Today I want to inspire you.
Within the first hour of our arrival at Mission of Hope in Titanyen, Haiti, I knew: this month would be World Race luxury.
Dorm-style beds, complete with sheets, pillows and mosquito nets. Western toilets. Showers, sinks and soap. Napkins. A Walmart-ish where previous teams have left their excess sunscreen, bug spray and shampoo for others to use. Three hot meals provided for us daily. A covered rooftop with a gorgeous view of both the mountains and the sea, perfect for watching sunrises, sunsets and lightning storms.
These are all luxuries I don’t expect to find throughout the eleven months of the Race. But the greatest blessing of Mission of Hope isn’t the amenities, but the ministry.
Allow me to introduce you to a fantastic organization.
MOH’s vision is, as an organization following Jesus Christ, to bring life transformation to every man, woman and child in Haiti. They desire to serve the nation of Haiti and see lives changed.
They’re achieving this through three avenues, the pillars that guide everything they do: church advancement, indigenous mobilization and education advancement. Each of these pillars focuses on empowering Haiti in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the fourteen years since the organization was founded, they’ve established numerous programs both on and off their extensive campus. A vibrant community attends the MOH church. An on-site clinic addresses patients’ physical and spiritual health needs for just $2 per visit. The connected prosthetics lab creates custom prosthetics for people who lost limbs in the earthquake in 2010. An orphanage houses more than sixty children who roam and play throughout the complex. Amputees and people with disabilities are taught practical sewing skills and given an avenue to earn a living through 3 Cords, which sells the bags and hair accessories they create. And then there’s the school: 3,000 children attend the MOH school, where they receive a hot meal and a quality education every day. Mwen Kapab, Creole for “I Can,” is the Christ-centered curriculum developed by MOH to teach children that their horizons are far broader than they appear. MOH believes that a key way to empower Haiti and move towards raising the country out of poverty is through education, creating leaders able to return to serve and develop their communities.
For all this, my favorite pillar is indigenous mobilization. It’s all too easy to slip into a dangerous mentality of “rich white Americans going to save the world.” But MOH heavily emphasizes Haitian leadership: their goal is to help Haiti help herself out of poverty. Local Haitians are instrumental in MOH’s strategy. In fact, though the organization was founded by an American and Canadian husband-and-wife pair, only a handful of the full-time staff at MOH are American; the ministry’s projects, both the ones above and others, are primarily Haitian-run.
This has been most clearly demonstrated to us World Racers during village time. Village Champions head up MOH’s investment, both spiritual and physical, in each village. They know each and every person who lives in their village, and they direct MOH’s evangelistic outreach in order to be most effective. MOH views short-term teams as gifts from God to enable them to spread the gospel further and faster, and so a primary task for week- or month-long teams is to join Village Champions in visiting villagers to share the gospel and pray with them. We wander through the streets to meet specific people the Village Champions want to greet. But though we are there for only a morning, a day or a week, the Village Champions, permanent fixtures in these communities, have long-term strategies for investment and follow-up.
I could ramble on and on about the incredible work God is doing through this organization and the exemplary way in which it’s being conducted. There’s still more to say about Blue to Block, the temporary-to-permanent housing program that is integrating a deaf community with an able one in a way previously unheard of in Haiti. Or I could tell you about the pastor training programs currently being pioneered, drawing pastors from fifty miles away to grow in their understanding of the purpose of the local church.
But I’d rather let you see for yourself the heart behind it all. Check out the video below to see how it all began. And if you’re feeling as inspired as I am, consider getting involved. Visit the new online store for 3 Cords and order some of the beautiful products being made right here at MOH. Donate to the programs that draw your interest and invest in this remarkable mission. If you’re really excited by it all, come visit Haiti yourself and experience MOH’s work in person.
And get ready, because tomorrow I’ll be sharing a way you can serve this organization’s greatest need.
Mission of Hope has a beautiful and, I’m convinced, highly effective vision and strategy for transforming Haiti with Christ’s love. Furthermore, they know how to do short-term missions well, producing a valuable experience for missionaries while also benefiting the organization. I could not have asked for a better first month on the World Race: my time here has given me a great vision of what missions done well can look like.
I hope you’re as excited about this organization as I am. I would love to be able to leave MOH with a financial blessing to enable them to continue the wonderful ministry they’re doing. Will you consider partnering with me in this to support God’s work of transformation in Haiti?
