Here it is folks, way over a month later – my last blog for the world race!! This is pretty much a lil self promotion into what is next for me!!! If you’re interested in my life and finding out more…keep reading! If you are interested in keeping up to date with what I’m doing feel free to subscribe to my new blog which will be updated weekly @ https://wordpress.com/post/kelseysjourneys.wordpress.com/17
Thank you all for your continuous support and I pray you continue to pray with me and partner with me!
The beautiful land of Haiti, located on the other side of the Dominican Republic, is a place that captivated my heart and relentlessly pulls me toward it. I have been offered the greatest of opportunities to go back to it as a full time missionary!
Let me begin by sharing how I even found this lovely place called Supply and Multiply. In October of 2017, I was in my second month of the world race when we moved to Haiti in the little city of Montrouis (pronounced: Mowee). It was my team of 6 girls, another team of 7 girls, and one more team of 5 girls, we also had 2 gal squad leaders with us. We moved into this tiny lil pink house, all 20 of us and started claiming our little space where we would make our home for the next month. We set up hammocks in the trees outside, sat at our little dining table on picnic benches, and truly took in life to the fullest in this beautiful little space. It felt like home to me. It was hard month as most of us got really sick (we still don’t talk about it…yuck), but even still, I loved this pink house we made our home. The name of our house was Kay Pwason (which in creole means Fish House) — tell me thats not dang cute?? Anyways, we got to do some really cool ministry things like hiking up mountains just about everyday to talk to people in the community, we held bible studies in the school yard down the road from us, we visited the elderly home that Supply and Multiply started and maintained, we went to a sweet orphanage that our ministry worked closely with, and we swam at the beach with tons of kiddos from the community. To say my lil heart was fully thriving doesn’t even scratch the surface of the joy I experienced here.
Fast forward to April 2018, its one of the last full months of our race and pretty much everyone’s got a clue what they’ll be jumping into next…except me. College doesn’t seem right, I felt like I fell in love with each country making my decision to go back to a specific place almost impossible, I didn’t even have a job to hold me over when I got home. I was sitting in a place of “I really don’t know”. Now, if you’ve been in the American culture for most of your life you might be quick to realize, this culture doesn’t really allot for a lot of “I don’t know” time and space.
Fast forward x2 to July 2018, my most frequently asked question since I got home from the race was/and still is “so what’s next?” and if I’m being quite honest with you guys, it was a tad overwhelming. I was still in this place of ‘I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE, I CAN’T EVEN ANSWER FOR MYSELF”, sorry was that aggressive? It was truly how I was feeling. College was still no, I couldn’t decide if there was a specific country I was supposed to go to, I have a great job working with some great kiddos, but there was nothing permanent or nothing leading to my next step that seemed clear. Until I got a message from Chris Surber, one of the founders of Supply and Multiply, alongside his wife, Christina! I had never gotten the chance to meet these people other than through Facebook. I opened my Facebook messages to one that read ” I have a ticket to Haiti from this Wednesday to next Wednesday, can you let me know if you can go in the next 30 minutes?”. I was asked less than 48 hours before that plane was taking off, obviously my answer was “HECK YES, when and where do I need to meet you to be there?” I called my sweet family who employs me, told her about the opportunity and we both rushed to find someone to fill in. Shout out to my mom for doing my job for a week so I could spend my time in Haiti with kids who stole my heart in October.
The small team consisting of 2 last minute people, one a man in his 70’s (a true example and reminder that ministry has no age limit), the other being me taking that easy offer despite all the fear others were carrying for this nation, a sweet sweet couple who were scheduled to go on the trip and were brave enough to push it out even when everyone else backed out, and Chris. We would be meeting up with Chris’ wife, their kids, and two other families who had spent the last month there, 3 interns who were all my age, and Landon, one of the ministry’s long term missionaries who I had previously met in October. To say I was excited is a complete understatement. I was over the moon to be back somewhere that meant so much to me. The Lord gave me a word for my time there (which would only be 1 week), that word was wonder; Abba asked me to sit in awe of His unexpected, undeserved beauty in the country of Haiti.
I feel like I should tell ya a lil personal fact about myself here and why this word was so clearly God designed. During my time in this country in October, Abba showed me my true value and beauty within myself. How wonderful and creative is He that he knew 9 months later I’d be on a plane to this place and He would ask me to sit in awe of His beauty He allows my eyes to see. Whatta guy. sheesh.
As I spent my mornings listening to the noises I hadn’t even realized I missed so deeply, it hit me. God didn’t call me to sit in “I don’t know” forever. He designed it for the perfect amount of time till this opportunity arose and I took a leap into the unknown and found where God called me to make His name known. It was a beautiful moment. Don’t tell anyone but I shed a lil tear for it too.
Supply and Multiply is a ministry that was founded by Chris and Christina Surber and their lovely family. It works to supply care for the community around them. It is a gospel centered organization. One of the main outreaches this ministry does is at their Matthew 25 houses. These are houses for the elderly in the community. It is a serious need in Haiti to have these assisted living homes for these people. I am so thankful to be partnering with a ministry who is taking proactive actions to jumpstart this community. They currently have 2 homes, one is specifically for men and the other is for ladies with one man on the property who has his own lil house. This ministry also has a school sponsorship program where the school is given the funds it needs to allow a child to receive an education which is darn cool if ya ask me! Another thing this ministry does that gets me jumpin is their JAM clubs, its a gospel centered after school club (or summer club since its yearlong) that teaches children all about the Father through crafts, songs, and bible stories! Lastly, the ministry reaches out to the community in just about any way it possibly can. New moms are able to bring their babies for us to look at for check ups, kids are able to come find us when they need new shoes, parents are able to provide full meals for their families because we are blessed and able to bring them food, amongst so many other things. Whatta ministry Supply and Multiply is and I’m so excited to partner with them.
So, here I am, walking in humility, walking in the Father’s love, walking into my next chapter. But I can’t do it without you. I’m going to be fundraising again…hehe surprise! My first trip there will be 89 days, which is basically 3 months! I’ll be headed out September 19th (just enough time to stay for my birthday since I haven’t been home for one of my birthday’s in 2 years) back to Haiti where I’ll stay until December, with hopes to return to Haiti after the holiday season! I’ll be doing ministry alongside my newest gal pal Sydney who will also be joining the long term mission team the same time I do, and I’ll be back with Landon who has been in Haiti for more than a year now! I’m in need of some serious prayer warriors (I mean, who doesn’t need those?). The above parapragh goes into some details about the ministry I’m partnering with that needs your prayerful support. Lastly, I’m asking for monthly donors to come alongside me to help keep me grounded in Haiti. The amount that I’ll be asking for monthly is $400, that may seem like a lot but I believed in a God who provided me with $15,000 for 9 months so I know He can provide $1,200 for the first 3 months! I’ll also be fundraising for my plane ticket to and from Haiti! Which thankfully isn’t outrageous AT ALL. It’s $350 or less depending on when I purchase my ticket! Thank goodness Haiti isn’t too far away, am I right…or am I right? 😉 If you’re interested in partnering with me monetarily; donations can be made to my PayPal account at PayPal.Me/KelseyPope or in check form or cash. Honestly, whatever way if you’re interested in giving, I will make it work. I’m so thankful for all the support and love I receive from family and friends around me and I’m excited to invite y’all into this next journey!
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to send me an email or Facebook message me or any form of communication works for me! my email is [email protected]
All my love, Kelsey Pope
P.S. stay tuned for my next newsletter, they will come out once a week. Next week I’ll be posting some beautiful pictures of the lovely faces of Montrouis Haiti. I’ll also be explaining more in detail what I specifically will be doing during my time in Haiti.
