A Marketplace of Hope: An Update from Haiti
For years, the Gros Marché Marac has been changing lives in Haiti's Artibonite region. This month, missionary John Draxton returned to the marketplace and could hardly believe what he found.
"This place is inspiring and helping so many people," John shared on site. "So many people, customers, come to the butcher shop, to the abattoir. They come to get water. They come to sell their animals. Hundreds of farmers come to sell their animals."
Built through a partnership between Love A Child and Free Chapel/JFMM, the marketplace now includes the Farmer John's Abattoir, a processing plant employing more than 50 Haitians and supplying meat across the country. Hundreds of farmers bring their livestock here each week. Families come for clean water. And right now, the marketplace is helping anchor a feeding program reaching thousands of people throughout the Artibonite area.
John first came to Haiti years ago as a missionary working in Leogane, discipling farmers who had no way to process what they raised.
"There was no processing plant. I could not find a processing plant," he recalled. "And Bobby and you guys had built this. And I ended up over here. And look what is growing into today."
For John, what's happening at Gros Marché Marac points to something bigger than one marketplace.
"Sustainability is what is going to change the country," he said. "Sustainability and creating jobs. Economic development is the future of missions. I really believe that with all my heart."
Hundreds of farmers earning a living. Thousands of families fed. Fifty-plus jobs created. One marketplace, built on the belief that lasting change comes through dignity and opportunity, not just aid.
This work continues because people like you make it possible.
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