White Plains UMC has been supporting the Mountains of Hope for Haiti (MHH) Program since 2017. Mountains of Hope is an International Methodist support program for Haiti, focusing much of its efforts on the village of Furcy. The Mountains of Hope for Haiti Program is multi-faceted, providing support for the people of Furcy with funds for agricultural programs, for elementary/secondary schools, for a medical clinic, as well as for a sewing ministry.
2025 Update
In 2018 JD Fish and Dave DeMaster went to Haiti to explore new options for White Plains International Work Teams. White Plains had previously sent several work teams to Jeremie, Haiti to help start an agricultural ministry, to refurbish a local grade school, and to start a sewing ministry. In the rural village of Furcy (Haiti), Fish and DeMaster met with a translator for international work teams working with the Mountains of Hope for Haiti. The translator’s name was Jean Philippe Adrien. Plans were made for a White Plains work team to be sent to Furcy in June of 2019 with Jean Philippe as our translator. Two weeks prior to the work team’s departure, the US Department of State declared Haiti to be a level 4 security risk, so the White Plains work team plans had to be cancelled. Having established a working relationship with the Furcy Farmers’ Association (with Jean Philippe as our primary contact), White Plains Missions Work Area has sent $3000 – $7000 per year of support to the Furcy Farmers’ Association (through the Mountains of Hope for Haiti), so that they can purchase fertilizer and seed for their spring planting. There are pictures on the WP Missions Website illustrating how appreciative the farmers are in receiving this support from White Plains.
For the past several years gangs have become a bigger part of Haiti’s political scene, until recently when they have taken over the country completely. Initially, the gangs were focused in the capital city of Port-Au-Prince, but starting in 2025, the gang activities have spread to rural Haiti, including the village of Furcy. Jean Philippe, his wife, their two children (4 and 9 daughters), and Jean Philippe’s mother, all lived together in Furcy. This March in the middle of the night, gangs surrounded and took over the Furcy Police Station and occupied the main church in the village. To escape being shot by the gangs, Jean Philippe and his family (and all of the people in Furcy) ran off into the woods with only the shirts on their backs. They lived there in fear for several days without food or shelter, hoping that the gangs would soon leave their town. The gangs are still occupying Furcy as of August 2025, and recently, they have burned local houses and Police vehicles. One villager tried to go back to his home to get a goat to help feed his children, and he was shot by the gangs. Jean Philippe, his family, and 9 other villagers/friends from the woods, now have made their way from Furcy to a safer town, Petionville, where all 14 people are staying in a single room in Jean Philippe’s aunt’s house. There is no food for them and Jean Philippe wakes up every morning wondering how he will feed his family. Where is the help from the United Nations and the soldiers from Kenya? It is non-existent. Throughout the past three months, Dave has talked to Jean Philippe every 5-7 days. Jean Philippe has an intestinal health issue (probably an ulcer), but he doesn’t have the time or money to take care of it.
Just before the gangs moved into Furcy, White Plains sent $7000 to the Mountains of Hope for Haiti/Furcy Farmers’ Association for the purchase of fertilizer and seed. The Mountains of Hope for Haiti program was able to get fertilizer and seed to the local farmers of Furcy, but the distribution was relatively covert (only to small groups at a time instead of the usual 60 farmers), so that the gangs wouldn’t notice the valuable new resources (see pictures below). White Plains is providing more to the people of Furcy than just fertilizer and seed; they are providing “hope” under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. The people of Furcy know that outside of their country, there are people who care about them and are willing to support them during their trying times. The farmers in Furcy were able to plant their seeds and spread their fertilizer on their fields before the gangs came, but now those fields are unattended, and it is uncertain when and if the gangs will ever leave Furcy. Since the gangs are still occupying Furcy, Jean Philippe is looking into sending his 4 and 9 year-old daughters to school in Petionville, which costs about $1500 per year for both daughters. This will be a challenge for them, as they don’t have any resources for food and water and can’t go back to Furcy and their home.
Thank you White Plains for easing the burden of our Christian brothers and sisters in Haiti. We have been blessed in many ways here in the US, but we are called to share our abundance with those less fortunate. If we don’t help, who will? For questions or concerns regarding our ministry in Haiti, please contact Dave DeMaster (919-745-7062 or demaster@ncsu.edu).
2021 Haiti Update
Although no work teams were sent to Haiti in 2020 because of COVID and civil unrest, $9,500 was sent to the Mountains of Hope for Haiti program to help families in the rural town of Furcy purchase fertilizer and seed for their crops, support local school programs, and provide resources for a local health clinic.