Transforming Lives at North Haiti Christian University

North Haiti Christian University (UCNH) produced the largest number of graduates in its almost 60-year history. Sixty-nine graduates came from UCNH’s three main colleges: 36 from the school of Business, 11 from the school of Agriculture and 22 from the school of Theology.

UCNH officially became a university ten years ago as an outgrowth of the Haitian Baptist Theological Seminary (STBH), which was then integrated into the University as the School of Theology.

Several thousand people attended this joyous occasion, all crowding into the new, enlarged Jacob’s Ladder (UCNH’s amphitheater), which was built to seat 350. The new Jacob’s Ladder sits near the smaller old amphitheater, cradled in the curved bowl of the hill’s natural shape. Filled to overflowing, family, friends and dignitaries spilled out and around the theater and up onto the red stone plaza that forms the heart of UCNH’s beautiful tropical campus. The shade of the mango trees provided protection from the summer sun for the crowd, and a high blue canopy spanned over the amphitheater to provide the rest of the shade and protection from falling mangos.

The ceremony began at nine A.M., so a cool morning breeze wafted through the plaza, providing relief to the graduates and dignitaries in their full academic regalia as they stepped in time to the traditional graduation music of Pomp and Circumstance.

As an eyewitness to this solemn ceremony I can say that it was a most impressive display of God’s triumph over the hopelessness and disarray that so pervades so much of Haiti at this time. I felt blessed to witness this demonstration of what can happen if we as Christians stand up and fight for what is good and right and pledge to dispel evil in our midst. Watching the graduating students stride down the stairs in step and then ascend the podium to receive their diplomas was like watching a glorious river. Each of these students went through rigorous training and endured many hardships – stringent academic requirements, financial hurdles, and an unpredictable political climate – in order to graduate. And each of their families sacrificed, financially and in every other way, to see their students to this momentous day.

Many graduates had been affected by the Gonaives flood disaster last year, and their families’ financial reserves were totally used up. They were able to pull through and graduate because UCNH received unexpected gifts from churches and individuals in the US.

I felt honored to be a part of this special day in Haiti as I watched these precious souls go out into this world. I hope that you feel this way too as we have all had a share in their progress. Each graduate who received a diploma was also receiving the commission to be a shining light in the world. I love the thought that all of us who support and pray for Haiti Hope Fund and the University were able to facilitate their commission. May God bless each one of these new graduates as they find their way from here with the light of the Lord guiding their paths.

Deborah Wonka Heneise
Haiti Hope Fund Correspondent