Food. It’s nothing when you have it and feels like everything when you don’t. It seems unfair that some have an abundance and others have none. It seems unfair that in the states we have an excess of food that is thrown in the trash every day, when there are people just hours away dying of starvation. Or even worse, that some could be throwing food away when people are suffering from hunger pains right next door. And yet, what can we do?
There seems no simple response. For I cannot ship my leftovers from dinner to those starving in Haiti. I cannot even feasibly give my leftovers to those living down the street at times. Starvation seems to be the easiest, and yet the hardest problem to solve all at the same time.
Yet, God calls us to feed the hungry. He calls us to take care of the orphans and widows. What will be our response?
As we reflect on our most recent trip to Haiti we see this problem, and can’t get the images out of our heads.
While we were in Haiti this past week we were able to spend time with the kids at Faith House and share meals together. We are thankful to report that these children are receiving three meals a day, and we loved being able to share in some of these meals beside them. We also loved being able to introduce some of them to pizza for the first time as well as just enjoy a special treat or two throughout the week!
We were also able to participate and be the official sponsor of the first surf competition in the history of Haiti through the organization Surf Haiti. This not only allowed us to do a feeding with some of the local kids, but gave us a chance to promote the local economy by bringing in tourists to the area. Ultimately, supporting families in a more sustainable way than even giving them that one meal could.
We are blown away by all that God is doing in Haiti already and the small ways in which we get to serve him by serving the people of Haiti.
We don’t know what the solution is. We don’t always know the best way to answer God’s call to feed the hungry. We don’t yet know what that means for our lives here in the states, and what might need to change. What we know is that God calls us to respond. He calls us to action. So we go, and we take care of the orphans and the widows, and the homeless, and we bring the message of hope with us, knowing that only God can meet the deepest needs of the people. Only God can change a heart. Only God can bring real and lasting change to a desperate country and a desperate people. So we look to him, and we trust that he will guide us as we look forward to the future of Espwa Ministries and what God has in store for the country of Haiti.
A couple of our leaders will be headed back in a few short weeks. We will be working with the Surf Haiti organization hosting a vacation bible school/surf camp which will include multiple meals for the community. We will also be working with Faith House orphanage as well as holding a one-day camp for the community of Dessources which is small village outside of Port-Au-Prince. Stay tuned on our website and Instagram to stay up to date on this upcoming trip. We ask for your prayers as we go and if you would like to donate we thank you in advance.
Thank- You!!!
By: Carrie Bernard
