Unforgettable People - Dr. Rik Celie and Pastor Volner Alexandre

Dr. Rik Celie
A Belgian born doctor who founded Doctors on Mission.org, has served as a missionary doctor in Bolivia, establishing three indigenous clinics in various regions of that country. He actively served in Bolivia until 2009 when the local drug cartel decided to hold one of his clinics for ransom and put a bounty on his head. He and his wife, also a doctor, reside in South Florida between mission assignments.

Dr. Rik was to accompany Pastor Frank to Bishop Chervil’s church and assist with the clinic. Fran and I were invited to assist with the clinic, putting some of our First Responder training to work. While working at the clinic for several hours, Dr. Rik observed that they had plenty of medical personnel (3 doctors and 120 nurses belong to the church): the problem was lack of supplies. He set off to get some, finding that the existing system was unsustainable. He began filing paper work to get the church set-up with the World Health Organization (WHO) so that the medical supply chain could be routinely accessed by local medical personnel.

During Dr. Rik’s forays to WHO, we had the opportunity to introduce him to Pastor Volner Alexandre who has need for clinical services in the remote regions he serves, and Martin Schroeder and Hunter Parker of Samaritan Air, (www.samaritanairhaiti.blogspot.com) a missionary helicopter outreach serving medical emergencies in remote areas of Haiti. It is based in Jupiter, FL. His vision expanded, Dr. Rik created a new Doctors on Mission for Haiti. He’s already received the promise of a large tract of land by the mayor of Cressier, a town near Leogane on which to build a hospital. Regional clinics will be supported from the main hospital and regular missions to remote areas will be organized by the clinics. The organization will be operated and run by Haitians.

Through the assistance of Bishop Chervil and doctors and lawyers from the church, the paperwork was completed and filed within a week.

Pastor Volner Alexandre
Volner, 39 has served the remote area of Pouille for 12 years. Trust me, if one wasn’t called to Pouille, you wouldn’t be there for a week, let alone 12 years. He also has a ministry in Savanette, even more hours distance from PAP. Volner is one of the nicest men I have ever met with a true Godly Spirit.
Just prior to the earthquake, Volner’s 21 year old niece was working in the kitchen. Acting on a feeling that she needed to look for his five year son, she went upstairs, took him out the back door, and was walking down the outside stairs when everything broke loose and the second floor collapsed. Volner told us later that God had saved his child and now he, Volner, had to stay in Haiti and save God’s children. His wife and three children are now relocated to Carthage, IL where a church group that partially supports his mission, Christ’s Freedom for Haiti, (www.christfreedomforhaiti.org), resides. He also receives some support from a church group in KY. As is common with all nonprofit funding in the US, the economy has forced support cutbacks and local activities are being reduced or curtailed.

Pouille is a two hour car ride from PAP. Once there you cross a ¼ mile wide, shallow river by a wooden boat that looks to be dated from biblical times. It is poled across by a local. Once ashore on the other side, it is a brisk 45 minute hike to the church compound. From a barren piece of property when he arrived, several structures now stand, the newest, a brand new church building for 300 is almost completed. Originally it was to have been dedicated in February, but things are running behind schedule and it looks now as if Easter will mark the first service.

The amazing thing is that everything that goes to the Pouille compound must be carried by hand : food, bags of cement for making block, stucco, etc. An orphanage to house 50 children will be started within the next several months thanks to a generous $35,000 donation from a KY woman.

He runs a Christian school for over 300 local children which we observed. They wander in from all directions, all in their neat school uniforms; many with backpacks. The boys play soccer behind the church with a flat soccer ball (since replaced with three new ones).