The Rev. Melody D. Knowles, Ph.D., Acting Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary, dedicated The Dean’s Commentary on April 19 to Haiti and HMP, reminding readers of the devastating hurricane (2004) and earthquake (2010) that devastated Haiti. Read below her commemoration of HMP’s founding 10 years ago to feed, clothe, and shelter children who were hurt the most. (reprinted with permission)
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
In 2004 Hurricane Jeanne devastated Haiti, leaving children in the streets and families struggling to survive. The Haiti Micah Project was born from the need to house, feed, and educate the most vulnerable in Haiti, the children. The Rev. Joseph M. Constant and his mother, Marie Therese Charite, dreamed of what it would look like to care for these children and asked their family and friends to help. The Haiti Micah Project partners with Les Enfants de Sion to provide for the needs of the Haitian children. They provided meals for more than 200 children, then more than 300. Then the earthquake of 2010 further crippled Haiti. Now more than 500 children receive food and tuition assistance. There is also a home and a vocational school to continue meeting the needs of this growing group and the local community.
There are many nonprofits that do invaluable work in the most needy places in the world. This one, however, was started by our own VTS graduate, the Rev. Joseph Constant. He currently serves as the President of the Haiti Micah Project. On Saturday, April 23 Haiti Micah will celebrate its tenth anniversary here at VTS. If you missed the opportunity to attend the celebration, don’t fear, there are many other ways you can help listed on their website.
On Saturday, be sure to welcome our guests who will be celebrating this tenth anniversary. Please consider exploring the Haiti Micah Project website for information about other ways to contribute. And perhaps most of all, I would encourage you to spend some time meditating on the passage from Micah 6:8 which inspired the name of the Haiti Micah Project: “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice , and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The Rev. Melody D. Knowles, Ph.D.
Acting Dean and President
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Old Testament
