Second Generation of Haiti Christian Development Fund Partners

Welcome to the second generation of Haiti Christian Development Fund supporters and partners.

Thirty plus years have gone by.  The first generation is retiring, passing away soon.  Hats off to the first generation of supporters/partners who carried HCDF through crisis after crisis, slowly but surely rebuilding Fond-des-Blancs.  Not many quitters among them.

Some advice to the second generation.  I want you to excel, to do better than the first generation.

1.  Be exceedingly humble regarding social problems.  They are much more complex than medical problems and medical problems can be very difficult.  Based on my study of sociology and living 90 years in America, I would estimate that 9 out of 10 Americans know only 10 percent of the truth about blacks, yet the readily pontificate about blacks as if they were experts.  This ignorance/arrogance is probably worse about Haiti.

So become a disciplined student, become wise.  Love not directed by truth, wisdom can be dangerous.

2.  Diligently work to improve your theology, especially on the present and social dimensions of the kingdom of God, the deep trauma prolonged oppression causes, the desperate need for Jubilee justice to release the oppressed.  We all need this biblical wisdom; both Haitians and Americans.  Remember that Jean Thomas' brother who knew the language and culture tried starting individual projects but apart from a community development umbrella,  over time they all failed.  HCDF in Fond-des-Blancs is going strong.

3.  In America, recently I have noticed so-called experts in urban education making stupid comments; this includes the Gates Foundation which has poured millions of dollars into improving education with little success.  Why?  For every dollar spent on education, they should invest five in community development.  Education and community development are closely related; you can't improve one without improving the other.

4.  Christian Community Development.  Have you had any experience doing community development; this field is not for amateurs?  Have you read any CCD literature?  If not, give the following your highest priority.

* Attend the week long April Immersion in Chicago sponsored by CCDA.
* Read At Home With The Poor by Jean Thomas.
* Read A Quiet Revolution by Mississippian John Perkins who invented CCD.
* Read Mountains Beyond Mountains which is about the Haitian ministry of Paul Farmer.  Farmer earned both a MD and a Ph.D in anthropology.  He combines physical medicine and social medicine/public health.

5.  If you want the wisdom of a person who has been studying these issues intensely for 50 years, who has lived in black communities in America for 35 years, read my blog.  Google "Lowell Noble's Writings".