My Summer Orientation and Haiti Trip

This week involved a lot of "orientation" type learning for me. I have been busy working hard with helping to facilitate teams, but this week was a cool opportunity to get out and spend 2 days each at our sites in Hato del Yaque and Phaeton, Haiti.

Hato del Yaque is about 45 minutes from Hoya del Caimito and there is a great pastor who we partner with named Elido. I loved getting to know the kids in the area and what was especially interesting to me is that we recently purchased a field just down the road and we were starting to build a baseball field there! We started digging the trench to put in the backstop and I'm so excited to watch those plans unfold. I got to meet a few of the kids who play at the current "field" and they are so excited to have an actual baseball field.

I have been to Haiti 5-6 times now, but it is incredible how intensely it affects me every time I go there. The poverty is incredible, and there is such a difference in the kids. The kids there usually aren't really wearing clothes and are noticeably malnourished and have hernias or other very visible health issues. It is intense. GO is already active in partnering with a church/pastor in Phaeton, and has some amazing plans that are already in motion BUT it is so clear that no matter what we "do" in Haiti, they need Christ first and foremost. I'm sure I'll touch on this a lot more in future posts about Haiti, but it is so clear that good and evil are on a collision course in Phaeton ... but we have God on our side and I know that no matter what struggles/hardships we encounter in ministry there that we much trust and glorify God in every manner. Not an easy mindset to have, especially when considering the severity of issues that could arise, but I know God will be holding our hands every step of the way.

Here are some pictures from Haiti - I'll put more up on Facebook including some from Hato del Yaque