Orphanage Expedition – Haiti

The unrelenting heat surrounded us even though the sun was beginning to set. I felt the sweat trickle down my back as I sat in the Mambo's (Vodou Priestess') compound. We had come to have a bible study and to forge a relationship with this woman and the community that lived here. I had already been in Haiti a couple of months and the sight of underfed, malnourished people was not uncommon, although it is something that I will never get used to. Little had prepared me though, for the emaciated babies that were brought out once the bible study ended. Their ribs protruded from their sides, where there should have been plump, healthy brown skin, instead there were wrinkles and skin that sagged. The beautiful curly black hair that a healthy baby would have had was blondish red, signifying severe malnutrition. Instead of shining, inquisitive eyes the lids were half closed and the eyes glazed, unseeing. Their mothers had abandoned them and they were not being well cared for - in fact, it seemed that they were not being cared for at all. In a country where half of the population is malnourished and 80% earn less than two dollars a day, nobody was willing or wanting to take on these extra "burdens".

My eyes filled with tears and my heart ached. I was reminded that God's heart was and is moved with compassion for the little ones. These children that were left unloved and uncared for have a special place in His heart. Scripture says that the Lord is the one that directs our steps and I knew that I wasn't there by "accident". That is the night that He truly broke my heart for this land and it's children. That night, I tossed and turned as I brought those young lives before the Lord. In the sleepless dark, I believe the Lord was calling me to serve in Haiti and gave me a vision for an orphanage. Now, all I had to do was wait and pray and believe that God was going to fulfill that vision.

In answer to my prayers that long night, I was recently contacted by a seasoned missionary that has served in Haiti for more than 12 years. I had the privilege of ministering with her and found that our hearts were very similar for things of God and the Haitian people. She has asked me if I would be willing to come and join her in opening an orphanage. This was not by chance. I believe that the Lord has opened this door and I am ready to walk through it. I will be in Haiti, October 11-25, 2016, to begin the search with her for property. After that, Lord willing, I will come home and make preparations for the move to Haiti to help those precious little ones who are unable to help themselves.

One of the babies from that evening passed away just a few days later and I never learned what happened to the other - although the chance for survival was unlikely. If there would have been an orphanage nearby, perhaps they could have been saved. I am willing and wanting to go and be a part of bringing hope to a land that seems so hopeless. I want to be a part of the recovery of this country that experienced the death of up to 300,000 people just six years ago in a massive earthquake. Following that they were subjected to a cholera epidemic and still, after all this time, proper infrastructure is not in place with many areas having no electricity or a viable source of water. I am willing to go but, I cannot do it without your help. I ask that you would prayerfully consider giving toward this very desperate need. Haiti, the size of Massachusetts, has 430,000 orphans, children that only want to be loved and kept safe. While we may not be able to save all of these little ones, we can make a difference. Haiti may seem forsaken but, God has not forsaken this country or it's children! He is calling people to this land and I say with a resounding voice - Here Am I, Lord, send me!

Please consider a generous donation on behalf of the children and most of all, thank you for your prayers.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

"Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:13-15