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We would love to host you if you want to come to Haiti.  You can visit your sponsor child, help at the school, assist in medical clinics, minister in the community, or many other projects can be arranged based on your interests.  Airfare to Haiti is very reasonable and the cost per day for transportation, meals, and lodging while in Haiti is $50 a day.  We welcome groups up to 30 people.

For more information click here: Mission Trip

Why Haiti?

Reflection by Kathleen Hardesty, a mission board member

Why do I go to Haiti? Why is it so important to me? What keeps me going back time and time again? Why Haiti?

It only took one trip for Haiti to change our lives forever.

Craig, my husband, recently told a first-time mis­sionary who we met on the flight over to Haiti to be prepared for the loss of innocence. “Once you go to Haiti for the first time, you can no longer claim ignorance,” he warned her. “You will know exactly how close these people are to us and how they are forced to live in comparison.” I remember that our first trip was shocking in every possible way. It was shocking to the senses, shock­ing to the body, and shocking to the soul. Even as fairly “worldly” people, we were not aware that this level of poverty existed in the twenty-first century, much less a mere 600 miles from the southern tip of Florida. After five days, we drove past the naked babies with the swollen bellies, past the crumbling “houses” made of mud and palm, past the dirty streams and the filthy streets, past the hands outstretched for help, past the silent stares of desperation… and got back onto an airplane. In just 90 short minutes, we were back in Miami, where we had almost forgotten there could be so much concrete, so many cars, so much wealth, so much to do, so little time. That night after our first trip to Haiti, we both sat on our com­fortable king-size bed in our modest three-bedroom home (that would be considered a palace in Haiti) and cried. We had lost our ignorance, and we were hooked.

Nowadays, at nearly 20 trips between us, Craig and I are used to being asked, “Why Haiti?” This question can take many forms. There is the concerned, “Why would you risk your life/health/wellbeing to go to Haiti?” There’s the raised-eyebrows-scoff, “Why would you go to that country?” There is the slightly accusatory, “Why wouldn’t you help such-and-such people here in the United States instead of going all the way to Haiti?” And there is the genuinely curious, “How did you get involved in Haiti, of all places?” To be fair, I know that many of these responses are shaped by news coverage of Haiti, which seems to be infatuated with things like burning tires, protestors, and health “epidemics.” I was no different; in fact, most first-time visitors will admit that, at least on some level, they felt like their decision to go to Haiti was a bit crazy. My response when I get asked these questions is, “Come with me next time, and you will know!” This is my best good-faith response, because there simply isn’t anything to compare Haiti to here in the United States. It is difficult for many to accept, but the fact is that the very poorest of the poor in the United States are rela­tively well off by Haitian standards.  As just one example, more than a year after the earthquake, thousands and thousands of Haitians still call a well-worn tent stretched across a few sticks home. In a land without social programs, widespread access to healthcare, and homeless shelters, if you are starving, you often die. If you are sick, you often die. If you are homeless, you have nowhere to go.

Turn to one side of the street and see some of the bluest, loveliest, white-sanded, mountain-fringed beaches in the Caribbean; turn around and stare at the dilapidated shacks of a shanty town. Children playing with toys made (literally) out of garbage play with more enthusiasm and joy than children I have seen surrounded by the flashiest and best gadgets money can buy. The thick darkness brought on by lack of resources and electric­ity at night opens up a sky full of the brightest, most awe-inspiring stars I have seen in my life. Driving through Port-au-Prince on a Sunday last May, we witnessed scores of people sitting out in the street in the rain, next to the piles of rubble that once were their churches, arms raised to the heavens, while their pastors passion­ately praised God over a megaphone.

As the editor of Life Connection Mission’s newsletter, I know that we often share stories about the tremen­dous amount of work that we do to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti. We also offer many opportunities for our readers and supporters to get involved as they feel led. We fund­raise, host supply drives, guest speak, find sponsors, write letters, entreat parents/friends/relatives/congrega­tion members/coworkers until we become annoying—all because we know we are making an enormous, tangible, critical difference in the lives of the Haitian people we serve. It is partly these glimmers of hope amid the horror that keep us all moti­vated to help and encourage us to return to Haiti time and again.

The truth is, while we may not always write about it as often as we should, God has also richly blessed us by calling us to do His work in Haiti. Although this tiny nation has faced some of the most extreme chal­lenges and tragedies imaginable, and its citizens cope daily with the reali­ties of abject poverty (the worst seen this side of the globe), Haiti teaches us. Haitians have a story of faith when there should be doubt, strength of character when there should be suf­fering, and joy found in the smallest of miracles that is worth recounting to people from every walk of life in every corner of the globe. I see it in the eyes of the first-time missionaries when they prepare to leave Haiti for the first time. It’s that tiny, indescrib­able, un-ignorable hook that works its way into your heart and refuses to let go. It is a desire to “help out” and “raise up,” but it is also a desire to “be with” and “hold onto.” The bottom line is that Haiti has changed my life, just as I know it has the potential to change many others. May I someday be worthy of the blessings that Haiti has showered upon me.

Orientation Manual

Testimonials:

o   What is amazing is the incredible faith, strength, courage, and love of the Haitian people.  Each trip teaches me how to be a better Christian as I watch people praise God for all of the little things. ... Their love is great as kids draw near everywhere we go to hold our hands and be with us.  Their need is great and yet they pray for us missionaries.  God is definitely present and working in Haiti and I feel blessed to join Him in His work there!  

     ~Lori Lyon 

o   We all felt the medical clinic was a huge success. There is no way we could have run the clinic without everyone who went on the trip.  Due to everyone’s hard work, we were able to see hundreds of people and hopefully change a lot of lives.  I was amazed at how grateful everyone was for the help we gave them.  It made me realize how often we take for granted what we all have here. I hope that is something I will never forget. …

~ Rick Smith

o   The spirit moves in each person a different way, and I would ask each person who reads this to pray and think about what role you could do for the Haitian people. Not everyone is called to physically go on mission work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have the heart of a missionary. ...

~ Keith Bachman

o   I would have never imagined how I could feel handing someone a roll and half of a banana and looking into their eyes seeing gratitude that is hard to put into human words. I’ve seen those eyes. I feel it is the look of hope. It is not for me to say what each one of you should do in the regards to Haiti, or any other missions area.  It is God who will direct you in the way you are to be salt in each situation. …

~ Sue Bachman

o   Arriving in Port-au-Prince and wit­nessing the chaos of such a broken city was overwhelming. The miles of dilapidated refugee camps inspired a new sense of thankfulness. As shock turned into respect, I grew to admire the resilience of the Haitian people and their joy despite circumstances. Life Connection Mission is truly a beacon of hope to a nation which has suffered from generations of corruption and disaster... 

Thank you for the opportunity to partner in building God’s kingdom. Keep the faith and run the race until the whole of Haiti is reconciled to our Savior Christ Jesus.

~ Tommy Dunn