It’s been a week and a half since we arrived in Haiti and I haven’t written a blog yet…my apologizes! I’ll give you a little update on where we are and what we’re doing but there’ll be more blogs to come that will bring you deeper into what God is doing here in Haiti.
We arrived safely in Haiti on September 9 and got settled in to our ministry at Mission of Hope (MOH). Exciting thing is that I was here 2 Christmas breaks ago with a team from my school, Trinity Christian. Last time I was here I didn’t know much about Haiti and this ministry but now that I’m back I’m seeing the amazing things MOH is doing. For example, last time I was here my team spent all week in Leveque. This village was filled with tent homes that were given by Samaritan’s Purse after the earthquake. The tents were only supposed to be used for 6 months but 4 years later people were still living in them. So MOH started the “Blue to Block” program where they hired Haitians to build block homes for these village people. Last year MOH’s goal was 500 homes; now it’s moved up to 650! Also there was a church being built last year but now that church is fully built and being used and even a school has been developed!
Our days look similar but still different. We typically do village time at different villages that MOH is partnered with. In those mornings we do door-to-door evangelism with our team and an interpreter. Then in the afternoons we go back to the village after lunch and play with the kids. During this time we love on the children by playing with them and holding them. Towards the end of our afternoon we sing songs with them. One time we did this we ended up yelling at each other “I love Jesus, yes I do. I love Jesus, how about you.” We did that chant all the time at camp so I felt I was back with my camp kids:)
Other days we might do construction work. We did this the first two days and boy was it a great way to get acclimated to the heat! I’m not sure how hot it’s been here and I don’t want to know…it’s better not knowing! We were doing construction work at Bercy. Last year my team and I went to this village but there wasn’t much there except a school and some buildings that weren’t being used. NOW there is a school filled with kids, those empty buildings are being used to hold teams when there is not enough room at the main campus…AND a big shelter house was built to hold meetings to train pastors! The first day here we were working quickly to get the place ready for the first meeting. Haitian pastors were showing up for a 6 week introductory course. The 2-year classes will start this January. MOH believes this will be a launching pad for churches in Haiti and for the country to change drastically.
There are definitely difficult moments here. There’s only so much we can do. I’m learning that I can’t do everything even when my mind is coming up with all these ideas for these children that run up and put their hand into mine or when I see children living on the streets. There’s only so much we can do, but way more God can do!
Grace and Peace,
Hannah
