Haiti

At the age of nine, Olson prayed to accept Jesus as his Savior. But the Good News of the Gospel wasn’t something he wanted to keep to himself!

In the midst of the poverty, corruption, and spiritual darkness of his country, Olson has a burden to reach his peers with the Gospel of Christ. Now age 15, he’s the youngest man ever enrolled in Haiti in a Teaching Children Effectively™ course. “God gave me a mission to be a catalyst influencer among my friends,” he said, “in order to rescue them from their darkness.”

Of the ten million people living in Haiti, 43 percent of them are under the age of 18. Children there contend with widespread poverty, huge inequalities, and a high risk of natural hazards, which makes it even harder for children to get the food, health care, and education they need.

Only 20 percent of Haitians have a stable wage job, 75 percent survive on less than $2 a day, and half on only $1 a day. Absolute poverty affects 40 percent of children, and 70 percent of them experience at least one form of deprivation. One hundred thousand children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition, while one in three children is stunted, or irreversibly short for their age. Less than 50 percent of households have access to safe water and only 25 percent benefit from adequate sanitation.

One of the strengths of CEF in Haiti is our training team that equips teachers throughout the country. Through courses like Teaching Children Effectively and other tools, we’re able to provide specialized, practical training that equip teachers with the skills to effective work with children and present the Gospel. Our team currently has the potential to double the current outreach. But unfortunately, due to Haiti’s poor economy, they will need to secure the funding from sources outside of the country. It’s our prayer that God will provide so that we can reach more children like Olson . . . and watch them reach out their families and friends.

Haiti

Sources: Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/); Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org/); World Data Atlas (https://knoema.com/atlas)