Mission Haiti
By Lauren, Seth & Ken Ashley
Lauren, Seth and I had the opportunity to 'mission trip' to Haiti this summer. We were looking for a God-inspired family adventure - something that would take us out of our Christian comfort/safety zone and take the commandment to serve others to an entirely deeper and more personal experience; a way to take what we knew in our heads, felt in our hearts, and get it out through our hands and feet.
We found that in Haiti. With no cell phones, Internet, Twitter, or other distractions of modern life, it was much easier to hear God's voice (in Haitian Creole!) and see Jesus in the smile of an orphaned Haitian child.
As a father of teenagers, I see Lauren and Seth starting to make life choices: school, career, friends, etc. At the doorstep of adult life, I wanted them to answer the questions, "Are you willing to be open to God's will for your life? Are you willing to be sent?" After this mission trip, more than any other time in their lives, I have seen Lauren and Seth wrestling with these questions. Am so proud of what they accomplished, witnessed and shared from this experience.
Rejoice Always
My trip to Haiti was very eye opening. From the moment our trip began in Port au Prince, we were all changed forever. Seeing the level of poverty that Haitians live in was crazy and saddening. We knew it would be bad, but we did not expect it to be as bad as it was.
The Port au Prince airport was a very chaotic and hectic pla
ce to be. We loade
d the van and drove to the MH4H dorm in the town of
Pignon. The three-hour drive was very bumpy, to say the least. We arrived safely at the dorm, and got to
work.
We did everything from pouring concrete floors, to delivering food to those in extreme poverty, helping out at John Robert's school, planting banana trees, and much more.
Of all the things we did, some of my favorite memories come from the friendships I formed. Every day after we were done working, I would hang out in the courtyard. One of the friends I made there was a 17-year-old boy named Ishmael. He spoke pretty decent English, and we got to know each other well. We talked about many things including God and aspirations for our lives. These were some of the most humbling conversations I've had. Ishmael's goal is to become a pastor and engineer, and he is working hard to overcome the obstacles that prevent him from getting there. Just listening to his struggles made my life seem a whole lot easier.
The friendships I made will stay with me forever. In Haiti, mentally handicapped people are looked down upon and ostracized every day. I got to know several and will always treasure them. I met a man named Samuel who got to stay in the MH4H courtyard during the day. He was a joy to be around, and is one of the nicest people I've ever met. Another was a 9-year-old boy named Boko, who had what seemed to be Down syndrome. It was hard to say good-bye to him when we left. Boko had not been seen very often by the MH4H mission staff, so we encouraged him to stop by the courtyard often to find a place that welcomed him. From what I've heard, he has been stopping by the courtyard almost daily since we left Haiti!
The one thing that struck me the most about the Haitians was the joy and hope they always seemed to have. Their desperate situation doesn't seem to faze them. They did not wallow in self pity. It seemed to me that Haitians were happier that the average American! The Haitians never felt sorry for themselves. They always kept working hard and hoping for the best. This is a huge lesson for us. As we were departing, we talked to a friendly Haitian who has checking our bags. He said something that I felt summed up the Haitian plight, "While we may be poor, we are all very good people. And this is why I believe that Haiti will be rich someday."