A couple of weeks ago, a team from Summit Church traveled to Haiti to do God’s work of spreading the Gospel to every man, woman and child. This was done once again with our partner, Mission of Hope. Our team was Kevin Potter (me), Gabby Foglia, John Keller, Courtney Blackmer, Stephanie Elwell and Liv Santana. We also met our partner churches from Buffalo for a full team of 35. During our week in Haiti we set up four mobile medical clinics, two in Leveque and two in the village of Bercy. We saw a total of 495 patients in that four days dealing with issues ranging from blood pressure and blood sugar issues to vague neck and back pain. And of those, 25 accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior with 13 decisions for Christ on Friday alone. We also were able to paint two homes inside and out, join in a goat dedication(!) where a family was selected to receive a male and female goat and agreed to share the offspring with their neighbors. We also helped several families gain access to clean water and taught them how to maintain the system to keep providing it, planted several trees around some homes in the villages and other various projects.
I’ve been asked what has impressed me most from this trip, with this being my third time going to Haiti and to MOH. As the team leader I had the opportunity to watch my teammates from a different perspective. And it was awesome to watch how God’s love became clear in all of them. If you have ever seen that time-lapse video of a flower opening, well that’s what it seemed like. The physical part of what we were doing was sometimes difficult but seeing the looks of appreciation for our effort made everything worth it. Some of these appreciative looks would come from Hatian women who would be carrying heavy loads perfectly balanced on their heads. This can help explain some of that vague neck and back pain we had mentioned earlier. Another moment that has always moved me is attending the Church of Hope on the main MOH campus in Titanyen. With most of the service in Creole many of us are unable to understand the spoken words but when you close your eyes the feeling is powerful. They worship with no fear of judgment from others and I think we can all learn from that.
God will call us to serve Him as He commands and for me this has come as service in Haiti. Every trip has been unique with the experiences they have provided and it becomes clearer and clearer how God is working in and through all of us. There is a lot of planning that goes into these short-term trips and there are many ways to be involved. Supplies that are required, both food and medical, need to be collected and these supplies may need to be prepared and packed for travel. In addition some team members may need sponsorship as these trips can be a financial burden to some.
For anyone interested in any of our upcoming trips click here to see those dates. Our next missions are both in July, one a family trip to Haiti and the other to the Dominican Republic. Please keep us all in your prayers. Thank you and God Bless.
Kevin T. Potter