Ready to Change A Life?

I am extremely excited right now. Excited because suddenly I don't feel helpless. Excited because I know that there is an option for me and others to change the lives of some of the kids I met in Haiti several months ago.

Just a couple months ago if you wanted to have a direct impact on one of the kids I met in Haiti you would have to get on a plane and fly to Haiti. That is no longer the case. The kids that I met, hugged, played and worked with are now part of Back 2 Back's child sponsorship program.

Consider Supporting A Child Click Here

http://back2back.org/home/harvest-care-childrens-home/?fund=child_hti

Crazy Talk

I don't want to get crazy with my thinking here... but support a kid and then plan a trip to meet them. Because you can ACTUALLY DO THAT! It may sound completely crazy but this isn't a random photos of kids on a blog, these are living breathing kids that are being taken care of in Haiti.

I just realized as I typed this that I never mentioned that my wife and I met with a child that we've been sponsoring in Haiti for several years now.

This is Crystal and I spending some time with Lovely who we've sponsored for several years now. She is part of the Lighthouse Orphanage, which is another home in Haiti.

Amazing stuff. To write a check, or make a credit card payment each month and then meet and spend time with the person that is affected by that sacrifice.

Enough rambling.  I welcome comments and questions on child sponsorship with Back2Back. You are welcome to contact them for the "official lowdown" but I'm happy to put myself out there as a real life resource and reference for it.

No Posts For A While

I just wanted to offer up a quick post to check in. I think that the dwindling number of posts on this Haiti blog might be taken and interpreted as a dwindling interest of passion about Haiti.

Please do not think that. I continue to process life through my Haiti filter. The experiences and pace of life are always viewed through a Haiti lense. Daily I think of Haiti and I wish that it was possible to beam a thought out to this blog. However, in most cases life moves on and it never makes it here.

The posts on Haiti will return. 

The thoughts of Haiti have never left.

The Saturation of Life

Yesterday my wife Crystal mentioned that a month ago we were in Haiti. A month ago. Not even 30 days ago. My reaction was complete shock, and honestly, a little shame. Shame that Haiti has fallen so far from my mind already.

Somehow my daily responsibilities and life in general has saturated my life and washed Haiti from my mind all but 20 to 30 minutes a day during prayers or when stories come up.

I wonder how the rest of our group is doing. If life has overtaken their thoughts of Haiti.

It just so happens that Crystal mentioned Haiti on a day that I was thinking quite a bit about Haiti. Missing it. I was processing on the fact that every week away is a week that the kids I saw will meet new people. Have new experiences. Sooner or later I will be a blurry white face among many other faces who have come, shown them love for several days, and disappeared. It breaks my heart.

I'm glad that I can play a small part in their youth. Provide them a couple moments of smiles and love in a life that will likely be much difficult than the life I know. But I wish it was more.

I thank God for the Fudge family who is down there. They are consistent faces among the many groups.  Each group member that goes down there affects a child for a moment, plays a part of a larger plan that God is working on.  But those children in the few moments we get with them affect us so much more.

Life battles out the memories of the children that I met in Haiti. My own kids place my mind under duress, displacing my memories of the kids that affected my week in Haiti, like Lukeson and Kenya.

I'm battling to keep Haiti fresh. I'm hoping to keep the urgency alive.

Handicapped

Last night, in pain, teeth pressed together and my left arm clinched against my body my mind went to Haiti. I hurt my shoulder playing basketball. Unfortunately as of this point it is pretty much unusable.

I thought about what this injury would mean if I needed my arm to survive. If not being able to go out and hunt meant I would starve. A scary thought.

Then with that thought I remembered a man at the Port-au-Prince airport who helped our group get to our transportation and load baggage. He had only one arm.

For him, the idea of not being able to survive without an arm is so much closer to reality than mine. I work at a computer. As I type this my arm is up on the arm of my chair resting. No real danger here.

For him only having one arm just increases the danger that people live with in Haiti.

For me, to lose an arm would result in disability payments and assistance.

For him he either finds a way to survive... or he doesn't. There is no back up. He finds work... as an airport "helper" or he, and possibly any family he tries to support, goes hungry.

In Haiti, being handicapped seems much more scary.

The Minimal Life

I remain amazed at the work that we accomplished in Haiti. We transformed an environment there. Reflecting the changes we made make such a difference because in Haiti they live the minimal life. 

A classroom in the Harvest Care orphanage/school.
Practical but minimal.

A table in the older girls room displaying some of their
personal items.

Each child increased their 'personal space'
from a single shoe box sized plastic
tub to a full shelf on a cubbie.

A shelf to us is nothing, but they
live the minimal life.

Haiti Has Hope

Don't let my writing, photos or media reports make you think anything other than the fact that 

Haiti Has Hope.

Harvest Care Orphans raising the Haitian flag
 and singing their national anthem.

After hearing for years that Haiti was too big, to complicated to solve. I was discouraged.

I've read in books how complicated Haiti's problems are. How politicians and political policies have buried Haiti under a cloud of despair. I was discouraged.

I thought about the fact that their are MILLIONS of people in Haiti. That event the best of intentions wouldn't reach the masses. I felt hopeless.

But then I visited Haiti. I met the people. I saw some of the bad, but I mainly saw hope. Hope.

Over the last few years the United States was in recession and hope was lost by many. But we continued on.  Businesses and people did what we do... we survived. We adjusted and we figured out a way to go on and improve.  Not because of a government policy... but in spite of it.

Haiti is doing the same thing. The cards are stacked against it, but those who have counted Haiti out have forgotten an important factor... the Haitians. Most of them are beaten down by poverty. By natural disasters. Beaten down by loss. But there is hope.

Hope is in the form of those who are willing to love and serve and show Jesus to them. When they are loved and served they get to know Jesus.

Jesus is hope.  Jesus is love. Not in some hippie kumbaya singing way, but because Jesus knew what it was like to be beat down. He knows what loss felt like. He knew on the other side of the pain was the execution of a plan. God's plan.

Haiti has hope because of Jesus.

Haiti has hope because of Haitians.

Haiti has hope because of the men and woman who serve them.

Haiti has hope because of people like Kelly who serves the kids.

Haiti has hope because of the Fudge family who lives there everyday spilling Gods hope and love on them.

Haiti has hope.

What Can We Do To Create Hope?

• Serve Them - You should go an serve them. Set up a group with Back2Back and serve the Haitians.
• Support Those Who Serve - Not called to go? Support those who are.
• Support The Fudge Family who is there now:  https://donations.back2back.org/
• Another family is leaving to serve full-time in Haiti... Support the Kuntz Family - Their homepage: http://joshanderinkuntz.com/

Efficiency

This last winter my church, Blue Ash Community Church, set off on a grand challenge. We were out to raise $13,000 to purchase tools and a tool trailer to be used by the Back2Back Haiti Mission.

Lots of fund drives can raise more, but for our new and smaller (scrappier) church $13,000 is a lot of money representing around 10% of our annual budget. It happened. We raised the $13,000 and with the help of the kids we exceeded it raising a total of $13,300.

Blue Ash CC presenting a check for $13,300 to
Back2Back.

What was the money for?  Efficiency. We raised the money to purchase a large array of tools and a handmade Haitian trailer to transport them in.

Brent loading the new trailer with tools.

 This trailer allows Back2Back to create an efficient mobile work force that can transform orphanages and LIVES. Every mission trip that goes to Haiti will now be able to get more done and affect more lives because of this.

We had the benefit of the tools while in Haiti and our team transformed lives.

ACTION
I encourage you to take action and join a Back2Back mission team. Or better yet, get a group together and create your own team. You will efficiently change many lives while there... including your own.

Your life will change.