I wrote a blog about Supply and Multiply, but I thought I would talk about how God used my team in Haiti during the month of June.
Construction projects-
This is my favorite part of ministry. I love to do things with my hands, being active, and seeing the way I am helping people. We didn’t do too many construction projects with Supply and Multiply, but we did do some. Our first day we went out in our village and planted (I’m guessing) about 200 plantain trees. At the end of June, we saw progress in the growth of the trees, but it will probably take about 7 months until they are producing fruit. My team also helped in the process of a home build. First, we knocked down the old house. Then, we helped carry concrete blocks, rocks, and cement down the hill to the house. The actual building process was done by Haitians, who the ministry hired in order to give them a job. Lastly, we did some painting on our campus. We had some metal chairs that were looking pretty rough, so we were able to give them a fresh coat of paint.
Evangelism-
When we did evangelism, we would walk house to house visiting people and speaking with them. A couple times we did evangelism to the rock crushers and passed out food and a snack to them as well. I love doing evangelism because I love to learn about people’s lives. Their lives are so different from mine in America that it’s amazing to learn their story and to hear how God is working in their life. At the end we would pray for them in anyway that they needed us to. Doing evangelism in our own community was super amazing because when we would see those people again, we could see how God was answering our prayers. There was a lot of voodoo going on in our community, so it was a great learning experience for me to speak with them and share gospel. During evangelism we also made a lot of relationships with families in our village and God definitely changed my life through these relationships.
Kids VBS-
The majority of our time was spent doing kids VBS. We had 7 different locations where we did a kids VBS program. For this we had a lot of preparation to do. We would plan music, what Bible story to do, a skit, a craft, and an illustration. My favorite thing to do was to lead the music. It’s amazing how God has given me so much boldness to do that because back home I would be very afraid to do anything in front of a group. Also, the children in Haiti are so amazing and full of love, so I love to spend time with the kids.
Working with the Elderly-
Supply and Multiply have two elderly homes in our village. One of the houses is for women and one for men. When working with these homes we would sing with them, tell a Bible story, and do a craft with them. A couple times we shared a meal with them to visit and have quality time with them. Also, we painted the ladies nails, which they loved. Doing this was super fun and it reminded me of when I worked at Luther Manor!
Involvement in the community-
Because Supply and Multiply is right in a village, we were able to be very involved in our community. We shopped at the same market as everyone else, we went to a Haitian church on Sundays, and would swim with the children in the sea. During our free time, we would go outside the gates and be able to play with all the children. I loved doing that because I formed such good relationships with some children, even though there was a language barrier. My heart definitely broke when I had to leave all the children behind, but I’m so thankful that God allowed me to have a whole month to know them and to love on them. We also attended some young adult Bible studies and it was super fun to make relationships with people our age and to spend time with them.
While speaking with a friend from a different team, my eyes were opened about what makes Supply and Multiply very special. Many people criticize mission trips because they think of them as a “Christian vacation”. I’ve heard that many times missionaries will do their ministry and then go back to a very comfortable living area with air conditioning and television. But, there was nothing luxurious about our living situation. It was very humbling for me to put myself in the same conditions as everyone around me and to learn about how little I truly need to survive. Chris and Christina love Haiti so much that they want to be a part of the culture and the community. They are the type of people that when there’s a natural disaster or problems in the country, they want to be there risking their own life to help. Many ministries will take out teams during hard times in the country, but not Supply and Multiply. I’m so glad that God changed our ministry location in Haiti, so that I was able to learn and grow so much while staying at Supply and Multiply.
