Haiti Missions Trip
About a year ago Brad Sparks, Sherry’s dad, went on a trip to Haiti with an organization called Awaken Haiti which is a small group of Christians whose goal it is to build a community and share Christ with the people of Haiti. He came back with a renewed vigor for Christ and a whole bunch of photos which he shared with us for hours telling us the stories of the people of the city of Canaan. This year, Sherry and I plan to go on another trip with Awaken Haiti and share Christ, our time and our moderate building skills to help bring homes to additional families in the tent city of Canaan. To make up for our “expert” construction shortcomings, we plan to bring along some camera gear to capture some beautiful photos for Awaken Haiti to use as well as to share with you what we experience while we are there.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, 2010 was a tough year for the Haitians, with 1,000,000 people being displaced out of their homes due to the large earthquake which struck there and many people losing their lives. Tent cities were quickly erected and populated by those who had lost their homes and had nowhere else to go. Many people still inhabit these tent cities as those who have found or re-built a place to go have already left. There are not many options left for these people.
We will update with a whole bunch of pictures once we get back.
The physical part of it:
The purpose of our trip as our team of 15 members is to build a home for a family living in the city of Canaan and as time and resources permit, we would also like to finish the interior of a home that was built by another group. Additionally, we will help with the medical clinic that has been set up by Jeff and Deb Denlinger, who are the head of the leadership team of Awaken Haiti.
The spiritual part of it:
It’s all about relationships and for us, sharing Jesus Christ with them as we get to know them. This is a most important aspect of the Haitian way of living. It would be nothing to them to stop working for half a day to talk with a friend or someone they have just met. In our culture this is completely foreign, but their outlook on life is that things can get done tomorrow and we can build a relationship today. (of course I am writing this while trying to get this letter written today!) The central aspect of the community being built is the church/school that was built first out in the tent city of Canaan. We will be there also to assist the pastor of the church and help develop the long term relationships they have with the Haitians. Of course, I don’t know all that Jesus Christ will do through our team while we are there, we expect surprises, and expect to be used by our creator in whatever way he would like.
So I’m sure it is going to be an interesting April and we are looking forward to filling you in on all the excitement that is going to happen while we are gone. During the last part of April when we are gone, you can keep up with us at http://denlingerhaiti.blogspot.com/
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