Haiti

One of our youth is going on a mission trip to Haiti this summer. 

Our Yearly Meeting describes the trip:

This year our team will be working with an organization called Haiti Christian Development Fund (HCDF). This group is working on various projects including the building and development of a boarding school for secondary students.

Our team will be working alongside the Haitian people developing relationships and community as they work to complete this important project. Education is typically only available in the city and the urban conditions are dismal (even before the earthquake). HCDF is working to promote better education opportunities in rural Haiti.

The team will also be connecting with youth from local churches to learn from one another. It is our hope to host conversations and opportunities for the youth of Haiti to teach our youth what God is doing in Haiti and for the team to talk about what God is doing in their country and communities
Haiti is a small, tropical, mountainous country located in the Caribbean Sea where it shares an island with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is known for its unique history and culture. As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, most Haitians are of African Decent, but also have strong French roots. Due to previous political corruption and ongoing violence, Haiti is found to be the poorest country in the Americas while still struggling to recover from last year’s 7.0 earthquake that tore Haiti to ruins.

As I have been praying for our youth, I keep going to Compassion International's site and seeing all of these faces.  I wonder if our team will meet Elizabeth who is only 4 years old and yet has been waiting 183 days to be sponsored.

Dieunie is also 4 years old and has been waiting 213 days for a sponsor!  

Will they meet any of these children needing a sponsor?

My heart rejoices in our youth taking this journey; knowing they will NEVER be the same again.  Knowing that after looking into these faces they will never look at their own quite the same.  Knowing that they will apply insect repellent at home, remembering that this is a life saving thing in Haiti.  They will experience mosquito nets and perhaps come next Christmas when it is time to buy their family and friends gifts they will give a gift in their honor.  A mosquito net...  knowing it can possibly save someones life.  They will never be the same again... praise Jesus. 

They will come home and marvel that they can drink water and eat food without the utmost care... remembering that so many diseases (like typhoid) can be transmitted this way.  Perhaps a gift will be given in a loved one's honor to vaccinate another. 

I will continue to pray for our team.  Their heart will constrict with pain over what they see and experience and I pray that out of that pain Jesus will just pour through.  Compassion will be an ocean and the love of Jesus will spread like the sands of the sea.