In the early '80s, a young medical student came to Haiti for a better understanding of tropical medicine. Betty and I took Dr. Wayne Drevets to the clinic at Fonds-Parisien, a more than two-hour journey because of the rocky and dusty road. Upon arrival, many people would be waiting. At that time, the HCM's clinic was the only one in the area and the people were extremely sick. So, after being beaten by the rough road, Wayne dove in to spend the entire day attending to the needs of the people. Late that evening, we set out to drive back to Port-au-Prince. When we got home, Wayne would not wait for anyone to attend to him. As part of the family, he would go to the kitchen, set the table, help serve the food, and sit down to eat. This is something we will treasure forever. He is a missionary by heart to the image of his Master; he serves, practices, and supports missionary work after the example of his Master Jesus Christ.
Over the years, Wayne and his wife Michele have maintained such a close relationship with our family that we never feel any distance between their family and ours. As part of their beautiful daughter’s wedding, I was honored to be invited to say the blessing. The Drevets are part of our family and vice versa.
We are honored that Dr. and Mrs. Drevets have chosen to bestow a special gift on HCM. As part of their Kingdom legacy, they have given a financial gift to establish an endowment for HCM to use for evangelistic outreach.
Named the “Etienne and Betty Prophete Evangelism Endowment,” this gift is designed to keep the principle of the gift intact and allow HCM to use the money that is earned from investment income for ministry outreach. It is with gratitude that we share this wonderful blessing and invite others to give to this special “savings account” as well. For more information about giving to this endowment, please email Melia Douglass at melia@haitianchristianmission.org.
We know that this Kingdom work could not be done without the family we have in the Drevets, and so many others that have come alongside us to serve God in this way. We always work with His Kingdom in mind.
WHY AN ENDOWMENT?
By: Wayne Drevets, M.D
I had the privilege of living and working with Etienne and Betty Prophete for a month and will never forget how they daily practiced the presence of Christ by sharing His love in tangible ways to the people of Haiti. The scenes of Haiti’s daunting needs and unimaginably severe poverty remain vivid in my memory, from children suffering from malnutrition or illnesses long ago vanquished in the US, to parents desperate for food or medicine for their families. Amidst this suffering, HCM provides medicines, food, homes, clothing, and education bringing durable relief. What struck me most, however, was the fruitfulness of the evangelistic and church planting ministries, as HCM addresses the peoples’ spiritual hunger and emptiness. Never outside of Haiti have I observed such joyful and praise-filled church services, as the people exalted in God’s love and hope.
While my wife, Michele, and I have enjoyed participating in HCM’s ministry through giving, we saw the need to ensure that funding for the evangelic and discipleship ministries continue uninterrupted for many years to come. The idea for an endowment resulted from our HCM child sponsorship experience. We exchanged letters with and prayed for a student for several months. One day Edwens, call to inform us that this young boy had tragically died. Yet because of HCM, he had come to know personally the love of the Creator of the Universe, and we can look forward to meeting him in eternity. Knowing the difference HCM made in this child’s life, we asked God to help us initiate an endowment, to indefinitely share Christ’s love to the Haitian people. We encourage others to join in building the corpus of this endowment, as a means of sharing in Haitian Christian Mission’s ministries in a long-lasting way.