How Did Our Haiti Ministry Get Started?

When Bob Hager, founder of SOFM, was newly saved, he went on his first mission trip to Haiti. God grabbed his heart for this struggling country and he kept going back. His trips to Haiti is the main reason why he and his wife Sue founded Step of Faith Ministry in 2003. When he spoke about the abundant needs for this small island, people wanted to help and to give financially. It was from this response to what Bob was doing in Haiti that SOFM was born. Bob continued  going down to Haiti and invited others to join him. He would go anywhere the Lord led him, including places where the children never saw white people before so it was common for them to be rubbing on his arm “trying to rub off the white”.

Bob & Sue also took in a young Haitian girl, Mode, who wanted to go to college in NJ. Once she finished, she returned to the PAP area and in time she met her now husband John Leslie, who oversees the Haiti Methodists churches in that part of the island. Sue & Bob’s relationship with Mode enabled them to see the importance of children going to school so they started a Child Education Sponsorship program. In the early years, uniforms and shoes were brought and shipped down for the students. In recent years, this sponsorship has grown to the Lac’ajue area of Haiti, which is on the boarder of Haiti and Dominican Republic. But how did Bob get from one side of the island to the other…? 

In 2007 Bob, through his close friend Rob, were asked to go down to a different area of Haiti (Lac’ajue and Ounaminthe) by Craig Bogard, founder of Aslan Youth Ministry in Red Bank, NJ. It was this trip that Bob asked me (Pam Hess) to join him, and I said yes. Like Bob, many years earlier, when I spent only 6 days in this country, my heart fell in love with the people and the vision that Craig had shared.

Over the past 15 years Haiti has become a major part of the support raising that SOFM does. By investing in this area, through our partnership with Aslan Youth Ministry, we have been able to see how God is growing the small town of Lac’ajue and taking them from a village of voodoo worshippers to a community of Jesus followers! I have had the opportunity and blessing to go to Haiti over 25 times, many of which, bringing others down to see what the Lord is doing. 

Support for this part of SOFM has certainly grown and we are so thankful for our supporters! Here is a list of the areas that SOFM has had the opportunity to support and be a part of: Child Education ~ College Education for seminary students, nurses, lab technicians, plumber, mechanic, agronomist and lawyer ~ Grains of Grace Feeding Program ~ Goats of Grace Sustainable Living Program ~ Sewing School Sustainable Living Program ~ Clean Water Program ~ Community Bathrooms ~ Running of the Clinic of Hope Medical Clinic ~ Haiti Relief ~ Haiti Special Blessings ~ Mission Trips ~

Please continue to pray for Haiti. They are a small island with many political problems that causes a trickle down effect to the people who are just trying to survive. Our Christian families trust that their Provider will provide and if He doesn’t do it the way they would ultimately want Him to, He is still good and they are still worshipping Him!