As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope exists to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti. We desire to serve the nation of Haiti, and see lives changed.
As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope exists to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti. We desire to serve the nation of Haiti, and see lives changed.
In an instant 300,000 lives were lost and all lives were changed by the earthquake that shook Haiti to its very core two years ago today.
Now two years later God has taken the darkness of January 12, 2010 and is shining new Hope on Haiti. In the days after the earthquake Mission of Hope promised to serve the people of Haiti and praise God in 2011 we had our biggest year to date!
In 2011 Mission of Hope:
Will you help us bring More Hope in 2012? We plan to reach more, educate more, feed more, and bring more transformation for Jesus Christ. Will you help us see a Nation Transformed? Make a donation now!
See more ways we've brought life transformation in the past two years.
Remembrance...
As I stood in front of several hundred people, my mind raced back to the call I received telling me of the earthquake and the severity of it. The images for ever in my mind from CNN and Fox news of the country I had known since I was five.
I could feel once again the moment I landed in Haiti one day after the quake and saw the destruction, the thousands of people clutching to possessions and family they still had, walking out of the city. I thought of all of the tent city’s I had visited and driven by…the people, the smells, the horror of not knowing if life would ever get better.
I then recalled the day that I sat with our team and brainstormed MOH 500 and how we had to do this because people could not live like they were. They deserved Hope! Now, after hard work and much anticipation, the day had finally come to move families from the tents they had lived in for over a year and a half into a true home.
A new beginning...
As we began to call the names of the 103 families that would get their new homes this day, it was moving to be able to witness God’s transforming power right before our eyes. Mothers holding their babies walked forward to receive the keys to their new homes. As I congratulated them and said, "God bless you", the looks on their faces were worth all of the work. I wanted so badly for all of those who had worked so hard on this project and gave so much to be able to be there at that moment to see what God was doing. It was very special!
I am so thankful for our partner, Hope for Haiti, and so many other people that have given and worked to make this day possible for these families. It was an incredible day.
The challenge in the midst of it all…
As the day closed and the 103 families were smiling and moving into their new homes, I stepped away from it all to see the other side of the story. There were over 400 families that did not get their names called. These 400 families went back to the same blue tent homes they had existed in since January 2010. My heart broke for the father that has to look his baby in the face and try to explain to him why others have nice new homes and they have to continue in the misery.
I left challenged! Challenged that while we saw 103 families’ needs met, I saw over 400 with great need. I left challenged to one day be able to hand keys to each person there so that they can all see hope in action…challenged that they might not just hear the Gospel message we have been telling them about, but that they could actually see it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything about the earthquake, and in a way I hate to start again now, but the truth is January 12th, 2010 is a day that forever changed me.
The Earthquake itself was scary of course, how could it not be when you your cement house is wiggling like jello and things are smashing all around you? Yes, it was scary, but the earthquake isn’t what changed me. It was the aftershocks, the things I saw, the screaming, the wailing, the smells, the blank stares, the cracks everywhere, so many cracks.
A few days ago I was described as “fragile”. Not as a put down, but as a matter of fact statement. “I know you are fragile Rachel, but you don’t need to worry.”
I wasn’t really sure how to respond to this, but after spending some time reflecting I realized that it is true. I am fragile. I also realized that it’s ok.
My house has visible cracks, the walls, the ceiling, the stairs, the patio, the railing…you can see them all. You know the house was shaken, you can’t hide it, believe me we tried. My Dad came to Haiti a few months after the earthquake and filled every crack in my house. Not being able to see the cracks made a huge difference, but as time has gone on, and the earth continues to shake from time to time those cracks have started to show through. You can cover them up, but they won’t go away.
The same goes for me, although my cracks are much less visible, at least to those who don’t know me well. People don’t notice how jumpy I still am, or see my continued anxiety. Most people don’t know my heart pounds when not all the doors to the church are open, if an exit is blocked, or if I am not sitting on the end seat of the pew. They don’t see me wake up in a panic in the middle of the night desperately trying to convince myself the earth is not really shaking. Yes, it is easy to cover the cracks, but they are still there.
On one of my first visits to Canada after the earthquake my Aunt Helen shared a quote with me, “There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. “ I think about this often. Two years ago I would have been offended to be called fragile, but my fragility is a part of who I am now. My story includes January 12th. There are many cracks in this girl’s life, but those cracks let the light in, and I keep on pressing on, one step at a time.
Peace, love and light shining through,
Rachel
This past week marked the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, 2010. Even writing that sentence just made my heart drop thinking about the terror we experienced that day, and then the utter darkness that fell over this country 30 minutes after the quake hit, as night fell and the electric grid was down. It was a physical darkness, followed by many days of despair that followed, as the sun rose in Haiti on the 13th, and the world saw what remained.
It is painful to think about. And yet we have great hope in seeing the work that God has done – and continues to do – in bringing hope and restoration to this country and to the hearts of the Haitian people.
In my conversations with Haitians this week, I sensed a gratitude for the grace that God had bestowed on them, even in the depths of their pain. Still, though, the pain is very real, and it has affected every single Haitian, and the stories they share with me still pierce my heart. This week I was talking to one of the Mission of Hope drivers and I asked him how he was feeling. Even now, my heart hurts thinking about his answer.
He said he had been thinking a lot about his sister, who worked in the school at Mission of Hope, and who tragically died in the earthquake. He explained to me how she had just arrived home from school, and was getting prepared to head to church when the earthquake hit, and her house collapsed down on her.
My friend was telling me this story, and I didn’t know what to say except that my heart ached, and that I would pray for him. He then continued telling me that for the next three days after the quake, he was alone breaking up the concrete of his sister’s house to find her deceased body. Then, by himself, he dug a hole to properly bury his beloved sister.
And, understandably, he is still feeling the pain from the tragedy. I feel great sadness in hearing the story. This is pain that my friend and every other Haitian carry with them in remembering the day of the earthquake.
Truly though, our hope is in Jesus, who left everything to come to earth, to dwell among us, and to feel this same stinging pain so that He could redeem it. We have hope because our God is not oblivious to our pain, but instead He has experienced it, knows it, empathizes with us and sustains us in it, and gives us hope as we wait for Him to “make all things new.”
I wish you could have been in our church service at Mission of Hope on the anniversary, because the joy of Haitians rejoicing was profound. The service was a celebration, praising our merciful God who knows our pain, and by his grace, sustains us.
Still, the pain remains. The wounds will not soon go away, yet we believe that God will ultimately work them for good. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti.
Today, the anniversary of the earthquake was a tough day for those of us on MOH staff that were serving here during that horrible day..….
Mission of Hope had special church services this morning and this evening to commemorate the anniversary and it was packed!! People were spilling out of the church and onto the grass. There was standing room only. It was reminiscent of church in the weeks following the quake.
I think the most touching part of today was the worship this morning. I was expecting tears and wailing amongst our church members as they remembered the horror but it was quite the opposite. It was a picture of hope, a picture of the faithfulness of God. It was a picture of His grace, a picture of joy. People were dancing in the isles, smiles of pure joy on their faces at the sound and the beat of the music. Instead of tears and depression, instead of defeat and sorrow, I saw hope and laughter and an overwhelming joy just to be alive….. to have a second chance. People were praising God for his awesome power and His infinite grace.
I am constantly awed by the resiliency of my Haitian friends. How they take such suffering and move forward with hope. How even if they have lost their house, lost their babies, lost their wives or lost their sons, they sing out with thanks to God for their life. They sing out thanks to Jesus that even if they die from this world, Satan cannot really hurt them.
Thought provoking sermons by the MOH pastor challenged us all to think about the fact that it was only by the grace of God that we are all alive today standing there in the church. He is right. We were challenged to think about why. Why did God allow us to be spared? I can only think that for those of us that work at Mission of Hope, it is because He is not done with this ministry yet. He is not done using us for His purposes yet. He is not done working through us to bring life transformation to every man, woman and child in Haiti.
