| Friday, June 20, 2008 |
Pastor here to help Haiti
‘… a country that’s under extreme misery right now’
Rev. Bazille Gumps talks in Auburn about his work in Haiti. (T&G Staff/DAN GOULD)
"When I get back to Haiti, I am going to spend every day praying for the churches in the United States. The churches need to be a uniting force so they will be able to stand together against the evils of society."
REV. Gumps Gumps
LEICESTER— The Rev. Bazile Gumps came to the United States to spread awareness of the work he is doing and the work that needs to be done in his native Haiti.
Rev. Gumps runs the nondenominational Evangelistic Church of the Good Samaritan in the Haitian city of Leogane. He has also turned his home into The Good Samaritan Orphanage and has started The Good Samaritan School.
“Haiti is a country that’s under extreme misery right now,” Rev. Gumps said, sitting in the Starbucks at Auburn. “Life is too expensive in Haiti. People don’t have an adequate house to live in. You see children living in the streets because there’s no place for them to live.”
His six-week stay in the United States, which ends tomorrow, is in conjunction with Mission E4, a Worcester organization that does ministry work in Haiti. He has been staying in Leicester with Gabe David Leon and his wife, and Scott Long and his family.
Mr. Leon and Mr. Long, who are planning another mission to Haiti July 5, came to the interview and, when necessary, Mr. Long served as an interpreter for the pastor, who speaks Creole and some English.
During his stay, Rev. Gumps has participated in youth programs and spoken at area churches. In his free time, he has tasted American life, visiting tourist stops including Old Sturbridge Village and the Boston Aquarium, dining on pizza and other American cuisine, and watching popular films at the local multiplex, including “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” But Rev. Gumps said seeing attractions and wolfing down pizza is not what his visit is all about.
“I’m not here to be a tourist,” he explained. “I’m here to do the work that I’m here to do.”
Rev. Gumps has come here to raise money to purchase land for an existing orphanage, as well as to pay for further construction. He estimates he needs $65,000 for the land purchase and $150,000 for construction work.
As of earlier this week, Rev. Gumps has raised $30,000 here for his cause.
He and his wife adopted Micanes, a 3-year-old orphan who was very ill and “very, very fragile.” Today, the child is 14. Not long after arriving in the United States, he received word that Micanes had injured himself jumping out of the way of a speeding motorcycle.
“At the time when it happened, many people gathered together to pray for me, for my son,” Rev. Gumps said. “God answered the prayers. He is doing better.”
Rev. Gumps wrestled with whether to return to Haiti to be by the boy’s side. He decided to stay, fearing that he wouldn’t be allowed back.
“It’s very, very difficult for anyone to leave Haiti, to get a visa, to get residence,” he said. “I had to work for a long time to get a six-week visa to come here. Had I left, I would have given up my rights to that visa.”
Rev. Gumps said he is envious of the American education system. In Haiti, parents come up to him every day, he said, pleading to get their children into his school — not just for food for thought but a good meal, which is provided every day, all year long.
“The biggest thing, that touches me the most, is the road system, just having regular roads, regular transportation, roads that are marked clearly. Everything is proper, clean. There are rules and order,” he said. “Most of the things in my country are dirty, trash all over the place, wherever you go.”
The pastor said he is astounded that the U.S. government passes so many laws that he feels go against the teachings of the Bible.
“For a country to have the protection of God, the country needs to stay under the commands of God,” he insisted. And, he says the disunity of the churches in the United States breaks his heart.
“When I get back to Haiti, I am going to spend every day praying for the churches in the United States,” he said. “The churches need to be a uniting force so they will be able to stand together against the evils of society.”
With many of its people living in poverty and suffering from AIDS, he said, Haiti it is getting worse and worse every day. Still, despite all their hardships, he said, Haitians are very strong, courageous people and survivors.
“Regardless of whether they are in good situations or extreme destitution, they’re people that know how to keep good spirits,” Rev. Gumps said. “They really have a lot of courage. You can still see smiles on the faces of people there. You can see hope.”
For more information or to donate to the orphanage project, contact Mission E4, at 20 Havana Road, Worcester, MA 01603, send e-mail to missione4@yahoo.com or check out its Web site at missione4.com.
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Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20080620/NEWS/806200586/1008/NEWS02