We talk often about how our kids are growing, but something you might not know is how excited they are to serve others. Recently the flooring in the Children’s Home storage room was redone, so Poyis took an opportunity to involve the kids while putting supplies back after the renovation. These supplies had all been used for previous VBSs—paper, glue, scissors, pencils, and other school supplies—and in the course of putting these things away, Poyis asked a group of the older students what they should do with the extras they were discovering. Their first suggestion was to use them to put on a VBS for other churches in the community, because they had loved VBS with the American teams who had come to them.

And our older kids haven’t done just one VBS for other churches, but several. They love to help where needed, and they take initiative as they see opportunities. When COVID hit last year and the supply of boxes in the US stopped, Children’s Hunger Fund had no way of getting material to Port-au-Prince, but they still committed to supplying funds. That enabled us to purchase food in the country and create our own packing system to supply bags for distribution in our pastors’ communities. Our older kids are the ones who packed the bags along with the Mercy Network pastors. They volunteered right when they saw the chance to serve, and because of their eagerness to help, we were able to extend God’s love to people in Haiti who had very little food during a particularly challenging time.

Although our kids don’t have a mom and dad, they are being trained to live in community and think often of how they can meet others’ needs. The influence of the church, Poyis, and our Haitian staff is incredible in this regard. They lead by example, and the kids pick up so much just from watching their leaders live godly lives.

This year, we’ve been working to Give This Christmas by collecting donations for audio Bibles and other important items. Our kids are looking forward to serving again by packing shoe-box sized packages with first aid and hygiene supplies, and many of these boxes will even include an audio Bible. We’re excited about this fresh opportunity to extend the love of Christ through the local church in Haiti, using the resources you’ve generously helped provide.

If you want to support our outreach efforts in Haiti this Christmas, visit connect2ministries.org/share-hope-this-christmas