been looking for a way to serve God's Haitian children directly, through the Methodist Church. God brought me to Virginia and we started to plan my first trip to the "Boys Home" for 2007. Her passions ignited my deep passion for children and Christ in Haiti.
Our fist trip in 2007 consisted of my husband, Bob, our son, Dillon and 3 other members of Traverse Bay United Methodist Church. Yo Kamischke and his daughter Rachel, and Mary Gore. this is where our journey serving Christ at the Children's House started. Please enjoy our blog and share your comments with us. Traverse Bay United Methodist Church, "the small methodist church on the corner of M-72" is glorifying God in a God size way. What a wonderful church we have!!!
A house on Delmas 54 street, right next to Sister Paulette Holley's home( who is a deconess in the Methodist Church of Haiti) was up for sale. This was in the year of 2005. This house was designed to be a Guest House run by JoAnn Dimmit. It had bedrooms for 2-3 people, multiple bathrooms and a swimming pool. It was for missionaries. However, it was not successful and there were many thefts. This home was converted into the "Boys Home" by abandoning the twin bed atmosphere and putting in metal bunk beds and cots that would better accomodate the children.
Virginia Bell was managing the Haiti Methodist Guest house at the time. She took teams of missionaries to visit the home to acquaint them with the needs of the children. (She had such a soft spot in her soul for them, she could not walk away.) It was thru her dilegent work that teams began to make donations and thru her personal financial support the chidren were provided 2 meals a day, clean water, 1/2 day of schooling with uniforms, safety from the streets and a place to sleep.She advocated for any money she could from the Haiti Methodist Church and grant money from Crusade for Christ in the Caribbean.
In 2006 Traverse Bay United Methodist Church of Traverse City MI became involved. I met Virginia Bell at the Haiti Methodist Guest House on a mission trip for construction of a church in 2006. I had been looking for a way to serve God's Haitian children directly, through the Methodist Church. God brought me to Virginia and we started to plan my first trip to the "Boys Home" for 2007. Her passions ignited my deep passion for children and Christ in Haiti.
Our fist trip in 2007 consisted of my husband, Bob, our son, Dillon and 3 other members of Traverse Bay United Methodist Church. Yo Kamischke and his daughter Rachel, and Mary Gore. this is where our journey serving Christ at the Children's House started. Please enjoy our blog and share your comments with us. Traverse Bay United Methodist Church, "the small methodist church on the corner of M-72" is glorifying God in a God size way. What a wonderful church we have!!!
1 comment:
Hey! You were writing this on our anniversary!
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