Haiti

This past summer I had the privilege to go over seas on a mission trip to Haiti. If you don't know much about Haiti, it is the poorest country this side of the hemisphere. I believe 80% of the population is unemployed and about 85 to 90% live in poverty. People have to eat mud cookies to fill their bellies so that they don't starve. The populace speak either French or Creole (a dialect of french for the commoners). The country is based on a mix of Catholic, Voodoo, witch doctors, animalists. There are no traffic laws so people go as fast or as slow as they wish and gas is extremely high. We are talking 5 or 6 bucks a gallon and this is a poor poor country! This is a place where a person's home could be a piece of sheet metal that they use to cover their head when it is raining! But don't get the wrong impression from these facts...GOD IS STILL THERE!

15 people, 13 from Missouri Baptist University, went on this trek to help out a small school in croix de bouquets, Haiti. This school is known as the Bethel Church Outreach and is funded through IHOP (International House of Prayer). The one who leads this outreach is Pastor Gary Hippolite. Let me tell you, this guy knows the gospel and he shows it through his life each day. He thinks logically and worships expressively. He actually came and visited Missouri Baptist University for a chapel service on October 16th, 2008 for our Mission Minded service. He has truly brought light into a dark place, by the power of Christ who is in him! What I found so amazing about this man, let me infasize MAN, is that after leaving Haiti, he gained a wife, children and a house to go with it. As he and his wife prayed about it, they sold their house to start God's mission in Haiti. He lives in Haiti every other month and while he comes back to the states, gains support, then goes back to Haiti with much needed food. At the outreach that he built, he has created a free Christian School for about 200 children. While here at the school, the children are given an education that they would never get other wise, enjoy recreational activities such as soccer and basketball, and are given a free meal for lunch time.

Though the Haitians are in a country filled with poverty, pullution, and dangerous religous practices, they have a calmness about them that I have never seen. They seemed very content with their position in life, the ones we kept in contact with. They were not dependant on luxuries, clean water, plumbing, electricity (for the most part), cars, nor do they always have a meal. They are a people very open to the Gospel because it brings nothing but good news to them. It gives them a hope that surpasses all that we take for granted here in America.

The children were the most loving children and well disciplined. There really wasn't much whining or complaining or outbursts. Their parents instilled in them honor, respect, and love for others around them. Those of us who went were shown so much love and were seen as family...a distant family :) When we arrived in Haiti and arrived at the outreach, we already saw the love they had for us. They had prepared a meal for us, let us eat first, attended to any of our needs, and were always always praying for us and the mission God had in store. It's hard to even imagine that I might not go back this upcoming May. They helped me see through my constant whinings of what I wished I had or wishing I had better then what I did have. The experience I had there was greater then most others I have had in my lifetime (which isn't really that long). They are brothers and sisters that I will never forget. I may forget their names or what they looked like, but I will never forget the love they clearly had for us and for our mighty God!