Stans Mission Trip

Hope remains for the nation of Haiti, its environment and its people.

Decades before Haiti got ravaged by the earthquake, author Stan Hovey began his mission there to promote tree planting and help uplift the nation to the best he could. His enduring mission is revealed at last to all readers with the release of his book, Haitian Recollections And Haitian Returns.

Haitian Recollections And Haitian Returns

Stan Hovey

http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/78194/index.htm

Mission Trips to Haiti
Supported By The
Urbanna United Methodist Church

2009

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

From Haiti

The many Haitian people assisted by the Urbanna United Methodist Church (UUMC) send their heart-felt thanks to this congregation; which generously gave money and so many school supplies for me to take and use. The church and various individuals gave me $1,469 plus about 100# of pencils, crayons, tape, rulers, protractors, small handheld calculators, rubber bands, paper clips, toothbrushes, soccer balls, etc. The school supplies were used at 2 orphanages and at 2 schools. The funds were used to purchase and hire men to help plant trees in reforesting land, to buy food for an orphanage and set up 3 adults to follow-up teaching reforestation at Jeremie-area schools through 2009. A special fund, donated by Kelsey Robusto was used to support Stephanine Abiello, a student in college and the daughter of my good friend/interpreter Bergemann Abiello. Our mission team worked part of 5 days at the orphanage, where last year UUMC helped fund a water well. The land has been purchased adjacent to the orphanage, the rest of the money has been raised by Michigan Methodists and we are in the process of arranging a well digger/water system installer.

I met mission teams from Indiana, who have adopted 6 Haitian children and are in the process of adopting 16 more. Another team was led by the District Superintendent from the Petersburg District, Rev. Dr. John Martin, Jr. who had 33 on his team. I met an 85 year-old woman at the airport who has been coming to Haiti for years and since her husband died 5-6 years ago, she is continuing to support a family she adopted in Haiti, by supervising the building of a house for them this year.

I found a lot of progress in the country, since my 1^st visit, three years ago. Port-Au-Prince is cleaner, roads are being up-graded, more people are cooking with kerosene and propane versus charcoal and thousands of people are going there each year on various mission-oriented trips throughout the country. They have long way to go, but if the government stays stable and day-to-day living security is maintained businesses and trade will increase to give the people much needed jobs. Even more than that, they sure do need your continuing prayers. The one thing they all have is God—and they know it!

God Bless All You Do--Stan

The Urbanna United Methodist Church supported one of its members, Stan Hovey, in his 2007, 2008 and 2009 mission trips to Haiti. In 2007 the church raised $924 and many pounds of medicines and school supplies for Stan to take for the Haitians. In 2008 the church budgeted and gave Stan $2,025 as well as many more pounds of medicines and school supplies; which were given for various Haitian projects. These funds were used to help build the Gommiers Methodist Church, pay the Gommiers Methodist Church School teachers back-salaries, assist the Gebeaux Clinic, help with food and supplies at three (3) orphanages in the Jeremie area and assist in the teaching reforestation and planting tree seedlings with the students at the Gommiers and John Wesley Methodist schools.

Stan introduced a program called “Tithing Trees For Haiti”; which has been taught at the schools during the past two years. In 2008, the program has matured to help formulate an Agro-Forestry Program within an overall Environmental/Economic Initiative sponsored by the Haitian Methodist Church. One of the near-term objectives of the program is to establish small reforestation tree nurseries at each of the 100 Methodist schools throughout Haiti.

Continuing efforts are planned on these and many, many other projects in Haiti over the coming years. The Methodists, as well as other church and non-profit groups are making tremendous progress to assist this country to overcome its extreme poverty and fragile day-to-day living conditions. It will take many years to achieve most of the peoples’ quality-of-life objectives, but it can be done–since it is God’s will!