I remember in Fall of 2011 when my good friend Andrew informed of this Haiti trip happening in January and how he was set on going. I had wanted to travel for a while and so this was a great opportunity to go to a country that had recently been rocked by a terrible earthquake.
The second I signed on I never looked back. I was fully in. I spent the rest of the semester getting extremely excited for this weeklong mission trip. January rolled around. My whole room, plus a few of my good friends, and some people who became close friends from this trip were all going. So stoked. We boarded that plane and set off.
On arrival I was immediately thrown into a new world. The airport had almost no structure as most of it had been destroyed in the earthquake. We hopped into a bus and took off down the road towards our destination. I distinctly remember that there were not enough seats so Jess and I sat on the spare tire in the back.
Mission of Hope blew my mind away. The stuff they are able to do in the poorest country west of the Atlantic Ocean is unreal. An orphanage, a fully functioning school, a church, little businesses, food service and guest service all on one awesome hill. I honestly cannot describe the awesomeness that is that place unless you see it for yourself.
Highlights of year 1 in Haiti: My little guy Steve. One of the smallest physically but biggest emotional blessings in my life...if that makes sense. No clue where he is now, but I pray that God will work in that little genius' mind so that he can do awesome things. The other was definitely digging a trench in a village on the two year anniversary of the earthquake so a village could have access to fresh water. I mean the whole village emptied out of their homes to help us, we didn't even have enough shovels.
And my team that went...so cool. Every single one of them blessed me in unimaginable ways.
my guy Steve. This sums up our relationship :)
The team.
That first bus ride
Life as a white guy in Haiti
Haiti year two...
As if I could only go once! HA.
The next year, a few of us had already decided to go again. Thankfully, our fearless and amazing leaders Scheps and Met wanted to do it again. This time the whole volleyball team was going. So enter in a whole new group of people going to the same place. This was going to be interesting, but I knew that everybody who was going was genuinely excited.
When we got to Haiti this time the airport had gotten a makeover. It looked so good. I was just completely overwhelmed at how much had gotten done in a year.
Back to MOH. They had also gotten a ton done in a year. Like, they were rocking it. Plans for new buildings and new concepts were being considered and acted on. The place was growing like crazy. To see the growth from exactly a year ago was a blessing by itself. This year, as a returning member I wanted to see how Haiti could tug at me differently from the first year.
Needless to say, I got tugged.
The second year I noticed more how others were being blessed by Haiti instead of just me. My team for the second year went through some great bonding moments culminating in a three hour testimony sharing on the roof overlooking the ocean. Three hours I will never ever forget.
Couldn't find Steve. Looked all week, no clue where he went. I hope he's okay and that God's working through him, after all he was the bee's knees.
Second year team on the King of the Roads
This is Haiti
My absolute favorite picture from this country
There is hope for these people. They love the Lord, they love each other. I've never seen a group of people that I want to be more like than them. I look forward every day to the next time I get to visit this country.
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