December 17th- 22nd I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in Haiti. I had been wanting to go on a mission trip for awhile, so I began to search the web for anything and everything I could find over Christmas Break. After searching for hours and feeling hopeless, I decided to give it up to the Lord and if it was his will for me to go on a mission trip, then it would all work out. It's unfortunate how much I try to do on my own first just to find out it fails! A few days later, my roommate Morgan told me that Mission of Hope was taking a trip over December and that I should check it out. Everything about the trip seemed to line up with what I had in mind. ( Funny how God works!) In October, I sent in my forms and committed. Then it was time to start raising money. Now that I can reflect on the entirety of the trip, the support God provided was incredible and such a growing experience for me. People I would have least expected to financially support me were writing checks and not only that, but giving so generously. A lot of people knew I was heading to Haiti, and on the drive to the airport I could actually physically feel the prayers. It was so humbling and encouraging to know I was right where God wanted me.
Mission of Hope's goal is to reach every Man, Woman, and Child in Haiti and I really think they are moving in the positive direction towards that. We stayed on their campus where they have their own school, clinic, church and orphanages. The people they are teaching and influencing are growing physically, spiritually and mentally and it's evident. At church on Sunday, we were blessed to be able to worship (for 3 hours) with around 300 Haitians from the surrounding areas.What an encouragement it was to see people worship with such passion and boldness. If you simply live in America, you are beyond blessed. Since things seem to come simply for so many of us, it is easy to think we can do life our own. For a lot of the Haitians, they don't have a lot more than the clothes on their back, so they are completely dependent on the Lord for everything in their lives. During my time in Haiti, being disconnected from my phone, computer, etc. and even my friends and family, took away so many distractions I have in my daily life. He became so real while I was there. After interacting with all these beautiful children, I kept thinking " These are all God's children too!" I can easily put God in a box when I become self absorbed or closed minded, but he did not only die on the cross for me and people that speak English... But absolutely every person. What a beautiful thing.
Since there was only around 20 of us on this mission trip, we got to really experience the culture of Haiti. For example, the market. This was the first time I really felt a culture shock and that I was getting completely stared at for being a minority. Everyone is just trying to make a penny and it felt like complete chaos. You aren't supposed to take pictures with out permission because some Haitians believe it captures your soul, but I couldn't resist!
MOH has also started building houses in a village called Leveck. They have built 100, and they have plans to build 500. Compared to what we saw in passing, these houses are luxury homes. They have 3 rooms inside, and each house has a plot of land for agriculture. I think they said they pay around $5 a month so each family can actually own the house, which is almost unheard of in Haiti. We spent a few hours one day painting the inside of a house.
The kids loved to help out! At one point, one of the boys started painting the wall behind me. The rollers would spray back paint onto your skin so by the end of the day we were covered in paint. The little boy tapped me on the waist, and with his dark skin covered in cream paint he pointed to the wall to show me he was done. Haitians are hard workers to say the least.
One of the most memorable things for me while I was there was when we evangelised through a town called Minoterie (pronounced like minnow-tree). We prayed that the Lord would guide our steps towards the people he wanted us to approach. With the help of our translator, we would start by asking questions such as what they thought of Americans being in their village or how long they have lived in their house for. We would then ask if they are Christian, and all the houses we stopped at said yes. We would follow up with questions like why they are Christian or what it means to them to be Christian. A lot of times they didn't really know. We would then ask if they had any prayers requests and if we could pray for them right then. One of the houses we stopped by, the two women we were talking to immediately invited us inside their home to pray over her sick husband. He had been lying on the floor for over a week with stomach pain. He was in excruciating pain, which seemed to be the result of worms. Something that is so easily preventable and treatable in the States. I continue to pray for those people we encountered in the village. I pray they continue to develop a growing relationship with Jesus. And that he blesses them with good health, shelter and hope.
On our last day there, we visited 3 orphanages to act out the Nativity scene. It was so much fun! After, we sang "Jesus Loves Us" and had the kids jump in and sing and dance. That was followed by playing soccer, hand-clap-games, and lots of love and giggles. It was so amazing to witness God break down a language barrier in order to love on these kids.
I have left out the beauty of the country of Haiti. I never imagined the landscaping to be so breathtaking. We were surrounded by mountains and crystal blue water. Every day the sunsets and sunrises were beautiful. ( Yes, I was awake to see the sunrises due to the wild roosters). And at night the sky was so dark with the stars so bright. The Lord's creation was taken to another level in Haiti:
One thing God really put on my heart was finding out my purpose. What God created me to do in order to further his kingdom. I really feel that it may have something to do with poverty, not necessarily in 3rd world countries but anywhere. I can't wait for him to reveal my purpose. Now that I am back in the States, I can see how quickly I can fall into the Americanized way of living. To an extent, I loved how minimal the Haitians lived. Don't get me wrong, I love warm showers, but there is so much in our every day life that is so unnecessary. I really hope that God blesses me with another opportunity to serve him in another country in the future. I learned so much and grew within that short amount of time it excites me to think about going back! As this trip has forever changed me, I am sure I will be talking about it lots in future blog posts :) 
