"Men anpil, chay pa lou."

We wanted to share the thoughts of one of our team members, Jaclynn Balas,  as she returned back to LA.

Over a week later, although quickly falling back into the comforts of life in Los Angeles, I find myself missing Haiti. I miss the smiling faces that eagerly greeted us each morning, the delicious meals all thoughtfully prepared and the simplicity we found in silence. As I reflect on my second trip, friends and family ask the normal questions; did you see the same children, how long were you there, when are you going back and why…

There is a Haitian proverb that goes, “many hands make the load lighter.” That is my hope for our visits to Haiti. That we may be one of the many hands that make the load lighter, that we may slowly but surely support and contribute to long term change headed by our Haitian brother’s and sisters and that we accept that our loads are becoming lighter too. My visits to Haiti haven’t been filled with spa treatments, shopping trips or lavish meals as some “travels” are/do but what I have gained from my visits is something far less tangible and much more valuable- CLARITY.  There is a level of transparency in Haiti you don’t find in Los Angeles, an honest vulnerability. Once you see the reality of someone else’s life, once you share experiences and empathize with fears and hopes, you realize that we are all so similar at the core. Haiti has taught me how to expand my “comfort zone,” how to accept that sometimes I’m the one that needs help and that we really are all brothers and sisters. I’m excited to see how Christ will continue to transform ALL of our lives in the coming months, I’m eager to go back to Haiti to see our friends and I’m hopeful that more people will hear and answer the call to lighten the load. 

Sharing smiles

We have been back for a week now and are getting back into the swing of things. We are gathering all of our pictures and videos and will begin sharing profiles of our borrowers in the next couple of week, so please continue to follow us as we want to be able to share the stories of our borrowers with as many people as possible. We were so blessed to get to know these men better and get a picture of what God has planned for them. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few pictures of the kids, who were definitely one of the highlights of the trip and put smiles on all of our faces!

Pastor Jean Paul is opening a restaurant in downtown LaPlaine and we were blessed to get a sneak peek, as you can see from the team picture below. The restaurant will be in an area that has city hall and quite a few banks and other businesses. Since there are no other restaurants in the area, there is a lot of excitement about the new opening, and we are excited to share that it will employ members of the church and create a lot of job opportunities.

Finally, tonight, we ask that you keep the people of Haiti in your prayers as the results of their presidential election have been announced. We continue to pray for peace and safety in the streets of Haiti.