Haiti Mission Trip
July 2008
“Lespwa pou Ayiti”
You may all be wondering what “Lespwa” means. Lespwa means hope in Kreyol, the language spoken in Haiti. The above phrase is exactly what 38 people set out to do this summer. “Hope for Haiti.” Of course, when you set out to give hope to others, you always come back inspired. That is exactly what happened to ACT’s two mission teams who traveled into Port de Paix, Haiti with the Lashbrook Family Ministries this summer, once in May and the other in July. We want to share with you a little of the hope we shared and the inspiration we were blessed with in return.
July Trip… The July trip’s emphasis is a basketball camp and birthday party for all of the children of the orphanage. This was the 7th basketball camp. There are two camps held each day. The morning camp is for the younger boys and the afternoon for the older boys and/or those who have attended a camp in the past. One of the projects associated with the camp is giving away shoes to those who attend camp but have no shoes. We gave away over 60 pairs of shoes this year. We all enjoy watching them strut back out to the court after receiving their pair of shoes. The highlight of the camp is the last day. We have a big tournament with uniforms and medals. It is so exciting to see the boys as they wear their medals. We also provided a meal for all of those who attended the basketball camp. It is so gratifying to see some of the boys be able to eat a complete meal. Our hearts were broken as we saw some boys who were not a part of the camp “sneak in” and scrape the pans and plates in order to find food to eat.
The group also put on a birthday party for all of the children in the orphanage. We brought in enough supplies to make 31 pizzas and gifts for each of the children.
The rest of our time on both trips was used to begin painting the outside of all of the children’s home buildings, make “home visits” (gallon zip lock bags filled with lotions, tooth paste and toothbrushes, shampoo, soaps, etc.), and spend time with the children of both the children’s home and the adoption home (the crèche). We are already planning next year’s trips to take the hope of Christ into Haiti!
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