A New Haiti (ANH) was formed by Pastor Jean Telfort of Steele Creek Church of Charlotte (SCCC) after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

The heart of ANH is to work with the local Haitian leaders in developing a new Christ centered community, and ultimately a new county, one person at a time.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and is slightly smaller than the size of Maryland. There was a massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010 with the epicenter just miles from Port-au-Prince, the capital and most populace city. It is estimated that over 300,000 died and 1.5 million were left homeless. This was assessed to be the worst earthquake in the area in 200 years. Already in a difficult economic position, Haiti has not recovered from the earthquake.

Haiti has a large corruption problem that has caused the people to be distrustful of those in leadership. The country has become dependent on foreign aid and many are hopeless. Over 80% of the population is Catholic and less than 16% are Protestant. Roughly 1/2 the population practices voodoo.

According to the World Food Programme, “In 2018, half of the population was undernourished, and the literacy rate was 61%. Haiti ranks 170 out of 189 countries in the 2020 United Nations Human Development Index (HDI).”

ANH would like to be a part of the solution by bringing the hope of Jesus Christ to the community. They desire to establish a genuine church that provides the foundation to help people spiritually, physically and emotionally to become all that God has planned for them.

From this foundation of the church, ANH seeks to empower and equip people to provide for their families through training, job creation, temporary housing and education.

Jean Telfort pastors Hope Christian Church (Steele Creek Church Plant) in Fond Parisien. He is involved in teaching and preaching, as well as training other area pastors, and desires to see a thriving community of believers.

Hope Christian Church has a passion to see transformative change take place in Haiti through three main areas of work: spiritual discipleship, youth and adult education, and economic development. The leadership of the church desires to raise up the young people as an important part of the future of the community and nation, and as such seeks to train them in the Biblical foundations of Living on Target (Christ, Home, Church, World). The church also supports the primary and secondary education of roughly 1,000 students, as well as provides trade programs for students and literacy classes for adults.

The church also works to lift up the poor and destitute in the community by supporting individuals and small businesses. They have a heart to bring dignity and hope through economic development.

Source: World Food Programme. 2021. Haiti. United Nations World Food Programme. www.wfp.org/countries/haiti. Accessed on 20 May 2021.