You might say Waterloo North Church has already been bucking the Presbyterian trend. Rather than offering a single, lightly-attended Sunday service, it has two on Sunday — with 80 people attending in the morning and about 250 at night. The congregation also has a unique approach to mission, where Haiti is the country of choice. It stems from the idea that this developing country has no shortage of labour but needs the money and the materials to build better lives. "We're simply trying to fulfill our mission statement by being a people who continually share the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed," said Waterloo's minister, Rev. Dwight Strain. "And that often means just giving people what they need."
Strain has been involved with Haiti for 30 years and has ignited the congregation to reach out to this impoverished country. Taking a cue from child sponsorship programs, Strain often wondered who was taking care of the country's seniors. He shared his thought with the congregation, who liked the idea and began Seniors Serving Seniors. The congregation sponsors 210 seniors in Haiti for just five dollars a month — what Strain likens to the $300 monthly pension given to Canada's seniors for basic necessities. Many of the seniors are caring for grandchildren orphaned by AIDS or civil unrest. The program has been running since February 2004 and letters are sent back and forth between the congregation and those being sponsored.
The congregation is also sponsoring an entire class, including the teacher, which costs about $50 a month. In November, a young man from the congregation who is a stone mason will travel to a southern village in rural Haiti to help them build a six-room schoolhouse — the first such building in the area. "The congregation was told what was needed and it was done," said Strain. "It's really miraculous."
Rev. Jean Franck Antoine, who operates 17 elementary schools, one high school and one divinity college in Haiti, helped inspire Strain to take on such projects. Antoine visited Waterloo in March to speak about his plight in Haiti and was sent back with soccer uniforms for the students. Strain received an honorary doctor of divinity from Antoine's seminary in June.
The two ministers sometimes work together to determine what is needed. After realizing that farmers need good quality seed to produce a good crop, the congregation started the Seeds of Hope campaign. Parishioners donate leftover vegetable seeds and solicit seeds from local companies after Canada's growing season is over. The project has only been operating this year, but when Antoine returned to Haiti after his visit to Waterloo, the congregation already had seeds to send with him. And when Strain travelled to Haiti in June, he took 1,200 packages of seeds for struggling farmers.
Strain already has the cooperation of nearby Anglican and United Church congregations, but he hopes to expand the Seeds of Hope program into a national church initiative. He said any type of seed can be given regardless of Canada's growing season, as fruits and vegetables grow year-round in Haiti. Currently, the congregation is partnered with garden projects run by the Salvation Army.
Chicks for Change operates on the same grounds, encouraging local hatcheries to donate surplus chicks to Haiti, which are used for meat and egg production, as well as for breeding purposes to increase the quality of Haiti's chickens. Administration costs are kept as low as possible and travel expenses are shouldered by those doing the travelling.
"It just shows you what one small congregation can do," said Strain.
Strain is only the third minister in the 30-year-old congregation's history. His role there is as a consulting minister and revitalization specialist, intended to help struggling congregations get back on their feet. He believes it is a dedication to mission that helped restore the congregation's health. "Once we got beyond looking at ourselves and turned our attention to mission, God began to prosper us and we began to grow," he said. "When you look after others, God looks after you."
