The vision of Mission of Hope: As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope seeks to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti.

Our team has a time of debriefing every night when we share about our day and have the opportunity to pray together. Tonight’s time felt extra special as it included praise music complete with guitars.

Each member of our team shared a high and a low from today as well as something they are looking forward to.

The highs included seeing a graduation, visiting the community, planting mango trees, helping to hand wash laundry, holding babies, touring the Mission of Hope campus and hearing about their history.

The lows. One word. Heat.

What are we looking forward to? Everything.

Our team cannot say enough positive things about Mission of Hope and what they are facilitating here in Haiti. An example of that: 192 students graduated from the School of Hope today. In a country where less than one percent of children graduate from high school, these young men and women have defied the odds. Please take the time to check out their website and considering partnering with them in some way.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.

Proverbs 16:3

Our morning was spent completing home visits in Source Matelas—giving us a larger glimpse into the day-to-day life of the families here in Haiti.

We split into two teams—allowing us to connect with multiple families. This also hopefully aided in not completely overwhelming each household when 20 North Americans showed up on their doorstep. Hopefully. At each home, we asked questions regarding their family demographics, access to things such as health care and water, and asked about their spiritual condition.

This information was documented by our team and will be followed up by Mission of Hope, a Village Champion, and local Haitian churches. It’s very important that we be of assistance while we are here but of upmost importance that we consistently support and build up the local church. Our team will only serve here for a week. The Haitian church will be the ones to bring the good news of Jesus and His message to every man, woman and child in Haiti.

It was a privilege to connect with these families on their behalf, and I know that God’s name will be praised when they are able to respond to the needs of these families and transform Haiti one family at a time.

Our afternoon allowed us time with the children of Source Matelas. We were honored to help with their Kids Club. Members of our team sang songs, shared a Bible lesson, and a few may have danced a pretty good Father Abraham. As the time went on, more children continued to join us until there were likely 100 kids in attendance. We finished our time inside by serving them a meal accompanied with juice. Everyone then headed outside to jump rope, play soccer, run races—basically kids’ choice—which made for a fantastic time for all.

Closing today with a scripture that was shared by one of the women during our home visits–her favorite scripture.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.     John 3:16

Amen.

Our team from Mt. Pulaski Christian Church arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti this morning. We were greeted by Mission of Hope, our hosts for the week, and then driven by school bus to our home-away-from-home in Titanyen. No one on our 20-person team had visited Haiti before today. Every sight and sound was new.

When you experience something new, it’s common compare what you’ve known to this new unknown.

The airport. The traffic. The buildings. The homes. The landscape. The people. The language.

Creole is the language of the Haitian people. We were given a small list of greetings, questions, responses, key words and phrases prior to our arrival, but pronunciation of a new language has its complications. And that may be understating it a bit.

After eating a yummy lunch that included seafood rice, we had the opportunity to travel into the village of Source-Matelas and put our Creole into action. As our bus pulled into their community, we were instantly greeted by children of all ages. We gave our best interpretations of a greeting. And more than once, it was evident that my best pronunciation wasn’t always being understood.

So I pulled out the one thing I’ve found to always work when words cease to be enough.

A smile. 

A smile is it’s own language. And it’s recognized everywhere.

A smile. It welcomes. Calms. Invites. Mends. Assures.

A smile shares joy.

And that’s exactly why we’re here–to share the joy that we have been given through the love of Christ Jesus, our Heavenly Father.

We truly have so much to smile about.