Helping
One
Just
By Cheryl Muirhead and Gwen Pinkerton, Starfish
Kids Program Coordinators for OMS Canada and
OMS USA
Most Haitian children do not have the opportunity to go
to school due to the high cost. In Haiti, 80 percent of
the schools are private and require payment for tuition,
books, and uniform costs.
That means as few as 50 percent of Haitian
children can afford to attend school, and only
4 percent actually graduate from high school.
The OMS-related Emmaus Fellowship of
Churches wanted to help more children
get an education and reach them with the
Gospel.
So, in 2002, OMS started the Starfish
Kids ministry. Three people met to out-
line the program: Pastor Dulceine Joseph,
representative of the Emmaus Fellowship
of Churches; Eutrope Samson, long-time
worker in various ministries of OMS Haiti;
and Joetta Lehman, OMS Haiti missionary.
OMS Canada missionary Gill Shoemaker,
already serving in Haiti, agreed to direct
the new ministry.
Starfish Kids is a child evangelistic
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