Open Door Haiti
On August 3-10, 2011, The Edge traveled to Haiti to partner with Open Door Haiti.
Jesus commissioned us to make disciples of all nations—His mission is worldwide. However, it’s easy for us to lose sight of that vision and stay focused on what’s happening in our world. We want to give every student, at some point in their high school years, a chance to visit another country in order to get a vision for what God is doing in other parts of the world and how we can be a part of it. Our hope was that after this trip, students would leave with:
- A lifetime commitment to be involved in missions, to whatever degree God calls you (through giving, sending, and praying or going).
- A bigger picture of God through seeing the way He is at work there.
- An appreciation for differences in culture and a greater understanding of the different cultures around you even in the US.
- A deeper trust in God through being stretched in new ways.
- Greater compassion and gratitude from personally witnessing real poverty.
- Lifelong relationships with the team you serve alongside.
Why Haiti?
- Jennifer knows Doug Holliday, the US founder of Open Door Haiti (ODH), very well, so it is a ministry we am very familiar with, trust, and are excited to be able to serve.
- Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, but it is our neighbor. Going to Haiti gives our group the chance to fully experience international ministry (poverty, unfamiliar language, different culture and all) without spending the extra money or time to fly further.
- ODH is a ministry God is using greatly in its local context. It is a ministry that is growing and producing fruit, and they can share many stories of things happening that only God could pull off! They currently have a church, school, feeding center, and youth ministry training program, and they are working on building an orphanage and widow’s village. They have big dreams and have seen God provide in many ways, but they are also in need of help from others to make it all happen. It will be a great ministry to serve alongside.
What did we do in Haiti?
We helped train 200 Haitian students at an Equip conference, where they learned to care for their friends and share Christ with the lost. Every member of our team was able to do some of the teaching, implementing their own creativity and personality in the interactive activities they included. We also got to help paint an orphanage they’re building, which they’re hoping to open up this year. You can read more about our experiences at our blog.
