About | Haitian American Friendship Foundation

The History of HAFF

In 1944 Rueben and Lila Clark arrived in Haiti with a burden for the interior of Haiti.

"The Fields are White unto Harvest"

The Burden for Haiti

1945 - 1959: The Seeds are Sown

The roots of HAFF reach back to the mid-1940s, when Rueben and Lila Clark came to Haiti with a burden for the interior of the country, especially the Central Plateau. In 1945–1946, they moved to the small inland village of Pignon, believing they were going to preach Christ where His name was unknown. Instead, they found a remarkable evidence of God’s preparing grace: about 300 people already knew of “The Great One” and had been praying for a teacher for twelve years.

HAFF’s story, therefore, began not with human initiative alone, but with the Lord already preparing hearts before His servants arrived. Between 1946 and Rueben Clark’s death in 1951, the Clarks helped establish some of the first schools in the area and laid the foundation for what would become an estimated eighty indigenous churches. God used their faith, courage, and willingness to go where there was great need to plant seeds that would continue bearing fruit for generations.

After Rueben’s death, Lila remained in Haiti for eight more years. She translated Sunday school materials into Creole so Haitian believers could learn and teach the Scriptures in the language of their hearts. When she later returned to the United States to educate her daughter, she did not leave Haiti behind. For several years she returned during the summers to teach English and Bible classes. Through those years, the Lord sustained her, guided her, and continued to use her life for His glory.

1970 - 1980s: The Seeds take Root

In the late 1970s, Lila Clark returned full time to Haiti with a renewed vision for secondary education on the Plateau. In 1977, she and a group of Christian educators formed the Haitian American Friendship Foundation. With help from a grant from American Schools and Hospitals Abroad, HAFF constructed eleven buildings for classrooms and technical training on a forty-acre campus.

In the early 1980s, the secondary school, l’Institut Pratique de Bohoc, or IPB, opened its doors. The school was designed to educate students in grades 7 through 13, combining academic instruction, practical training, and Christian witness. HAFF gave thanks to God for the privilege of investing in Haiti’s youth, knowing that education was not only a tool for personal advancement but also a means of discipleship, service, and hope.

God also brought faithful servants to strengthen the work. In 1986, Connie Curilla joined HAFF’s full-time missionary staff. Her service was broad and faithful. She helped develop a demonstration dairy goat program, taught animal husbandry, English, remedial science, and learning skills, co-founded and co-taught the Godly Woman class, ran the eyeglass clinic, hosted and translated for visiting teams, and carried major bookkeeping and administrative responsibilities. From October 1987 until the Wilsons arrived in 2006, she handled field bookkeeping, including paying workers and purchasing supplies.

Connie’s long ministry became one of HAFF’s quiet testimonies of God’s sustaining grace. Through teaching, administration, hospitality, and practical service, she helped give stability to a growing ministry. HAFF gives thanks to God for servants like Connie, whose faithful work behind the scenes helped make visible ministry possible.

Continuing Growth

In the early 1990s, Dr. Jerry Pennington began serving in Bohoc under a cooperative agreement with HAFF. For many years he spent extended periods in Haiti, operating a dental clinic, training Haitian staff, and providing services such as cleanings, fillings, extractions, and dentures. Later, after the dental clinic years, he continued helping maintain equipment and machinery in the Bohoc community. Through practical service, HAFF bore witness to the compassion of Christ and gave thanks to God for those who used their professional skills to bless others.

In 1994, Greg and Barb Van Schoyck and their children came to HAFF. Greg and Barb began as teachers at IPB and served in many capacities over the years, eventually becoming co-executive directors in 2007. In 2006, Colin and Carla Wilson and their daughters joined the ministry, serving in agricultural and educational work, with Colin also taking on field bookkeeping. These families, along with Haitian staff and other missionaries, helped carry HAFF’s work through years of opportunity, hardship, and change.

One of the most difficult chapters in HAFF’s history came in 2010 and 2011. The United States board decided to hand IPB over to a community school board without adequately consulting Haitian stakeholders. As the missionaries began to carry out that strategy, it became clear that the decision was deeply traumatic for the Haitian community and staff. The resulting uprising led to the resignation of missionaries and brought the ministry close to collapse. It was a painful season, and HAFF’s history should not hide it. Yet even in that failure, God was merciful. He used the crisis to teach humility, the necessity of listening, and the importance of Haitian ownership in the ministry.

Out of that hard providence came a new structure. In March 2011, HAFF employees proposed that not only IPB but the entire ministry be governed by a Haitian and American Executive Committee. The committee was designed to have eight Haitian members and no more than three American members, making it a Haitian-majority body. This became the Haitian-American Executive Committee, a structure intended to share responsibility, strengthen Haitian leadership, and move HAFF toward a more genuine partnership.

The transition was not simple. Connie Curilla became ill with Hepatitis A and was unable to return to Haiti as she had hoped. Greg and Barb Van Schoyck stayed long enough to assist with the transition before leaving Haiti in 2012. The Wilsons sensed God’s call to recommit to the field indefinitely. The Executive Committee had to earn the trust of Haitian staff and help them look to Haitian leadership rather than always turning to missionaries. The process was imperfect, but God was at work.

As the structure developed, the United States board continued to support the work financially and prayerfully, while the Executive Committee served as the driving force for ministry in Haiti within the agreed mission and vision. Because the work was too large for the remaining missionaries and a volunteer committee alone, the Wilsons and three paid Haitian leaders formed an administrative team known as the Executive Assistants. These Haitian leaders were chosen not merely for formal administrative training, but because they were respected, teachable, confidential, loving, and safe people.

The years after 2012 required perseverance. The Van Schoycks left Haiti, and HAFF was without an executive director for several years. Yet the ministry continued. The Wilsons, the Haitian-American Executive Committee, Haitian staff, Connie Curilla’s administrative service from the United States, and the United States board carried the work forward. This period showed that HAFF’s strength was never ultimately in one person or one structure, but in the Lord who preserves His work through His people.

In March 2018, Jon and Kathy DeRuischer and their five children joined HAFF in Haiti. Kathy homeschooled their children and worked in the eyeglass clinic. Jon coordinated visiting teams, cared for buildings and grounds, and served on the Haitian-American Executive Committee. When the COVID-19 pandemic came, the DeRuischers left Haiti in 2020, but Jon’s connection to HAFF continued, and he joined the board in 2022. In ways not yet fully visible at the time, God was preparing future leadership through earlier seasons of service.

2019 - Present

In August 2019, Dr. David Selvey became HAFF’s part-time executive director. He led week-to-week operations, developed and implemented strategies for growth and stability, and worked directly with the board, American staff, and the Haitian-American Executive Committee. By 2025, he was serving full time. His leadership brought renewed focus and administrative strength to the ministry. During this season, HAFF continued to refine its work, seeking to steward resources wisely and focus its mission clearly.

In 2024, HAFF turned its medical dispensary over to a local family that could continue responding to the great demand for reasonably priced health care. That same year, HAFF divested its agricultural programs in order to focus more directly on educating Haiti’s youth. These decisions reflected an ongoing desire to steward the ministry well, strengthen local responsibility where possible, and concentrate on the work God had placed most clearly before HAFF.

As Dr. Selvey prepared to retire at the end of June 2026, HAFF again entered a season of transition. Yet this transition bore the marks of God’s gracious preparation. Former missionary and HAFF board president Jonathan DeRuischer was selected to become executive director in July 2026. His prior field experience, board leadership, and love for the ministry provided continuity for the future. HAFF gave thanks to God for raising up leadership from within the story of the ministry itself.

The recent history of HAFF has unfolded during years of extraordinary pressure in Haiti. Yet God has preserved the ministry, sustained Haitian staff, provided faithful partners, and continued to open doors for education, discipleship, and practical care. HAFF gives glory to God for every student taught, every meal served, every pastor encouraged, every family helped, and every evidence of Christ’s light shining in a place of deep need.

Spiritual, Educational, & Physical

Over the years, HAFF’s ministry has expanded beyond the borders of the forty-acre campus, striving to serve the spiritual, educational, and physical needs of the Bohoc community and surrounding area. While the school has remained central, HAFF’s work has also included community education, teacher and administrator training, literacy, health and hygiene instruction, evangelism, pastoral training, and practical workshops.

Spiritually, HAFF has sought to keep Christ at the center. The ministry has invested in Bible teaching, discipleship, pastoral training, and Christian education. In a country where many pastors have little formal training, HAFF has helped local church leaders better understand God’s Word and teach biblical truth more effectively. This work has always been more than information transfer; it has been an act of worship and service to Christ, who alone builds His church.

Educationally, HAFF has invested deeply in Haiti’s youth. Through IPB and related programs, students have received instruction intended to prepare them for further study, meaningful work, and faithful service. HAFF has understood education as a gift from God and a tool for long-term transformation. Every classroom, lesson, teacher, and student has represented an opportunity to point young people toward truth, wisdom, and hope.

Physically, HAFF has sought to meet practical needs in the name of Jesus. Dental care, eyeglass work, health instruction, mercy ministries, technical training, and other forms of service have all reflected the compassion of Christ. HAFF has understood that people are whole persons, and that love for neighbor includes concern for daily needs as well as eternal ones.

Conclusion

The history of HAFF is not a story of uninterrupted success or flawless decisions. It includes grief, illness, leadership changes, cultural misunderstandings, financial pressures, and seasons when the future seemed uncertain. But through every chapter, God has shown Himself faithful. He prepared Haitian hearts before the Clarks arrived. He sustained Lila Clark after Rueben’s death. He provided teachers, missionaries, dentists, administrators, board members, Haitian leaders, pastors, and supporters. He preserved the ministry through a painful governance crisis and used that crisis to deepen Haitian leadership and partnership.

For all of this, HAFF gives thanks to God and gives glory to Him. Whatever good has been accomplished has come by His grace. The story of HAFF is ultimately a testimony that the Lord is able to use fragile vessels, difficult circumstances, and faithful servants for His purposes. As HAFF looks to the future, it does so with humility, gratitude, and confidence—not confidence in human plans alone, but confidence in the God who has carried the ministry from the beginning and who remains worthy of all praise.

1 John 3:18

Our Mission Explained

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

HAFF fulfills its mission by exalting Christ, educating and feeding Haiti’s students, and equipping Haiti’s pastors.

At l’Institut Pratique de Bohoc, HAFF provides Christ-centered secondary education, biblical teaching, and daily meals so students can learn, grow, and prepare for further study, work, and service. Through discipleship ministries, HAFF helps students, young leaders, women, and community members understand God’s Word and live faithfully in their homes, churches, and communities.

HAFF also equips rural Haitian pastors who have limited access to formal biblical training, helping them teach Scripture and shepherd God’s people. HAFF continues to meet physical needs through its eyeglass clinic, health and hygiene training in area primary schools, and practical mercy ministries.

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1 Peter 4:10

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