We all met in Cap Haitian and then rode on a bus to our destination. I have not driven this north to south main road in years and I was able to see Haiti in a fresh new way. In my 16 years as a missionary in Haiti we in the Agricultural development field predicted that the Haitian countryside would be denuded in twenty to thirty years if agricultural practices were not changed (slash and burn, charcoal production using trees without planting new growth etc.). There would be no more trees: they would all be cut down and used for charcoal production. The mountainsides would be bare and the soil would wash away into the rivers and seas leaving Haiti’s soil so poor that nothing of value would grow. Now on my bus ride through the county from the north to the southern coast of Haiti, I was able to see with my own eyes that not only did this prediction not come true but Haiti’s countryside was resplendent with new growth. There were trees of all types; mango, avocado, hardwoods, pine, grapefruit and citrus of all sorts. The millet crop was flourishing on the mountains on Pilbourough and there were new trees sprouting up everywhere. I have never seen so many grapefruits bagged up and ready to go to market. There were pineapples, cororsol and many other fruits for sale on the roadside. In the Aritbonite rice fields were yielding their bountiful crop.

No, Haiti is not denuded or finished agriculturally, she is as resilient and long suffering as her people and she has defied all predictions of catastrophe. It was a great encouragement for me to see such production and to know that God is holding onto these people and working with them. I want you to tell everyone you know that Haiti is worth our effort, our prayers and our donations. We can be confident that there is still hope for Haiti! -Debbie Heneise

When the Haiti Hope Fund (originally the International Christian Education Fund) was created in 1994, the Turners helped with the printing and mailing of the Newsletters. The next year Phyllis was appointed to the Board of Directors and in 1997 Herb was appointed as Controller, later becoming Treasurer. He has also been receiving and acknowledging donations, filing government forms, paying bills, and working with Phyllis to process the newsletter mailings.

Herb and Phyllis first met Harold and Ivah Heneise, founders of Haiti Hope Fund, in Rochester, New York where the Heneises were taking Doctoral studies. The Turner’s church (Greece Baptist) was looking for a mission project to support. The Heneises suggested helping to finance the building of a Baptist primary school in the town of Pilate, Haiti. The Heneises’ enthusiasm was contagious: the Turners soon decided to visit Haiti and study the mission work. Armed with cameras and tape recorder, they spent two weeks doing just that. They stayed for four days with the pastor’s family in Pilate, watching the school construction. Three years later they returned to Haiti to participate in the dedication of the school. Several more trips followed over the years as the two families developed a warm friendship. After the Turners retired in 1984 they went to Haiti for three months every winter to help with the work. Herb used his electrical engineering skills to provide and upgrade electric services and to repair whatever was broken. Phyllis used her secretarial skills in answering correspondence and preparing manuscripts. They continued this arrangement until 1991, when the Heneises were forced to leave Haiti because of political turmoil. They settled in northern Florida and were soon joined for a few months by the Turners, who had left New York and were building a house in North Carolina. Five years later, they, too, moved to Florida to join the Heneises in the same retirement community. We will certainly miss you! Thank you again, Herb for your faithful service.