Life Transformation

 its a transformed heart, that transforms lives, that transforms villages,

that transforms nations

Our vision statement at Mission of Hope is that as an organization following Jesus Christ, we exist and seek to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti. 

Life transformation. I think before my internship in the fall, and throughout the beginning of my time here, I would have told you that Haiti needs a lot of money. That money is the solution to this poverty. As I began vision casting to my teams, living life with people who believed that vision without a doubt, and spent more time here, that view began to change.

I can truly say now without a doubt that I believe that the way to change this third world country is the Gospel. It is. Because it's a transformed heart that is going to transform this nation. Resources help, but without the Gospel we're missing it. We're missing it. If we have well-fed, educated students walking around, sure they would be more successful, but where's the eternal impact there? If we want to truly love this nation and these people, then we need to care more about them having eternal victory in Jesus.

At MOH one of our core resolutions is "Evangelistic Saturation;" that in everything we do we want the Gospel to be heard, seen, and felt. So that includes the medical clinic, the schools, painting houses, spending time in the villages, the food program, everything we do! Education is one of many vehicles that we use to share the Gospel in Haiti; a way MOH seeks to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti. Each child in our schools is receiving a Christ-centered worldview education. That child is learning about Jesus, and is able to take that back home with them and their family.  We are using education to advance the Gospel. By sponsoring a child, making an individual investment in one child, you can help change this nation from wherever you are right now. We believe that this nation will be changed one child at a time!

If you have read the guest post about God pairing sponsors and students you'll remember that only the Lord knew that the sponsor and the student had similar life experiences and hurts that the sponsor could use to bring hope to the student. That sponsor didn't know anything about the student when she picked her out; only the Lord could arrange such a heart connection. Imagine how the Lord could use you in a student's life, to come along side them and tell them you believe in them, encourage them, partner with them to let their dreams for their lives become a reality, and most of all that they would hear about the love of Jesus and so be eternally impacted.

I'll leave you with a story from last week.

I'm visiting one of our schools in Turpin with one of our Haitian Child Sponsorship staff members. We're waiting on some of the students to finish their letters and waiting on some to get back from break. As we're waiting, I'm sitting in a conversation between two Haitians that have both lived in mountain villages, have left and gotten an education, and now live in Port au Prince. One of the Haitians is Mr. Frenel, a member of our Child Sponsorship staff. Mr. Frenel got so fired up about the importance of returning to the mountain to help. "Don't forget where you came from," he said to the young teacher he had just met. "Go back and share that knowledge that you've gotten or else nothing will change." He talked about selfish ambitions and how those hinder change. How it's not about having a car or nice house. "If you have a student living beside you that needs to go to school, give them money to go to school. Food if they need it." The kids that smoke weed near Mr. Frenel's house he says are his responsibility. Mr. Frenel spoke with such passion. Such boldness in encouraging someone that he had just met. This guy he was talking to is a teacher at a school in the mountains and travels over an hour each day, each way, down an unpaved road. He's still in school. And Mr. Frenel is on staff with the Sponsorship program. He takes any chance he can to encourage teachers and students on things they should be doing daily like personal hygiene, helping family and friends, and living a life of daily prayer. The Lord is using these two men and many others to change this nation.

Join me in praying for them.  For Mr. Frenel and that teacher. For all Haitians. They will change Haiti! Let's empower them. And provide them with the resources they need to carry out the vision they have for their country. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring a child today?

Lastly, I pray that all of the lists, the sponsor visits, the excel spreadsheets, the gifts, letters, serve as a reminder, a gentle whisper from above that it's about transformed hearts. It's about pointing them to Jesus knowing he's the only thing that can change Haiti. 

 

 

Sophia, the 3 year old that I sponsor.