Two Years Ago in Haiti

Since 1983, Hope for the Hungry has served in Haiti alongside many volunteers and nationals to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of children and their families. Hope for the Hungry also believes in breaking the cycle of poverty by offering these little ones a Christ centered education. Two years ago today marked a day which claimed the lives of over 210,000 men, women and children from the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Hope for the Hungry has worked to continue our efforts to educate, feed and disciple children as well as help their families. 1,100 children in four schools and two children’s homes in Haiti are fed, loved and educated daily plus the provision of other basic needs. Additionally, Hope for the Hungry has help rebuild or replace 37 homes since the earthquake.

Today, while our ministry extends far beyond Haiti, we are still determined to serve the children and families of Haiti and have 5 open trips scheduled this year. We are also committed to the construction of a new Mission & Training Center to help us more effectively serve in this region. The kids in our schools are excelling in education and growing in Christ. While the rebuilding and restoring process is a long way from finished, progress is being made in this nation and God is being glorified in Haiti.

Remember Haiti today and join with us in prayer or join us on a trip to Haiti this year. You can also donate to Hope for the Hungry and we can use your donation where it is needed most. Thank you for your contribution (prayer, volunteer and donation) in helping to restore lives, rebuild this nation and offer them a fresh start in Christ.

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Remember Haiti: Two years ago on Jan. 12, 2010 the earthquake that devastated Haiti and took over 200,000 lives. Here is one man's story of Hope.

Joseph Masillon took out a loan in October 2009 to pay for a roof for his house. It was to be a typical Haitian roof: a solid two feet of concrete with little rebar in it to hold it together, costing approximately $9,000.
On January 12th, 2010, an earthquake destroyed 80% of the homes in Joseph’s village of Guibert (“Gee-bear”). Joseph’s home was one of those destroyed. Joseph was inside the home at 4:53pm when the ground started to shake. As his home began to crumble on all sides of him, he was able to escape, unharmed. His brand new roof came crashing down, but no one was hurt. What a miracle! However, Joseph and his family didn’t have a place to live AND still had to pay off the loan for the roof, which was now in pieces and worth nothing to the family.
By late February, Hope for the Hungry decided it was time to move from emergency relief, where we handed out tents to those whose homes were destroyed, to begin rebuilding Guibert. Temporary shelters, such as tents, last for only a year. Permanent homes are important for everyone for both safety and security. We are currently working with the local church to assist in building homes (38 are completed now) because it gives us the opportunity to share Jesus with the home owners and teach them ways to walk with Him daily.
The Haitian church leaders determine which families qualify for a new home and Joseph was on the list! In May 2010, Joseph and his family of 12 were able to move into their brand new home!
To remind the community of the focus of our efforts, we have a dedication service for each of the home owners when the construction is complete. Each service includes a prayer of dedication, a reminder that Jesus is our true and ultimate Shelter, the installation of two scripture plaques, and the giving of keys to the home. So, now at the front door of Joseph’s brand new home is a plaque that reads, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20, NIV). Inside his home is one that reads, “They replied ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved- you and your household.” (Acts 16:31, NIV). Joseph may still be paying off his loan, but he and his family are now able to begin putting their lives back together in their new home, encouraged that Jesus, our true Shelter from the storm, is always faithful.

Ronald

Remember Haiti: A story of Hope of a rejected and abused boy named Ronald (“Whoa-nal”).

Ronald’s mother died a few years ago. His father got remarried to a woman who hated Ronald and would not allow him to live with them. His father sent him to live with an Aunt who was very abusive and made him beg on the streets of Petionville for money and food. Our Haitian pastor saw him on the streets and went to his father and asked him to let Ronald come and live in our boys’ home. If he were to come, he would receive not only food, clothing, shelter and an education, but love and daily teaching about the Lover of our Souls, Jesus. His father agreed and Ronald came to live in our home on Jan 11th, 2010. The very next day, Petionville was completely destroyed in the earthquake. The streets where Ronald roamed were completely covered in rubble. If the Lord would not have lovingly placed Ronald in our home, the day before the earthquake, he surely would have died.

When I met Ronald (10 years old) for the first time in January 2010, he was a broken little boy with no life in his eyes. He had seen no love and had obviously been abused. He cried all of the time and was shunned because of the horrible skin condition that he picked up from the streets. He had never been to school, and didn’t even know the alphabet.

At the New Year’s Eve celebration this year, only a few minutes after I had seen Ronald during this trip, he immediately took my pen out of my journal and quickly wrote his name in cursive on his hand. When he raised it up to show me, there was such joy and excitement in his eyes. He was so proud of himself and was beaming! He knew how big of an accomplishment this was and couldn’t wait to show off his new skill!

I’ve been able to watch Ronald transform before my eyes over the past year. He is no longer the empty shell of a boy that he once was, but has a beautiful new soul. He has the Love of Christ in his heart and it’s evident in his eyes!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

S'mores and goodbyes...

Today was our final day working in Haiti and it was a great one. We started out continuing and finishing our projects for the week. The painting is fully finished and touch ups are done. We were able to get everything ready for our little boys and they will get to sleep in their new room tonight. The older boys are excited too, because they get their room and space back. We finished the coats in the depot and they will be able to store all of their supplies in there tonight as well. We finished our 3rd wall today! Our arms were sore and tired but it is complete. The men will do all of the finishing and get it ready to turn it into a kitchen and great room for the boys home and church. Part of the group got to go hiking through the village and place plaques on some homes and dedicate them and pray for the families there. The best part of the day was sharing a surprise with the boys. We made smores! In about 10 min they ate 4 boxes of graham crackers, 4 big bags of marshmallows and 48 chocolate bars. Needless to say they loved them and the marshmallow covered smiles on their faces proved it. After this we were able to share Christmas with the boys. We had a gift for each of them: a beanie, crayons, coloring books, matchbox cars, personalized pencils, and dum dums. They were all so appreciative and happy. Their genuine happiness reminded us and prepared our hearts for the true meaning if christmas. We got to hang out for a short while and just spend time with them. We then got to the hardest part, saying goodbye. Leaving is always the hardest part but knowing that they are there and being loved makes it easier. Now we are just packing up and getting ready for the journey home tomorrow. Please pray for our time of leaving and for our hearts to be ready to be back. Ask all of us about our trip, we have so many more stories to share than will fit on this blog and are eager to share them. Thanks or being a part of our trip.

S'mores and goodbyes...

Today was our final day working in Haiti and it was a great one. We started out continuing and finishing our projects for the week. The painting is fully finished and touch ups are done. We were able to get everything ready for our little boys and they will get to sleep in their new room tonight. The older boys are excited too, because they get their room and space back. We finished the coats in the depot and they will be able to store all of their supplies in there tonight as well. We finished our 3rd wall today! Our arms were sore and tired but it is complete. The men will do all of the finishing and get it ready to turn it into a kitchen and great room for the boys home and church. Part of the group got to go hiking through the village and place plaques on some homes and dedicate them and pray for the families there. The best part of the day was sharing a surprise with the boys. We made smores! In about 10 min they ate 4 boxes of graham crackers, 4 big bags of marshmallows and 48 chocolate bars. Needless to say they loved them and the marshmallow covered smiles on their faces proved it. After this we were able to share Christmas with the boys. We had a gift for each of them: a beanie, crayons, coloring books, matchbox cars, personalized pencils, and dum dums. They were all so appreciative and happy. Their genuine happiness reminded us and prepared our hearts for the true meaning if christmas. We got to hang out for a short while and just spend time with them. We then got to the hardest part, saying goodbye. Leaving is always the hardest part but knowing that they are there and being loved makes it easier. Now we are just packing up and getting ready for the journey home tomorrow. Please pray for our time of leaving and for our hearts to be ready to be back. Ask all of us about our trip, we have so many more stories to share than will fit on this blog and are eager to share them. Thanks or being a part of our trip.

Another Amazing Day!

Such an amazing day today. We have been blessed with some great stories.

We continued our work at the boys home. We split into two groups again today. One group worked on concrete while the other painted. The concrete grouped hauled rock and gravel and water for a major part of the day. We added up how much we have done this week and we are at around 1000 gallons of water pulled from the cistern, transported and used for concrete, and moved about 1.5 tons of gravel and sand, this may sound like an exaggeration but we have had several trucks drop off loads of gravel and sand. And we unloaded 150 bags of cement that were 100 lbs each. All of these supplies enabled us to finish 2 walls and start a 3rd today. We also poured 2 columns. As we were working today we learned that the Haitian men we are working with this week were in the exact room we are working on when the earthquake hit. They had not been back to work since then and we have been blessed to get to help them finish.

The other group worked really hard on painting the little boys room and the depot. They were able to FINISH the painting in the boys room and only have another coat or two in the depot. We were planning to help them move beds and get their room set up in the morning. The key is were...they got so excited to see the new room with clean and newly painted walls that they started moving their stuff. We moved in beds, mattresses, clothes and school stuff. We cleaned and mopped everything. We made their beds with newly cleaned sheets an set their room up. As we were finishing the room we realized that 3 of our boys have never slept in there. The boys have been sleeping in a different place but know that this is their room and their home. They may not sleep there tonight because of the fumes but their home is ready and they will soon be there for good.

It has been such a blessing to get to help serve the people of Haiti. Tomorrow we will have our last work day and will get to celebrate Christmas with them. We have a gift or each chid and brought stuff to make smores!

Pray for our team as we finish up our work here in Haiti. Pray for us as we say our goodbyes tomorrow. Pray that we would transition back to the US and to the Christmas season with ease and would not get frustrated.

Sabbath

When dusk first scraped the horizon and the cock had yet to crow, the team emerged triumphantly from their sleeping quarters ready for a new day. The sabbath is looked forward to on each trip because it offers the chance to worship with the locals and experience church in a new cultural context. What had become a routine ride to the village for work was transformed into a pastoral picture filled with beautiful families walking to their place of worship, adorned in their Sunday best. Upon arriving at the church in Guibert, we were greeted by the sound of praise coming from the sanctuary. The service began soon after and the experience is something that will not soon leave the forefront of our team's conscious. Whether it was worshipping through music, prayer, the Word, or fellowship; it was all done intentionally and with abandon. From the smallest of toddlers to the eldest of grandparents, we saw a body of Christ who understood worship. In a country with very little, we were taught that worship is not contingent upon situations or circumstances; it is truly a measure of your heart.

After church we came home and rested. The remainder of our evening was full of fun and shenanigans. From movie watching to singing to dancing; the team grew closer together socially as well as spiritually. As we now turn out attention to gaining a restful night of sleep we look forward to the hard work ahead of us tomorrow.