TeachBeyond Boosts Food Access for Haitians Amid Crisis
One in five Haitians faces a food emergency today, with more than 8,400 risking starvation. The problem, however, is not a shortage of supplies, according to David Durance of the educational ministry TeachBeyond.
“It’s not that there’s a shortage of food, but there’s a shortage of access to food,” he said. “The problem is actually getting food to the right people and right moment. One of the challenges is when the unrest really hits, it doesn’t matter if we’re offering free food at lunch, because we can’t get people — mostly our students — to the campus when things are really bad.”
In many cases, Haiti’s lack of infrastructure means no authorities are in place to work with. TeachBeyond’s local partners then must determine when and where aid can be given. Thanks to lessons learned during COVID, the ministry’s campus easily pivots between in-person and online classes, depending on security concerns. Missionaries with TeachBeyond see gospel significance in how the local churches respond to the crisis.
“We really want to be active in walking alongside the local believing community and seeing how we can be a part of that,” Durance said. “I know many of our missionaries present in these situations are thinking about that: ‘How do we walk alongside the believing church in these moments, knowing this is actually the critical opportunity where the church can be most visible and most itself, if you will, in a community?’”
Power of the local church
He prays that the local church will be able to address the challenge to provide care, stability and hope through the gospel.
“When I think of Haiti, it starts with the letter H — we want to pray for hope,” Durance said. “We know there are so many people in this country that are waking up today without hope, and we need to pray that they have hope and that that is grounded in a reality that God delivers this nation from the turmoil that they’ve been living under.”
For more information, visit www.teachbeyond.org.
–Metro Voice
