Single Digits!

We’re officially in the single digits…..9 more days until we depart for Haiti!  As one of the co-leaders for the trip, I’m ready for the day to come. 

Last year, I had the privilege of taking my first international mission trip to Kenya through GlobalX and The 410 Bridge.  After the initial stress of fundraising, the remaining few months were easy as I attended a few meetings, got a couple shots (hands down the most difficult part for me) and began to form bonds with my fellow trip members, all while eagerly anticipating our departure.

This year, as a leader, I’ve noticed the tasks only ramp up as the departure day nears.  Along with my wonderful co-leader Hannah, we’ve spent the past few months scheduling team meetings and a retreat, creating environments for our team to forge relationships with one another, helping formulate an itinerary and curriculum, establishing our team culture, finalizing travel arrangements and documentation and much more.

At times it can be a bit overwhelming, but we have such an incredible group of students on our team and we want nothing more than to provide them the best opportunity to serve and further develop their own personal relationship with Christ.   

To continue our preparations, eight of us met this past Monday night at Blue Moon Pizza in Buckhead for an evening of good food and camaraderie (and a poor attempt at taking the Monday night trivia title).  With classes winding down for many of the students, it was a great way to unwind / take a break from the stress of finals as well as continue building relationships with fellow team members.

Our final team meeting will be this Sunday night.  A majority of our time will be dedicated to preparing for the specific tasks we’ve been assigned while in Haiti.  The 410 Bridge, the local organization that we (Buckhead Church / North Point Ministries) are partnering with, has identified a few needs that we’ll help address while there.

First off, along with local community members, we’ll be helping widen a road in the community of Bohoc.  The road is currently too narrow for certain trucks to pass through, thus limiting the amount of crops locals are able to ship to the market to sell.  In addition, we’ll be helping teach English to students in the local schools and after school programs.  Finally, we’ve dedicated some time to playing with some of the local kids to help spread the love of Jesus to a group of children and orphans. 

One thing to note regarding our projects, The 410 Bridge has a very strategic plan in Haiti that utilizes a holistic community development model.  Theycollaborate with local indigenous community leaders to determine what their best resources are and how they can best leverage those resources. They don’t do for the local Haitian communities what the local Haitian communities can do for themselves.  At the end of the day, The 410 Bridge measures success not by what each American team does while on the ground in Haiti, but what the local community is able to do for themselves. 

As the trip nears, I couldn’t be more excited about what the Lord has in store for us as a group.  My hope is that the students have a life-changing week, pouring into the people of Haiti and spreading the love of Christ to so many; in turn, I’m confident our Lord will pursue each of the them throughout our journey (before, during and well after the trip) and find a variety of ways for them to get to know Him in a much more intimate way. 

As always, we continue to ask for your prayers for our team as we prepare our hearts for the journey ahead; and pray for the people we’ll be encountering on our journey (in the airport, on the plane, in Haiti, when we get back home) that they’ll see His love, grace and compassion in each of us. 

Bonswa!

Jason