What is the impact of tithe?

We at Habitat talk about Tithe a lot.

I’m sure many of you hear that word when you attend your Sunday church services. Most of us have an understanding that Tithe, as described in biblical terms, refers to sharing first fruits and giving 10%.

As a foundational principle within the Habitat ministry, Tithe is a principle we at Lakes Area Habitat embrace with joy and celebration. Giving of our resources ensures those in countries around the world can deliver Habitat programs lifting more families out of poverty and improving overall health.

How do we at LAHFH direct our Tithe and what impact does our Tithe have?

We support 3 countries with our Tithe: Guatemala, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

HABITAT GUATEMALA
For 45 years, HFH has been present in Guatemala. In that time, over 1,000,000 Guatemalans have benefited from HFH services with over 58,000 new homes built, over 25,000 homes repaired and over 84,000 families served withs community development projects such as smokeless stoves, water/hygiene/sanitation solutions or concrete floors. An interesting part of the Habitat work in Guatemala is the hiring of local community members to train them in construction techniques giving them additional employment options to consider.

HABITAT DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Habitat Dominican Republic is our newest Tithe partner. Recently the HFHDR team shared statistics from 2023: 3,256 completed housing solutions (much like Guatemala, this includes water/hygiene/sanitation solutions), 4 new homes built, 80 homes repaired, 387 people trained in construction trades, 318 concrete floors in existing homes with mud floors, and 2,858 financial counseling services.

What HFHDR is most excited about is the “100,000 floors to play on” initiative. HFH set a goal to serve 100,000 with concrete floors to replace the mud floors so common throughout the Caribbean. Studies show that children’s health improves by 96% just by putting a concrete floor beneath their feet – a surface that can be cleaned and kept free of all the communicable diseases found in mud with animals (chickens, dogs and pigs mainly) roaming freely into/through homes.

HABITAT HAITI
Habitat Haiti’s story is the hardest to share and yet has some incredible successes to share as well. The turmoil rocking Haiti has directly affected Habitat Haiti’s work even though most of the turmoil is focused in Port Au Prince. HFH Haiti’s work is mainly in the countryside. HFH Haiti staff have been kidnapped for ransom. Habitat Haiti depends on materials shipped into the country and all products go through Port Au Prince resulting in a near 100% shut-off of supplies. And, because of feelings of being unsafe, nearly half of the HFH Haiti staff cannot report to work.

In spite of that, HFH Haiti continues to build homes in the SW quadrant of the country where Hurricane Matthew landed. HFH Haiti has taken a leadership role in construction techniques – less than 2% of HFH built homes suffered minor damage from Hurricane Matthew when 98% of the housing stock around those homes were either destroyed or suffered major damage.

One of HFH Haiti’s new programs is similar to our Women Build program. The staff worked with local leaders to convince them that women can and should be house builders. They launched a program to recruit 40 women to train and much to their surprise and pleasure, over 400 showed up! ​​​​​​​

LOCALLY
I’m pleased to share that in the last few months we have 3 new homeowners in our local service area (Wadena and 2 in Brainerd) which brings our completed homes to 130. We have 7 homes under construction right now! And we have helped build an additional 204 homes in Habitat Haiti, Habitat Dominican Republic and Habitat Guatemala through our Tithe. That’s real impact!

I encourage you to continue supporting us in our work by donating, volunteering or both. Together we can ensure the day will come when everyone, everywhere has at least a simple, decent place to live.

Tithing reminds us that no matter how different we may be in some ways, we are all God’s children who share similar dreams and desires for our families. By sharing our blessings and extending our arms wider, we help more families build the foundation for a better future. – Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat International

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In peace,

Kevin Pelkey, Executive Director​​​​​​​​​​​​​