A Different Perspective
HAITI TRIP 2019
(Unless noted, quotes throughout are from the 2019 Haiti Team)
Serving in Haiti exposes you to amazing hope amid seemingly insurmountable poverty and deep spiritual questions in the presence of a powerful God. Returning home is always difficult. Certainly, you are happy to be home, but “strangely you are homesick for the place you just left.” (Lena Wood – “CHANGED” Mission Trip Devotions and Journal) You start “feeling the post-trip blues” “wondering what your purpose is in this life and missing your new friends. It’s a funny thing ...you spend focused, concentrated time caring for your team mates and then they’re gone.”
In a recent video, Amy Valdez Barker, executive director for Global Mission Connections, talks about the importance of relationship building. Amy says that mission and ministry are at the heart of relationship building. It’s about connecting people and getting to know one another, and it’s about recognizing that God is already at work in the people where we are serving. “That’s an interesting perspective on mission trips... engaging with our global Christian friends as an honor and privilege to share time with one another.”
As we transitioned from the Haiti Response Plan, our goal was to be intentional about returning to the same community. Since January 2018 we have served in Mellier three times; we can be truly focused on building a long-standing relationship. This has also allowed us to follow-up with beneficiaries of the Micro-Credit Bank and explore the possibility of a deeper commitment to the Mellier school and church. Through sharing our time and resources we helped with paying teacher salaries and repairing school buildings. Our visits with beneficiaries of the Micro-Credit Bank were short. We learned that the small loans they received resulted in positive changes to their businesses and lives. Hearing their stories and witnessing their praises to God were affirmation that sharing our resources is pleasing to God.
“It takes a while to readjust to being back home... it’s more than just the tempo of life.” All of us had been to Haiti before. We expected the “post trip blues”. This time something was different… We want to share the story… “especially now that we are returning with updates on ongoing projects.”