by Josh Gray, EM Regional Coordinator
I just returned from leading the first EM mission trips in Petit Goave, Haiti. This is a new location for our ongoing work in Haiti, and there's too much to describe in a short post, so I'm going to talk about two things in the community—the children and the Free Methodist Church.
First, let's talk about the children. There's this neighborhood on the east side of town, and if you spend a little time there one of the first things you'll notice is that there are kids... everywhere. From toddlers to pre-teens, they're all full of energy and creativity. Life in Haiti can be slow, so they must find creative outlets in order to pass the hours. These include freestyle rapping, body contortions, endless posing for the camera, etc. These kids are full of potential and they have a strong desire to learn, as evidenced by their efforts to learn English from the mission trip teams that came to serve in the community.
As I interacted with the kids, I couldn't help but wonder what the future held in store for them. For all of their youthful zeal, life is likely to fight back with an equal measure of difficulties, and for some them the difficulties may prove to be too much. In spite of their desire to learn, many of their parents lack the means to send them to school. As they grow up, they'll all be entering a broken economy with few stable employment opportunities. If they don't make it through high school, they'll find themselves behind the curve before they even start.
Some of these young men will grow up and fall in love with a beautiful girl, but they won't marry her because they see no way to support a family. Human nature will kick in, and many of them will end up with children anyway, and they won't see a way to support their child and his/her mother. Some will stick it out and do their best to provide for their families, but some will give up because it's too hard. Some of these young women will bear the children of those young men who leave, and they will be left with no viable way to support their kids, so the cycle will continue. This story is so common in Haiti that it's not seen as remarkable. It's just life.
I grew up in a middle class American family with stable income, and I can't say that I relate to the kind of challenges these children will face. You see when I was a child I grew up with the assumption that I would have the opportunity to receive a quality education after which I could pursue a viable job and build a good life. This turned out to be true. Yet even for those of us who were born into opportunity, life can still be hard. We all deal with insecurities, fears, broken relationships, tragedy, failure, etc. This is part of being human, and in every kind of environment you will find people that end up drowning in life's difficulties. Imagine if in addition to all of these common human struggles you were faced with constant, unrelenting poverty. That is the future for most of these kids.
In the face of such looming adversity, many people give up hope of actually helping their communities, but there are others who see a need and use the little resources they have to begin addressing it. That brings us to our second topic, the Free Methodist Church. They have one small, unfinished church building in this same neighborhood. They draw in a minuscule amount of annual tithes, but they're using the little resources they have to hold classes for children in their community who can't afford the larger, more established schools in the area.
They have 15-20 kids attending their school each day, but there are more kids who are not being reached. We announced that the mission trip team would hold Kids Club at this church while we were there, and we were shocked when over 100 kids showed up on foot. That is why our primary project focus with the teams was constructing an addition to their existing church building. More space equals opportunity for more kids.
To me this is what our mission trips are about. We identify people who are actively serving their local communities with the resources that they have, and we seek to come alongside them and help them to serve more effectively. No short-term mission trip team fixes the problems of a community in a week, but maybe, if we help people reach their own community, there can (over a period of years) be lasting positive change.
In case you're wondering, much work was accomplished on the new building addition, but with only two small teams this summer we weren't able to complete the project. If you're looking for a mission trip for next spring or summer, I invite you to come to Petit Goave and become a part of this story. You won't regret it.
LEARN MORE | 2015 Mission Trips to Haiti
Site developed and hosted by Skycog, Inc.