Hey!
Currently writing to you from Haiti!! I have officially been on the World Race gap year for two months now, with seven months still to go. We have spent time doing ministry in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Next we go to Botswana for two months, South Africa for two months, and then the Philippines for three months.
In the Dominican ministry mostly consisted of helping grow the organization where we were staying by doing manual labor on their property and serving them in any way we could. We also got to help organize several church events, love on lots of kiddos, help with hurricane relief, and pray over the community we were staying in.
Now in Haiti, we are partnering with a ministry called Mission of Hope. Here we mostly serve the community in the form of SVT’s (strategic village time), where we visit houses, talk with people about God, hear their stories, ask about their needs, and pray with them. These are really cool to me because not only do we get to share about Jesus and encourage people in their faith, but we also get to find out what the major needs are in each village and hopefully provide some assistance. Whether that need may be clean water, education, housing, medical care, or anything else. In addition, at the end of each house visit we are able to supply that family with water purification tablets because most of the people here struggle getting access to clean water.
The way Mission of Hope does this is all through the local churches. They are all about life transformation for the people of Haiti and they do it by empowering the local communities through the church. They also send out over 90,000 meals a day to Haitian families, have an amazing orphanage on their property that provides Christ centered education, and they run a medical care facility where people can come and pay less than a dollar to get any treatment they may need. I’m learning so much from just being a small part of what this ministry does and it’s really encouraging to see that with faith we can make an impact in greater ways than we ever thought possible. Lives are being changed, and differences are being made here in Haiti. I already have so many stories that I can’t wait to share with you when I get back!! If you’re interested, please look this organization up and learn more about what is going on here because it is truly amazing and inspiring.
Ministry looked very different in both of these countries, but they were definitely impactful on not only the communities we served, but on me as well. I can’t even begin to describe in words the changes that God is making in my life and in my heart as He walks me through this journey, and into a deeper relationship with Him. I feel so blessed to be here, and that He has chosen to use me to share His love with the nations.
So far God has worked His miracles and has provided most of the money to fund this trip. I believe full heartedly that this is where He wants me for this period of my life, but I am still not quite fully funded. In order to continue on the race I still need to raise about $2676 by December 5th. I am reaching out to ask you to partner with me. If just 27 people will join with me and donate $100, or if even 100 people just donate $27, then I will be over fully funded. With your help, I believe He will provide. Please pray about partnering with me in this and donating however much you can to my trip. If you feel led, the easiest way to donate is through my blog.
Also whether or not you are able to help financially, prayers are always always needed and appreciated. While the work we are doing here is amazing and I am so humbled to even be on this journey, this life is challenging. Please pray for my team, that we will be able to bring the gospel to as many people as possible. That we will love people well, and bring hope to places of hopeless, and Jesus’ light into the darkness. Prayers of safety, strength, wisdom, and unity would be wonderful as well.
Thank you so so much, not only for reading this letter, but for loving me and supporting me this far! It really means the world to me.
Daven Rae
