Heading Back to Haiti

“Through Jesus then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Hebrews 13:15-16 ESV

Becky and Max 

As many of you already know, we just returned from our mission trip to Haiti. It was my second trip, John’s first. We ministered through a partnership with Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM). Our focus this trip was on completing work for the new high school that is set to open in September. We also had the opportunity to minister to the girls at House of Hope, a local girls orphanage. One of the unexpected blessings of this trip was being able to minister to a 2-week old baby girl named Abigaèlle and her family. She was not nursing well and her mother was struggling to produce enough milk for her to survive. Her mother had been in labor for three days. She was given an episiotomy to help her deliver. She was discharged from the hospital 7 hours later. She walked home. It was heartbreaking, but out of that heartbreak, a new vision was born. 

Baby Abigaelle

Another team will be returning to Haiti, November 14-21. We are planning to offer 2 seminars to each of the 3 church campuses of HOM. The first will be to girls and women ages 14-20 and will offer Biblical discipleship on purity and the sanctity of marriage, as well as education on pregnancy prevention. The second will be for pregnant mothers and mothers of children 2 years old and younger. We plan to offer prenatal vitamins, postpartum pads, and cloth diapers. In addition, we will be educating mothers about lactation, nutrition, postpartum care, and newborn care.

  

John working at House of Hope

John will return to House of Hope. Over the years, teams have come in and done lots of work, but when the week is over sometimes there are loose ends or projects that just didn’t quite reach completion. John and the other men on our team plan to work on bringing completion to those projects. Once they do that the orphanage will be a more efficient and secure place for the girls to live.

Visiting Haiti has opened our eyes to the extreme poverty that is essentially, in our backyard. But it has also opened our eyes to the church globally and the beauty of joining with them to do God’s work. While there are plenty of times in Haiti that I am broken and burdened by what I see, there are equally times that I am overcome with joy and hope. The people are filled with a contagious joy that seems impossible in their circumstances. It is incredibly humbling.

There are several opportunities for you to support this mission, if the Lord has so burdened your heart.

1. PRAY, with us and for us. I will be the first to admit that I am often guilty of planning and preparing away (Martha) and forget to pray. But what good am I if I am not drawing close to the Lord in prayer.

2. Donations - we need prenatal vitamins, cloth pads, and cloth diapers. You can bring those items to Cornerstone Baptist Church at 8947 Albemarle Rd, Charlotte, NC or contact me and I will coordinate pick-up.

3. Financial support. John and I will need a total of $2000 to cover airfare and lodging expenses. With this trip only 4 months away it gives us very little time to save that money ourselves. We are trusting that the Lord will provide all that we need. If you would like to donate to us, please consider using PayPal (jkiser13@att.net) or email us and I will send you our mailing address. If you would prefer to support the ministry expenses or for your donations to be tax-deductible, please donate to Cornerstone Baptist Church (use the online giving button in the top right corner).

4. Ask us to come speak to your church. As I’m certain you can tell, we feel pretty passionately about this ;). We would love to tell you more about the ministries that HOM provides to the Haitian people and how you can participate in the mission.

Finally, if you've read this far, thank you! Please let us know if you are interested in continuing to receive updates as we prepare to minister in Haiti! 

And may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7