For the month of February we were at Mission of Hope close to Titanyen, Haiti. We were living on a large fenced in compound where lots of short term missionaries come and go. We saw new people on a weekly basis but also had the blessing of building relationships with some interns and staff here. The organization is set up well and visit local villages on a daily basis. There is an orphanage on site there, so we also had the opportunity to spend time with the kids that live there. Mission of Hope believes in empowering the local Haitian so the staff is around 400 Haitian people and 40 North Americans. There is never anything handed out from North American hands, but always coming from the local church or a local village member.
A regular day there looks a litte like this (well for me at least):
5 am – wake up and devotion time
6 am – workout doing bodyweight stuff or anywhere from 3-9 times around a 1 mile loop
7 am – breakfast is served (prepared by Haitian staff)
8 am – start “daily work” which has included going to different local villages (Simonette, Leveque, Beresey, and Source Matelas were main ones we visited). We spend time visiting door to door helping to build relationships for Mission of Hope by just chatting, helping with chores, or teaching about personal hygiene like proper teeth brushing and hand washing. We have done some construction, garbage clean up, and house painting as well.
12 pm – head back for lunch or eat packed lunch in village (lots of PB&J sandwhiches were eaten last month)
1 pm – head back to the villages we were at and continue what we were doing in the morning OR we get the afternoon to round up the local kids in the villages and just spend some time with them – this means just holding them, answering silly questions, playing games, soccer, having your hair done, or even just staring at each other and giggling
4 pm – head back to Mission of Hope
5 pm – Dinner (prepared by Haitian staff)
6 pm – We usually had our team time at this time – we get together and share what we are processing, pray for each other, love on one another, or just do something fun
7 pm – Squad time, it was all squad month so we spend time worshipping with one another and doing a devotion, we also had the a talent show that each team had to submit a “talent” for
830/930 pm – this sleepy bear hits the hay
10 pm – official lights out time
God is doing great things through Mission of Hope and it is evident in the leaders that are being raised up within the staff, internships, and Haitian people that we got to connect with
We have just landed in Costa Rica on March 1. My team is on our own for the first time and are excited to grow together in even deeper relationship. We are staying in Los Guidos, which is a slum right outside San Jose (the capital). We are staying in a gymnasium that is used as a feeding centre which is run by our contact, Christian Light Foundation Costa Rica. Please be praying for our health and safety as it is a dangerous area. Communication this month will be limited as the wifi that we have available is about a 30 minute bus ride away. For more information on our contact and what they are doing here check out their facebook or website by searching their name.
