Haiti is a nation where hope is taking root one conversation at a time. I firmly believe that change is occurring in Haiti and every day more and more people are striving to become like Jesus and they are running hard after Him. I believe in this country and their strength and resilience. This week they taught me how simplicity can grow into life-changing impacts. This week a desire was placed in my heart for unity and transformation. This week I saw the Gospel once again so clearly. I saw God’s provision and protection first-hand in things some would agree could’ve been found as miracles in the Bible. God is claiming this nation His own and I am so thankful He chose me to be a part of it.
The simple tasks in Haiti reap large effects. There were days on this trip that I struggled to see the purpose in what we were doing because it seemed like there was no reason. One of these days, we were painting a school on the Mission of Hope Campus. Mission of Hope was our partner in Haiti. They have had a crazy impact and it was so easy to see their purpose. However, we were wondering why we were the ones painting this school, that was already pretty decently painted if Haitians could receive jobs out of it and it would benefit their community. We asked and they answered. Mission of Hope is in the top 5% for education in Haiti. Unfortunately, the people who come and evaluate to give this rating believe that the exterior of the buildings directly correlates with the education the children are receiving on the inside. Mission of Hope could not gather the people and get them to work in a timely manner soon enough and we had a very large group that could get the job done in a day. Painting those buildings was allowing their education to be seen for the quality it possesses. This is just one example of many. The little things truly do matter and have large impacts.
A large part of the trip was going into a village where Mission of Hope had never set foot in before and building a relationship with the people there and sharing the Gospel with them. We partnered with the local churches in the village and we were able to spend time with the pastors and get to know their stories. Regardless of which church we went to, each pastor had the same prayer requests and two words stuck out to me that they requested prayer for: Unity and Transformation. Their churches were split and they saw the biggest thing keeping people from coming to know Jesus was the lack of unity. I may have traveled 1,797 miles to Haiti, but the problems of the church were still the same as in America.
This moved in my heart and during my quiet times each morning I was reading in Ephesians 4, Romans 12, or 1 Corinthians 12. These each talk about unity in the Body of Christ and our spiritual gifts. These are all chapters I know well and have studied before, but this time I saw the reality and evidence of them. I would challenge each of you to read through these and ask God to give you a new perspective. My team spent a lot of time this week discussing our different spiritual gifts and our roles and no one is more important than the other. This is how the Body of Christ remains functioning. I was challenged if I, as a believer, was transforming my heart daily to be more like Christ so I can live out my purpose in the Body more every day. Not only am I transforming my heart, but am I creating unity or disunity? I have felt a call to unity this week. I am not sure what exactly this looks like yet and I am praying through it, but small changes have big impacts. I am looking for how I can create unity in my everyday life and lead as an example of a transformed heart and who knows how God will use my new passion for unity for His kingdom.
With always being involved in church and growing up in a Christian community, it shames me to say, but the Gospel does not always come to mind as the life-changing, amazing, loving, and full of grace and hopeful truth it is. This week I was reminded of the gospel’s radically-changing truth. We spent the majority of the week walking into people’s homes and getting to know them then clearly sharing the Gospel and not tiptoeing around it. I spent years and years practicing the evangecube as a tool to help me share the gospel but had never actually used it. This week I used it and as the week went on more and more passion for the truth of the gospel welled up in my soul. I am smiling just writing this because who are we that we get this amazing grace? We serve an almighty and merciful and all-loving God. We were singing a song one night called “You’re Beautiful.” There was a line that brought me to tears: I see You there hanging on a tree, You bled then died and then You rose again for me. This is a crazy reality! He loves each of us so much that He would do it for only one of us. This hit me hard. A perfect and Holy God gave His life for a sinful, dirty, and ungrateful human. The reality of this is earth-shaking.
Not only did He do this once, but every single day God is looking out for us and has a marvelous plan. Once again, He pays attention to even the little things. I swear, every. single. time. I started to get down or wonder about my purpose on the trip, God would immediately do something to stop me from going down that track. He loves me so much that when I had one thought go through my head about my impact on the trip, during prayer as a group, He had someone, who I did not even know, place their hand on my back in such a loving way that could only have been God saying, “Stop, My child. I love you and you are mine.” Time after time He did this and constantly reassured a weak and disbelieving human because He loves me.
God has crazy plans that if we aren’t looking for His purpose in all, we will fail to see the little things that make huge impacts. We had so many bus issues when driving up the mountain to the village we were working in this week. It was evident this is where we were supposed to be because so much effort was made by Satan to not get us there, but God uses the struggle to create beautiful things. In one of these times, our bus got stuck in a ditch and we were stuck in a random village for nearly an hour. In this time, we got to see a community of Haitians who did not know us work together to free us so we could continue on our way and it was beautiful. We also saw that God uses trials for His good plan. Because the bus got stuck and we all had to get off, some of my team members noticed a man standing alone. They went over, shared the Gospel, and that man is now a brother in Christ that we will be dancing with in heaven. God has a provision in every situation and everything truly does happen for a purpose.
We serve a God who has a scandalous love for us and wow am I thankful. It is such a privilege to serve Him. When in Haiti, I learned of two organizations that are transforming lives in Haiti for Christ’s name. I desire to love others as God has loved us and I believe in what these organizations are doing and I hope you will too and consider partnering with them to make a change.
The first is Mission of Hope’s Student Sponsorship. I have first-hand seen the impact sponsorships have on these children in Haiti. The receive the Gospel, and education, and hope for a better life. Mission of Hope’s schools are providing an amazing, Christ-centered education and the students they are producing are changing Haiti and they will be Haiti’s next leaders. Mission of Hope is currently waiting for 1,000 sponsorships for students they already have in their schools so they can continue to expand throughout all of Haiti. You can be a part of this by sponsoring a student. I would ask you to visit this page and prayerfully consider supporting a child and giving them a better life.
The second organization is called Vibella. Vibella employs Haitians to create jewelry, bags, clothing, and much more. They work in a Christian environment where Bible studies are held and worship music is played. Because of their jobs, they are able to support their family and give back to their churches. It is an amazing organization that I got to experience for myself. One morning, some of the team got to go to their workshop and learn how to make headbands from the employees themselves. We sang songs with them, learned their stories, and saw the impact Vibella has had on their lives. We then were able to visit their shop and buy their products which directly goes back to these women. They create beautiful things and I would encourage you to go to their website and buy their product that has a story and a purpose. They create beautiful things to create a beautiful life.
This was an amazing trip of seeing God’s hand in Haiti. Mission of Hope’s Mission Statement is: “As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope exists to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti. We desire to serve the nation of Haiti, and see lives changed.” I truly believe life transformation will take place for every person in Haiti. This trip has forever impacted my heart and it has caused me to fall more in love with my Savior. Praise Jesus for His sacrifice and loving us so undeservingly! We serve a powerful God!
With love and grace,
Olivia Mars
LiveGrace 