Building Bridges of Hope: 25 Years with the Bethany Project

(This is the third and final segment of our series on Bethany Project School Sponsorship)

written by Al Perkins, the US coordinator of this program.

For nearly 25 years, I have had the privilege of being involved with the Bethany Project, a ministry of Partners with Haiti in Barrington, Rhode Island. Looking back over those years, I am reminded that what began as an effort to help children receive a Christian education has become much more than a program. It has become a ministry of relationships, service, and hope.

Bethany Project sponsors children in private Christian schools in Haiti. Through the generosity of sponsors in the United States, children are given the opportunity to attend school and receive an education in an environment where Christian faith and biblical values are an important part of their lives.

My particular role has been to serve as a link between the sponsors in the United States and the leaders in Haiti. I help coordinate communication and information between the two, helping sponsors stay connected with the children they support and helping the Haitian school leaders communicate the needs and progress of the schools. But over the years, my involvement has taken me far beyond communication. I have had the opportunity to travel to Haiti, visit the schools, meet the children and school leaders, and even help build some of the schools. Those experiences have changed the way I see this ministry. There is something different about standing in a school building that you have helped construct and then seeing children sitting inside learning. It reminds you that ministry is not simply about numbers, programs, or financial support. It is about people. I have seen firsthand the dedication of the Haitian leaders and teachers who work to educate children in difficult circumstances. I have also seen the generosity of sponsors who, although separated from these children by thousands of miles, choose to invest in their lives.

Bethany Project creates a connection between these two groups. A sponsor may live in the United States and never have the opportunity to visit Haiti, but through sponsorship that person can become part of a child’s story. The child, in turn, has someone who is helping make his or her education possible. What begins with financial support can develop into a relationship characterized by encouragement, prayer, and genuine concern.

Over the years, I have learned that education is one of the most important ways we can invest in the future of Haiti. A child who receives an education has opportunities to develop skills, grow in confidence, and prepare for the future. When that education takes place in a Christian school, there is also an opportunity for that child to hear and understand the Gospel and to grow in biblical truth. The schools themselves have also become a testimony to what can happen when people work together. Some of the buildings I have helped construct started as plans on paper. Today, they are places where children gather, teachers teach, and families see new possibilities for their children.

For me, one of the greatest blessings of the Bethany Project has been seeing how God can bring people together across cultures and thousands of miles apart. American sponsors, Haitian educators, pastors, parents, and children may come from very different circumstances, but they can be united by a common desire to see children receive an education and know the love of Christ.

After all these years, I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to serve as a bridge between the sponsors here in the United States and the leaders in Haiti. Bethany Project is not simply about sponsoring a child.

It is about investing in a life.

It is about building schools where children can learn.

It is about developing relationships across cultures.

And ultimately, it is about trusting God to use these investments in ways that may reach far beyond anything we can see today. As I reflect on the time I have spent working with Bethany Project, I am reminded that sometimes the most important things we build are not made of concrete and blocks. We build relationships, opportunities, and hope. And those are the things that can last for generations.