On Haiti's Kyona Beach, TBN's Smile of a Child Brings Healing and Hope to Children and Families

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Oct 10, 2014, 03:45 ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a nation whose people have experienced more than their share of misery, anguish, and suffering, Smile of a Child, the humanitarian outreach of global Christian television leader Trinity Broadcasting Network, has established a beachhead of compassion, where children and families are receiving help, healing, and hope for the future.

On Haiti's Kyona Beach an hour north of Port-au-Prince, the ministry has refurbished a dilapidated and decayed property that once featured a resort, with the construction of a medical clinic and children's home.

Reggie Duff, who is overseeing the project, explained that when Smile of a Child acquired the land in 2011, the buildings and grounds were in severe disrepair, with no electricity or running water. "The surrounding jungle had already re-claimed much of the property by the time we began the project," he recalled, "so we had to look with eyes of faith to see what God had given us here."

After repairing a diesel-powered electrical generator that had lain dormant on the property, the construction team, headed by veteran contractor Bill Shelton, began work in earnest, and over the past year has succeeded in transforming the buildings and campus into a sanctuary of hope that is already ministering to the needs of Haitian children and families. "We are watching a miracle develop right before our eyes," Mr. Shelton said. "God has a destiny for the nation and people of Haiti, and we're grateful to be a small part of helping bring it to pass."

Through the efforts of Shelton, Duff, and many others, Smile of a Child's Kyona Beach project now has a vibrant children's home that ministers to the physical and spiritual needs of over forty children, along with a medical clinic that serves several hundred children and families each week with basic medical care.

Mr. Duff said that in addition to the clinic at the Kyona Beach campus, the project has several fully equipped mobile clinics ready for rapid deployment to places of need throughout Haiti, including one that is presently in service in Port-au-Prince. He said that they are also putting together a medical laboratory at the Kyona Beach facility that will be equipped to perform tests to detect and treat a number of health issues that the Haitian population regularly face.

"What we need most now are doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and other skilled volunteers with a burden to help the Haitian people embrace the destiny God has for them," said Mr. Duff. He noted that in addition to the children's home and medical clinic, Smile of a Child is preparing the Kyona Beach property to serve as a center to mentor young Haitian men and women in agricultural and other skills to help them become self-sufficient. "From organic farming and raising livestock, to sustainable fishing and other skills, we're positioning this property to raise up a generation that will Help Haiti reach its God-given destiny."

TBN Vice President Matthew Crouch, who was in Haiti recently to film a documentary on Smile of a Child's ministry in the country, noted that the Kyona Beach project is a vital extension of the outreach his mother, TBN co-founder Jan Crouch, began after she was first confronted by the desperate need in Haiti over thirty years ago. "On her first trip to Haiti back in the 1980s, my mother saw first-hand the misery and despair facing so many of the country's people, particularly the children," he recalled, "and it spurred her to action. That was the beginnings of Smile of a Child, an outreach that continues to this day."

What started as a simple project of providing needy children with toys has developed into a major outreach that has taken food, clothing, medical help — and the hope of God's love — to children and families all over the world.

Smile of a Child was one of the first groups to take emergency relief to Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake, and the Kyona Beach project, with its mobile clinics, will provide ongoing medical help to communities and individuals who continue to struggle in the wake of that disaster.

"Jesus said that when we reach out to those in the world who are helpless and hurting, we are reaching out to Him," said Matthew Crouch. "I believe that what TBN and Smile of a Child, along with our many committed partners, are doing in Haiti right now on Kyona Beach and around this needy nation, will reap a harvest both now and for eternity."

About the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks

With 28 networks and growing worldwide, the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks is the world's largest faith-and-family television group, airing a broad range of church and ministry programming, Christian music, family friendly movies, children's programming, and shows for teens and young adults 24 hours a day to every inhabited continent via 87 satellites and 20,000 television and cable affiliates. In addition, TBN's most popular global networks are available on computers, smart phones, and other mobile devices, and over 26,000 hours of entertaining and inspiring On-Demand programming is accessible via TBN's innovative online network, iTBN.org. To find out more about the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks, log on to www.tbn.org.

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SOURCE Trinity Broadcasting Network