First of all, I would like to thank you for visiting this site. The world has gone into “ignore mode” regarding Haiti. Gangs are running the country and very few in the world seem to care.
According to a United Nations report released in early 2026, more than 8,100 people were killed in violence-related incidents – primarily murders linked to gang activity – in Haiti between January and November 2025. This figure is considered an undercount due to limited access to gang-controlled areas and challenges in data collection.
The Bible accurately forecasts the shape the world is in now, but that dose NOT mean there is nothing we can do about protecting the ones we love. I love Pastor Guerry and all those children and staff under him in Haiti.
Primarily, I ask for your prayers for the hundreds of children and families Zamar holds under it’s wings with schools, orphanages and churches.
And I ask you to donate what you can with a monthly subscription donation. It is easy, just click the “DONATE” button above.
Here is why I love them:
Zamar Ministries in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti was started in 2004 Pastor Guerry Lefranc, a native Hattian, son of a Hattian Pastor. He used to lead worship in his father’s church. Guerry was a successful singer and in 2000 he sold his first album. He started a bible study ministry in his home that has now become an orphanage, school and church.
In 2010 there was a devastating earthquake and much of the facility was destroyed.
Pastor Guerry’s wife Gerta became very ill and he scraped together enough money to fly his family of 6 to the US and sought help. My wife Mary and I were contacted by church members and asked if we could house them for 2 weeks. We are “empty nesters” with 4 children grown and gone, so we had room and felt compelled to help.
Pastor Guerry and his family lived with Mary and I for 18 months. During that time, we became family. Mary is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and nursed Gerta back to health; the 4 kids enrolled in school here with Mary and I listed as their guardians. After a few months, Pastor Guerry started spending most of his time in Haiti rebuilding the school and helping others recover from the devastation caused by the earthquake. He could do this because we were caring for his family and Zamar Ministries, Inc. was incorporated in the US by members of United Methodist Church to gather donations of food, clothing and supplies and sending them by container to Haiti. Zamar Ministries, Inc. also provided other assistance, such as coordinating building missions and continued relief efforts.
Over the next years, we continued our relationship and support for Pastor Guerry, his family and ministry in Haiti. He constantly urged me to come visit Haiti. However, I was always too busy and felt no urge to go to Haiti. I knew “things were coming together,” albeit slowly, and there was not much I could do to help in Haiti.
In December 2014, I was in a motorcycle wreck in Cozumel and severely fractured my right leg, which immobilized me for over a year. Gerta came by almost every day to care for me.
In 2016 hurricane Matthew destroyed most of southern Haiti, again causing severe damage to Pastor Guerry’s facilities. It somehow also caused the well to go dry. There is no utility infrastructure in Croix-des-Bouquets, just south of the capital Port-au-Prince. No running water, no sewer system and only occasional electricity.
In early 2017, I visited Guerry in Haiti to assess what should be done. I was appalled and amazed. I was appalled at the conditions I found. Over 100 children in the school use a hole over a leaky old cistern for a toilet. Water had to be delivered by truck and paid for in cash. But I was amazed that even with the appalling conditions and mostly empty bellies these kids could still play and be happy because they were loved and cared for.
In 2018 we completed the well, and now the school has also become a community center where people can get clean, free water. But there is so much more to be done. The immediate, desperate need is for reliable monthly donors (of any amount) so we know how many meals we can provide and how many children we can care for in the school and orphanage.
In 2019 I had my last trip to Haiti. Riots were country-wide and Pastor Guerry considered my life in danger and helped me flee. You can read about it here: Escape From Haiti. (PS: Now, 2026, I have 10 grandchildren.)
In 2020 I became President of Zamar Ministries, Inc. and have continued to donate as much as I can. I provide management of the corporation, coordination with team members and this web site. The truth is that things are tough. In November 2025, the Department of Homeland Security terminated Haiti’s TPS designation effective at 11:59 p.m. on February 3, 2026, citing improved conditions despite ongoing violence and instability reported by human rights groups. Pastor Guerry must leave the US by then, and he wants to comply and go back to Haiti permanently to protect his flock. But he needs our help. Thank you for reading this.
Jerry Riggin
President