Last November

Late last year, one of our teams had the opportunity to work alongside Pastor Poyis and his staff to build a church and continue building relationships with the kids in our Children’s Homes. Seeing God’s work through this ministry is a blessing, and I hope these stories are as encouraging to you as they are to me!

Saturday

On the flight to Port-au-Prince, many of the Haitians around us started talking loudly back and forth to each other. We couldn’t make sense of it, and then a woman started collecting money—and to our surprise, many of the Haitians pulled out their wallets. She collected cash until it was time to land, and seemed to gather quite a bit of it. We didn’t know what it was all about until we left the plane and asked one of the English-speaking people what had happened. We were told that she was collecting money for the family of a young person who had been killed in Haiti. I don’t know much more than this, but my impression is that the average Haitian will contribute to helping others in need.

Ronalt and Ernst picked us up and loaded the van for our drive to Onaville. I am thankful for these men. If you have read any of my past journals, you have read about these drives through the city; it is hard to explain if you have never been to a third-world country. The car will slow down and you will see lots of people on the streets. Hundreds of people—of all ages—sitting along the side of the road and selling things: food, clothes, medicine, car supplies, and much more. It never appears that many are buying. According to Poyis, the average Haitian is unemployed, and this is the only way they know to make a little money. Many people have no purpose other than to go, sit, and try. They do this day after day.

It was busy and hectic as we drove, and it took us longer than usual to get to the compound. Once we arrived, I led a short devotional, and we spent the rest of the evening resting and getting to know each other as a team.

Sunday

We woke up to music from the church. They were beginning to practice, and it sounded beautiful (even though we didn’t understand the words). During the service, I noticed that only the secondary-age kids from the children’s home were in the room—the other 100 were in children’s church. Praise the Lord for growing our ministry to these young people. Justin, one of the kids I’ve been getting to know, was helping to lead singing up front in the main service. He is probably fifteen, came to the children’s home about one year ago, and speaks OK English. It was cool to see him up there, sharing in fellowship with his church family; I don’t know Justin’s story, but I do know that he was rescued. Seeing him that Sunday was an incredible blessing.

For more information about Haiti’s culture and economy, visit connect2ministries.org/haiti.

Wiley Kennedy serves as Director of International Ministries with Connect 2 Ministries. To learn more about Wiley, visit Who We Are, and to learn more about how you can pray for the ministry, visit Pray.