Today marks the 7th anniversary of the dedication of the Gwo Maché Mirak, or Grand Miracle Marketplace, in Fond Parisien, Haiti. For seven years now, the Haitian people have had the nicest, cleanest, safest marketplace with a wide variety of commercial activities to support the regional economy and create a place for many secure jobs. During these seven years, the Marketplace has continued to expand and adjust its services.
In addition to the many restaurants serving local Haitian food, a bank, a Western Union office, and hundreds of small vendor shops with anything from beauty supplies, freshly grown produce, clothes, electronics, etc. It now even offers a clean, modern, and efficient “GO” fuel station that always has a line of eager customers. In the rear part of the marketplace is the expanded Abatwa or “butcher shop” where Farmer John’s-branded meats of all kinds are available, providing the highest standards for fresh meat in all of Haiti.
Those of you who have been with us since the Grand Opening seven years ago or anyone who has actually been to the Gwo Maché Mirak can testify to the tremendous enduring impact that this Development for Sustainability project is having on the poor nation of Haiti. The $1 million faith seed that Pastor Jentezen Franklin and the Kingdom Connection church provided years ago continues to provide opportunity, higher standards, open-air Christian music, and joy and hope to hundreds of Haitian people who are coming to know Jesus through this project.
As Pastor Franklin said in his Dedication Day remarks, when Jesus came riding a donkey into Jerusalem, he came “through the marketplace”! We thank Pastor Franklin for his faith and support of this project, and Mr. Bellevue and his staff who manage it and keep it operating well. And, we also want to thank our beloved friend Oriel who put all the Dedication festivities together so well and produced our great TV show for so many years. They are all an example of what can happen when people come together, showing that “Love is something that you do.”
Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director