Hello Friends! It is my privilege and joy to
tell you that I will be returning to Haiti in a little less than 6 weeks (my
spring break)! My heart is
just overflowing with joy as I write this, but also with confidence and
hopefulness that the Lord will provide health, finances, opportunity, people,
and resources for us to take this trip – it is going to cost $1100 per person,
but it is worth the time and effort to see God’s Kingdom proclaimed and
advanced.
I am going again
with a team of 8 from my church (another team of 8 will go down in early June),
in our partnership with HaitiLove The trip itself, however, will look a bit
different than last year. As
circumstances, the political environment, and our knowledge of the situation in
Haiti have changed, there have been some shifts in the way that HaitiLove, and
thus Restoration Church, are interacting with and caring for the people of
Haiti. Also, because of the instability
and constantly changing circumstances in Haiti, our itinerary is not yet
solidified. But the flights are
booked (Praise God!), so regardless of what we end up doing, or where we are, we will be
going to serve the Lord and build His Kingdom!
The plan is to leave
Washington, DC early the morning of March 10th, and fly to Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic. From
there we will hopefully be going to Puerto Plata, DR. This is a beach resort town (but we won’t be doing any lounging…)
in the DR, where Haitians often migrate to in an attempt to find work, if they
can cross the border. The problem
is that the Haitian-Dominican relations are not good, and so the Haitians at
this resort are not paid fairly, are discriminated against, and often find that
they are not even recognized by the government. We will be working with this group of people, and a
local church there to help build a community center that will serve as a
church, clinic, shelter, and anything else.
We will then go to
Phaeton, Haiti, where we will attempt to build a church in this small
town. This community has no
healthy churches in or around the area, but there are a few Haitians who have
been connected with HaitiLove, and through this partnership we now have the
opportunity to help get a healthy church off the ground in an area that
desperately needs it. We
will then return to the United States on Saturday the 17th.
Although this trip
looks much different, I am blessed by the opportunity to go and share the
Gospel. The Haitian community in
general is severely lacking in leadership and spiritual maturity, and this trip
is an opportunity to help build on this.
We have, as a church, been building a children’s curriculum, a pastor’s
curriculum, and a women’s curriculum for HaitiLove, in hopes that they can
consistently teach Scripture and truth to those they interact with. The goal is to build consistently
across the various teams that are able to take short-term trips, that the
ministry might be more effective.
We need your help
to do this. Please spend some time
in prayer with us for this trip.
Haiti is a dark place, and we need many people praying for us now, and
as we are gone. This will be the
first trip HaitiLove takes in 2012, and will be the first trip since
relationships have changed with some of the Haitian organizations and people we
will be working with. Please pray
that we can build solid and scriptural groundwork for this organization and for
the Gospel in this country. Please
pray for the health of all our team members, and that we might be consistently
and earnestly praying for and preparing for this trip, even this far in advance. Please pray for the hearts of those
that we meet and interact with, that the Spirit might open their eyes to the
truth of the Gospel. Pray we might
find the financial resources to make this trip happen, and for the resources
for it to be fruitful. Please take some
time and pray, and if you would like to donate, please email me, call me, or otherwise track me down (in the virtual or physical realm!). Regardless, please pray with
us. Our church is young and small,
but we desperately desire to see the kingdom of God advanced, and we need your
prayer to make this happen. My heart just aches for these people, but I cannot do this alone. Please, please pray with us.
I cannot wait to
tell you all about our preparation for this trip as it continues, and all of
the mighty things God does during this time. Know that I love you all, and pray for you regularly.
In Christ’s
abundant blessings,
K
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