I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that I have not kept y’all posted about my life on the World Race as well as I would have liked. This has been such a whirlwind and an adventure. Nonetheless, I’ve posted a couple blogs recently, and I’m going to strive to continue being more consistent with posting. So, with that being said, here are some of my experiences in Haiti.
Where to begin?
The bus ride from the Dominican Republic to Haiti was long. Adding a two hour wait at the border, I believe the total travel time was around 12 hours or so. We arrived at Mission of Hope (our contact in Haiti) pretty late. We were all tired, so they whipped us up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and let us get settled so that we could get some much needed sleep. While I was waiting for the meal, I had some time to look around, and I was overcome with a feeling of excitement. Haiti was one of the countries on my route that I was nervous about visiting, so this feeling of excitement was surprising and welcome. It just got better from there.
Mission of Hope is such a fantastic organization. Their vision statement is “As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope seeks to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti.” Some of the things they had us do during the month included village ministry, painting, and organizing a Vacation Bible School for Carnival. When we were in the villages they had us break up into “strategic” and “regular” village time. During strategic village time, we would go over how to avoid getting sick and ways to keep healthy. We would also go around asking survey-type questions for Mission of Hope, so that they could assess community needs. During “regular village time,” we would go around and visit different homes. We would pray with people and help them with whatever their needs were.
One really cool thing that Mission of Hope believes in is empowering the local Haitian people. Every time we went out into the village we would always have a Village Champion. Village Champions were people who live in the village and answered a calling on their lives to be a leader in their community. So, when we would go into these homes and communities, we did not leave the impression that we were simply coming in to try to fix their problems short term and then just leave. Rather, we worked along side the Village Champions and the local churches to establish long term relationships. The result was that the Haitian people would see how God provided for them through the local church. That was awesome.
My team was also blessed with the ability to help paint the Mission’s kitchen, as well as a home for a deaf man in one of the villages. Painting the kitchen was cool because the women who worked in the kitchen and made our amazing meals were so appreciative and blessed. Painting the man’s house was also very special; it was sharing the Gospel by helping with practical needs – so cool. I came to really love those acts of service. Whether it was painting the kitchen, shucking beans for a family, or playing with kids for an afternoon, I enjoyed it all. God brought so much joy in those moments. Even if one of the kids that was on my shoulders started eating my hair… it was such a blessing to be able to go out into the community and connect with the local Haitian people.
During our stay in Haiti, Carnival was going on. I’m not entirely sure what they were celebrating, but it was a big deal, a big celebration that lasts for several days and the kids are out of school. On the Mission of Hope compound there was also an orphanage. We conducted the vacation bible School during the three days of Carnival. I was so blessed to be able to apart of that. I will never forget those kids.
On top of being at a fantastic ministry site, it also happened to be ALL SQUAD MONTH! There were so many memories made during that month. One of my favorites was Valentine’s Day. The amazing men on our squad, including our squad leader, showed the girls of O Squad how women are supposed to be treated. They surprised us with a wonderful night. They started off by telling us the night before that they had something special planned. They gave us the option to dress up or just come in our PJ’s. The girls spent the afternoon getting dressed up (as much as we could with limited resources) and just enjoyed each other’s company until it was time for our surprise. They had us all line up and one by one the guys walked us up the stairs to the roof, where they had a personalized note for each one of us and showed us to our seat. They served us our dinner. (They were the perfect waiters.) They also had entertainment for us, creating a song and an improv skit. It was amazing. They served us desert as well. As if that wasn’t more than enough, they also made us popcorn and put on the movie Enchanted. It was such a special night. I loved it!
I could write so many things about Haiti. I could probably write a blog just on the sunrises and sunsets. Haiti will always have a place in my heart. My time there really taught me how incorrect our expectations or assumptions can be.
Love Kathryn
