On January 9th 2010 a group of ten students from Mason went down to Haiti. They had no idea what would be happening that week or what their futures would hold. This is their story.
Our team was in Petit Goave, about 10 miles from where the epicenter would take place. They would be there for a week to build latrine shelters and run a Bible school. On January 12th, when the earthquake hit, families and friends waited in fear to hear if they were okay. It was two days later when someone finally contacted the director back at McLean Bible Church letting everyone know they were okay. Once the students got back, we had to be quiet about it because they were being flown out secretly and were to only see their families for a week, mostly to let it all sink in. A few weeks later we got to hear their accounts.
They remember that throughout the night, they could hear screams and weeping as the aftershocks swept through. There were tremors throughout the night, about 5 minutes apart, so if they did get sleep it wasn't for long. They slept outdoors to avoid buildings collapsing on them. Our team soon realized that they were needed down there more than ever. And for the rest of the week tried to help out as best they could.
But missions trips are never one sided. They found that just as Jesus was the solid rock on which they stood, and that the earthquake had only strengthened their love of Jesus, they saw that the Haitians did not waver either. Before they left, one of the kids came up to a volunteer and told her that his family had been killed in the earthquake. The volunteer was moved but didn't know what to say, so she just hugged him. Then the kid said, "but God has this all in His plan, He will work this out."
Then a parent came up to one of the other volunteers and told them that God had let them experience this and see what is happening in Haiti, and now that they know, they should go back and tell everyone their story. And that is why I'm here.
There was screaming and wailing through the night, but in the morning they were singing praises! It was an amazing experience, and I have some pictures to share with you also, but first let me talk about World Hope.
World Hope is the organization we work with in many things (Seesaws Against Slavery is coming up soon- that's to stop human trafficking in Cambodia, we seesaw for those who can't, who's childhood has been taken away from them). World Hope is working with the Haitian 'government' and currently have a hospital down there to help out. It was temporary until a few days ago when we raised $8000 plus an annonymous donation to reach $15000 to make it a permanent medical center!!
Their link:
http://www.hope-international.com/index.php?gclid=CIqt-Z255qACFUlP2godpWhEEw
their youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/worldhopeorg
Our blog where you can go back to January to read about the event:
http://thegatheringblog.com/
Pictures in the next post, this will be IMAGE HEAVY.
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