Lake Zurich congregation ships hope to poor town
Members of Alpine Chapel in Lake Zurich will gather Sunday to mark a milestone in an ongoing mission to provide hope in an impoverished village in Haiti.
At noon, the congregation will gather around a brightly painted, 40-foot-long shipping container in the parking lot to pray for safe passage of the vessel and its contents of school supplies, church benches and other items.
Since last fall, Alpine has been building relationships and working with officials in Colladere in central Haiti, about a four-hour drive from Port au Prince. The goal is to help the community be self-sustainable, in part, by establishing a church and school and a microloan program.
The two communities were paired by Bright Hope, a charitable organization based in Hoffman Estates whose mission is to help those living on less than $1 per day. Alpine is participating in what is known as Bright Hope's JELLY (Jesus, Education, Loans, Love, You) initiative.
"So many people in America want to do something that's purposeful and bigger than themselves. That's really how they view their church," said Christy Davis, the liaison for Bright Hope. "They're to be a blessing to the community, not just in Haiti but all around them."
Colladere is a community of about 3,500, mainly farmers, Davis said. But the farmers are far from a market and have no opportunity to make money. The average family goes without food three times a week and there is a high level of malnutrition, according to Bright Hope. The organization says there are no teaching materials or supplies for the school, which shares space with a church made of sticks and palm leaves.
But there's something else there that has provided a lesson for those at Alpine.
"There's a real spiritual joy among the people there despite their impoverished conditions," said Ken Toeller, who leads the chapel's JELLY team and visited Colladere last fall. "Personally, for me, it's been a growing experience."
He said Sunday's gathering is the culmination of many pieces coming together, a milestone in the two-year initiative.
Alpine has been hosting events involving the program every six weeks and has funded a microloan program for 27 families to start their own businesses. Each family receives a total of $400 in increments over three years. Increments aren't released until all participants have repaid what they borrowed, Davis said, but the point is they are making money from their work.
"You can think about tomorrow," she said of the residents.
The other part of the equation is the can't-be-missed shipping container in the chapel parking lot. The container will be packed Monday and leave Lake Zurich for Haiti on Wednesday. It is the first of two to be paired and converted into a permanent structure to serve as a school and church.
The containers have been brightly painted and the inside walls are filled with inspirational messages from Lake Zurich to villagers in Colladere.
"The container is just a piece. It's just a way families here can touch and be part of something that will be turned into a life-giving thing," Davis said.