In the United States

American Philosophy

Our goal is simple, “SPEAK UP for those who can’t SPEAK for themselves and help people be a part of something BIGGER than themselves.”  We try to live by that statement.

We know people have hundreds of opportunities daily to do “things” that are good.  Many people help their neighbors, volunteer their time, and give when no one is looking.  We applaud those people and their acts of service.  We however want to take it one step further.  Read Tim Sena’s article below and you’ll see what happens when someone takes their service from working in the United States to a place like Haiti.  We know that people’s acts of service are never the same once they’ve been to Haiti…in fact, they are not the same themselves.  Something about Haiti challenges people to move beyond simply serving.  Rather than serve someone from behind the serving line, we encourage people to move out from behind their comfort zone and get to know the people they serve–develop a relationship with them.  See what happens then…

“Learning Community”

by Tim Sena, United States Community Involvement Director

I still remember my first thought when my wife and I were on the bus to Leogone Haiti. I had never been to a 3rd world country. I had never experienced poverty like this. I had never been submerged in such a devastating place.

Most of my journal entries from my first night in Haiti was something like, WHY did this happen? HOW did this happen? Why hasn’t this been fixed? My mind was racing the first night. There were so many questions. There was so much to learn. My first trip to Haiti was hard. I broke my pinky toe the second night we were there. I decide to hike up to a school the day after I broke my toe.

Horrible idea.

That evening, after the hike, I woke up with 103 temp and thought I was dying. The nurse that was with the group was able to care for me ( I like to think she saved my life).

My first trip to Haiti was….interesting.

It wasn’t until we came home to the US that God started to show me the true beauty of Haiti. My wife and I drove back to our comfortable American lives with obvious excitement of what BGM (Brent Gambrell Ministries–the mission organization that introduced us to Haiti) was doing in Haiti and how we were able to “feed the poor”.

Little did I know that the poor were feeding me.

My wife and I went back to Haiti every year and every trip I fell more and more in love with the country. My journal entries gradually changed direction every time I would go back. I started to see beauty in the simple living. I started to think of what was keeping me from having community here in the US. We have so many things that separate us from simple living and the need for community. It’s easy for us to do things alone. In Haiti, they need each other. They know their neighbors. They eat with their neighbors. They help their neighbor. It often feels like one big family. When one is in need of something they all come together to lend a hand.

We have so much to learn from community in Haiti. I hope that we would go to Haiti to help, teach, feed and build, but I hope that we would go to Haiti with open eyes to learn. I hope that we would see the beauty in community.