Hello my fellow readers!
Yes, you read that title correctly! Haiti you ask? Well, I'm going to Haiti, March 1-8.
For those of you who may not have known me up until recently, I'll share a little background. In 2010 I had the opportunity to go to Haiti after the earthquake hit earlier that year. I went with a group from the church I attend and we partnered with an organization called: Forward Edge.
Upon arrival to Port Au Prince, the devastation was beyond anything even pictures could show... it was a "see it to believe" kind of moment. Surreal... Rubble everywhere, trash and water flooded all the main roads. People living in tent cities and chaos. Our hearts were broken with what we saw.
Getting to attend a Haitian church service opened my eyes to a kind of faith that I had always dreamed of for myself. These people, who in everyone else's eyes had lost everything, were there to worship the Lord and give Him their time and their best. Despite the obvious, things falling apart around them, they were much richer than I.
We went to Jacmel, Haiti to help build a school located on a Haitian Church property. We also helped to create a foundation for a house that was going to be built for a family of that church. It would be their first home. We were able to connect with the family we were building for, the pastor of the church and many children!
In 2012, members of my church again, went to Haiti. This time I stayed and felt God's calling in my life to just study counseling. I was very torn over this because my heart was for Haiti and for missions since a very young age. Despite my sadness of not going, I stayed and obeyed God's direction.
Little did I know that these few classes were intended to prepare me for January 2013. This is when God opened the door and said "Go!" And so I went to Haiti. This time to Carrefour where our church since 2012 has been invested in Mariani Church. [A little village within Carrefour].
It was amazing to see how far Haiti had come from the 2010 earthquake. Port au Prince had been cleared up to were the streets weren't completely flooded over with water and waste. There were still people living in tent cities right there in the capital and this will continue to take time. But the progress that had been made, was definitely worth God's praise!
In Carrefour, we visited Mariani church and we attended their service. It was so packed that the building itself seemed to burst at the seams with people who had come to hear the gospel. We went with the intention of helping to build a school on their property, upon arrival we saw that they had already done so. Not anything fancy but it was put up. This was a definite praise as well! This sort of movement and drive in the Haitian people is what we pray for. Their own church body had been saving money so that they could build it for the children. It's not finished completely and they would like to add more but now the children can have Sunday School.
We ended up working alongside the Haitians to expand their church. We had to level flooring to put down cement and get cinder blocks to extend the church walls. The goal was that so when people came to church, they wouldn't have to be outside in the heat of the day. That they would be covered. I was surprised by how much those counseling classes helped me. I was able to connect with people better, even through a language barrier. God is so good.
This leads me to why I am writing. I will be leaving for Haiti again, March 1-8 of this year, 2014.
If you would like to partner with us, Trinity Community Church in our project "Grow Mariani" you can visit http://tcchaiti.com/ and find out all kinds of information. Even a blog with a piece written from a team member who went with us last year.
We hope to go back to the Mariani Church and see how they are doing as well as helping to continue to build on the church and the school there.
There is also a town that we walked last year to do street ministry and that was very fruitful. Pray for those who were converted from Voodoo worship and are now serving the Lord. That discipleship would take root. There are lots of different areas that we have an opportunity to serve and we want to follow God's leading.
Please consider praying for our team. For safety, for opportunities to minister to those that God would place around us. Pray that we would go as "students", that we would be teachable. That the Lord would provide the people He wants to continue the ministry there long after we're gone. That once again, true discipleship would take root! Pray about whether the Lord would like you to give to this project.
If you're not the praying kind of person but would still like to help, you have an opportunity to give. At the website above, you can donate to the team as a whole or a team member. For a team member, all you need to do is type in my name. Amaris Nazario. Just click the "give" tab and it'll walk you through the steps for an online donation.
If you would like to send a check instead, make it payable to the church "Trinity Community Church", in the memo you can put "Haiti" if you like. DO NOT put my name on the check otherwise it will not be tax deductible. You can however, write my name on a post-it instead or separate letter to include WITH the check so that they know who's fundraising account to put it towards.
Thank you for taking the time to go through this rather lengthy letter. I look forward to sharing with you all how this trip of 2014 goes. I expect God will do great things! In the team as a whole and as individuals.
If you have any questions about the trip, Haiti in general, my experiences while being there and other projects we will be doing or if you would like to give please feel free to contact me by using the "contact me" form here on my blog. I'd love the chance to communicate with you and thank you personally for any donations!
Thank you!
