Originally published August 26, 2014 The contrasts are what keep coming back around to surprise me. The contrast between the summer temperatures here and there. The contrast between traffic here and there. The contrast between a meal here and there. The contrast between me filling a glass with cold, clean water from a tap and a child pleading for “dlo” from a small plastic bag sold on the side of a hot, dangerous road. But most of all, I keep thinking of the contrast between the smog-filled skies as we flew into Port-au-Prince and the startlingly clear sky on … Continue reading Seek ye first….

  Originally published August 14, 2014 The old school bus rattled along the highway too fast, it seemed, especially considering the frequency of vehicles approaching at similar speeds from the other direction on our side of the two-lane road. To be fair, we spent nearly as much time on their side of the road, as speed limits in Haiti seem to be determined by the speed at which one’s vehicle can move. So you’re always passing or being passed, and about half the time, if you have the courage to look down the road through the front window of your … Continue reading ‘Haiti is a beautiful place.’

  Originally published August 18, 2014 The children seem to come from nowhere and everywhere. Even before one of the team members took the first soccer ball from his pack, there were curious children coming through the gate into the scrub-covered field outside of the health clinic where we were set up for the morning. First there were two or three and then four or five. When the first soccer ball — covered in scripture written in the Creole language — came out of the pack, it was as if the Pied Piper had sounded his flute, and soon we … Continue reading Suffer the Little Children

  Originally published August 13, 2014 In a little more than 24 hours, 27 people from Virginia, North Carolina and Illinois will board two different aircraft bound for Miami and then Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for a seven-day mission trip to the small town of Montrouis, 47 miles from the nation’s capital. Mission trips are not about numbers. They’re about showing the love of Christ, with the goal of planting seeds in fertile soil and harvesting the fruits of those who have planted before. The Holy Spirit ultimately brings the increase, as the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are watered … Continue reading Five loaves, two fish and 27 gardeners