Corvel Christian Church

Located on the lower plateau of Haiti, Corvel is a very unique place. You drive two hours from the international airport in Port-au-Prince, a distance of about 25 miles. You must go over one of the most dangerous mountains in Haiti called "Morne a Cabri", which means "goat mountain". As you escalade the narrow paths of the mountain, you can really feel the risk of the adventure. After all, the name of the mountain is self-explanatory. But it offers you the chance to see the beauty of Haiti as you come over to the other side and contemplate the landscape of the Mirebalais Valley.

© Photo courtesy Rich Davis

Beauty, yes, but the road does not stop looking ugly until you get to Mirebalais. From there you drive west for about 10 minutes on a nice paved road, then park the vehicle and load up everything on your back, because you are going for a hike! The pastor of the church, Chrispin Kenold, usually sends a whole army of people to help carry everything.

You walk about a mile down Artibonite, the largest river in Haiti, and meet the river-crossing people waiting at the riverbed to take you across on canoe. This is where you start to get the feel of a real mission. From the other side you will walk about another half-mile to get to the church site.

When you finally arrive, you ask yourself what you've been complaining about. It was not too bad and the people do make you feel welcome. It is a fine place to visit and an even better people to minister to.

© Photo courtesy Rich Davis

Corvel is not far from Port-au-Prince, but its secluded location has made it very difficult to reach. There are no bridges on the river and during the rainy season only the intrepid would risk crossing it or take the long road that adds another half-hour to the trip. About 5000 people live in the vicinity of that community and ironically one of their biggest problems is water. The land could be productive, but no irrigation system while it rains less and less. Since the people there in order to educate and feed their children rely exclusively on the production of the land then you can understand that we have a big problem in our hands.

When people are desperate they will hang on anything they can catch, and many times in Haiti voodoo and the voodoo priests are the only thing that permeates any substance for hope and they hang on to them even though most of the time fear and deception accompany such situations. The children are afraid, the adults are uncertain, and the voodoo priest reigns unmercifully.

Fortunately one day, Pastor Kenold, who was raised as a little boy in that community, had the chance to escape and go to school in Mirebalais (the closest town from Corvel) where he got his high school education and was strongly influenced by the Baptist church he attended there. He then understood that the power of Christ would be the one to transform his community in Corvel and decided to go back and started preaching there.

People were responding by many to his message and that's when he thought he should go to a Bible college, since he needed to know more as the responsibility was increasing. He also thought that at this point he needed someone to be a mentor to him and help to give direction to his ministry. A friend told him about Yves and in 1992 Kenold became one of the many that Yves's ministry was devoted to help. Now the community that used to be ruled by voodoo priests and horror is now experiencing a peaceful atmosphere because the power of Christ was able to convict and proclaim freedom (John 8:36).

It is with a lot of joy that Kenold talks about the accomplishments of the church in that community. Five of the once fierce voodoo priests are now alders and deacons in the church serving Christ, their new and only master, with all their hearts, minds, and strength. He said there are a few more to conquer for the kingdom, but they are almost powerless now. The Lord is great and worthy to be praised.

When Kenold went to meet with pastor Yves about helping to strengthen church there, the small congregation was meeting in a hatch thatch type building. Yves told Pastor Carter from Westlink Christian Church in Wichita about the situation, and pastor Carter decided to buy a piece of land for the construction of the church with his own money. Pastor Carter and brother Wayne Johnson organized a youth group mission trip to travel to Haiti to help build the church.

The people of Corvel will always be thankful for them, and they will be remembered for their courage. Everything that was bought for the construction of the church, included lumber, sand, cement, sheet metal, etc., was hand-carried across the river. They were really in need of a church building, and the place where the is now uwas earlier used by people who owned it to voodoo ceremonies. Everything is transformed by the renewing power of the Lord.

Now this church of about 250 members has seven other churches that are connected to this work. Those churches also run schools as a requirement by the Haitian government. Altogether, Kenold oversees the education of 1,200 children. Kenold also decided to extend hope to deaf children by starting a deaf school after miss Amber Thacker from Alaska went to Haiti and did some training for people who wanted to become deaf teachers.

© Photo courtesy Rich Davis

Jocelyne, a smart and caring young girl from Corvel, decided that she is going to spend the rest of her life teaching such children. That added a new taste to the ministry of GVCM, but GVCM is not able to pay Jocelyne anything. So along with taking in some of those children that only she can communicate with, she feeds them and teaches them for free. The truth is Jocelyne has a rich heart, but she has nothing, and feels trapped by the sensitivity of her heart. We commend her for her servant attitude and we are looking for help for Jocelyne and some food to feed the deaf children as well.

Kenold is a Father of five, and four of them and his wife suffer from "sickle cell" anemia.They really need your prayers and support. Right now, through the good work of brother David Davolt, Kenold gets $250 dollars in personal help from West Seattle Christian Church.

But then there is the issue of the twelve teachers from Corvel and those from the other schools not having a salary at all. We would like to be able to give each of them at least $75 a month, but at this point, they would be thankful for anything at all. We want to promote the Child Sponsorship Program with the children of Corvel, so they we will be able to help the teachers, feed the children, provide school supplies they need, and allow partners in the United States to be part of a process so valuable that we could not put a price tag on it. The children are hungry and have a tough time concentrating sometimes.

We thank West Seattle Christian Church and David Davolt for helping Pastor Kenold. If you would like more information about the activities of West Seattle Christian Church, please email David Davolt at the following address:  d a v e d 5 2 @ j u n o . c o m