Camp Mahanahaim
I want to tell everyone a little bit about Camp Mahanhaim(God's camp). This is a type of ministry that I have never seen and I hope that it gives you all a new perspective about ministry as it did me. Rod and Deb are the missionaries we are staying with. They have been here 9 years and have 4 children who are older who are back in Canada where they come from and one daughter Katie who is 9 years old who lives here in Haiti as well.
They took over this piece of land about 3 years ago and since then have been working to transform it into a Camp that will host 200 haitian children each week. It will be a chance for the children to come and learn sports and hear about God and just have fun being a child. So far Rod and Deb have been so blessed, everything that has went into this camp has been donated. So far they have a girl's dorm with bunk beds and a kitchen( they have been training ladies to cook), they have a track, volleyball court, a water slide, canoes, kayaks, surfboards, and rock wall. They made a talapia pond to help feed and have many coconut trees as well. In the works is a obstacle course and a boys dorm. They are building a school outside the Camp gates because right now the school is inside the gates on the camp property and they hope to have that building be to boys dorm. This camp will be such a blessing, many children do not have the opportunity to go to school and sports is something they have never been exposed to but is something they have the potential to be really good at. So far they have a girls volleyball team of ages 9-14. They come and practice almost everyday and are really good. Rod hopes to take a team to the Olympics in 2020. It will be the first Haitian team to go to the Olympics. He has their birth certificates and is working on passports for the girls and has bought a boat all so that they can take the girls over to Jamaica to play against real teams. They do bible studies with the girls and have taught them about faithfulness,respect,honor, and love. In haitian culture you do not encourage your neighbor, instead you get angry if they have something you don't but these girls learn to cheer each other on . These girls all come from rough backgrounds and some have been made into house slaves which is better than the situations they were previously in. Rod and Deb have shown them that their is hope, in Christ.
Along with this camp Rod and deb serve in many other ways. They provide for the needs of 4 different slums,host medical teams and help with medical needs themselves.They have their hand in so many areas and services in haiti from helping to give Haitians jobs to building projects for families to live, building schools, hospitals, orphanages and many many other projects. A ministry that I found to be an an absolute blessing and something I have never thought about is wedding ministry. What I have found to be true about Rod and Deb is that they see a need and the go for it. They saw many couples who wanted to get married so bad but couldn't afford it, and so they would live together without having the formal commitment of a marriage. If they were not married they could not participate in church services either because they were living together without being married. So a team will come with the finances for about 25 couples to get married. They travel with wedding dresses, suits, shoes, veils, rings, and a huge feast. What a unique way to serve a need.
They also saw where children were not being allowed into churches because they didnt have nice clothes to wear or really any clothes. So they started a "come as you are" sunday school. About 1200 children come as they are, naked, dirty, infected, and hear God's word preached. Rod and Deb have been discipling young people for years so that they can go and disciple a group and therfore a ripple effect will occur. The sunday school is taught by a lady Milan who was part of a group they discipled along with the help of the young people she is now discipling. The sunday school is such a blessing to a need they have in the slums. The children recieve Feed My Starving Children packets each church service and when donations are sent they give out pillow slip dresses to the girls and shorts to the boys.
That is what Rod and Deb do, they see a need, pray about it and go for it. I have never seen a ministry quite like this one. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of ministry. The type of ministry that is more relational and about showing God's love more so than telling about it. And here is the really cool thing about their ministry, everything has been donated. As I walked into this gorgeous guest house the first night we arrived, my immediate thought was, i can't be here, it's too nice, i signed up to tent it in the slums. My thoughts were that something were wrong if this was missionary living. Little did I know that absolutely everything was a blessing from God and all to serve, all of it. Everything in that camp was donated and most of it came before they even knew they had a need. Everything they have they have to help them minister down to the table tennis they have in their house to serve the youth teams that come. God has blessed Rod and Deb and their ministry because of their hearts and their willingness to say yes even when everything in them wants to say no. So let's keep blessing these wonderful people, make some pillow slip dresses, some shorts, help send food, send your old wedding dress tat can either sit in your closet collecting dust or give many others an opportunity to have that special day. You can help by sending teams with the finances for a project or a wedding or some hands to help build. Most of all pray, pray for these ministries and for the Holy Spirit to enter in this camp ground like a rushing wind, pray for strength and safety, pray for God's will to be done and that His name will be lifted high and that this ground will forever be Gods camp.
With eyes wide and in awe of God's goodness,
Alyssa
