May 27- June 1, 2016
We can do no great things, only small things with great love.
— Mother Theresa
Serving the Poorest of the Poor
I often talk about the “poorest of the poor” when describing so many of the people and conditions in Haiti.
In our daily visits to bring food and medical care to the poorest villages in our area, we see the suffering of a people who have long lived in a world of extreme poverty, political corruption and roving gangs that prey upon the people who are trapped in that poverty.
The United Nations describes poverty as, “the inability of getting choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.” This is the Haiti to which we brought God’s word 35 years ago, and daily we face the wretched conditions of its people, “the poorest of the poor.”
When a person is considered to be among the poorest of the poor, it doesn’t really matter in which country they live, because the poorest of the poor are trapped in the same circumstances around the world. To be considered the poorest of the poor their income is less than $1.25 a day, they probably have not eaten real food in weeks, and there is enormous suffering from malnutrition and starvation, to death from one of the many diseases that fester within the clusters of poor people everywhere. With no hope in sight, many of these poor people are lost in despair and severe deprivation of basic human needs.
This Haitian family was deported from the Dominican Republic back to Haiti. They have no family here and they do not speak the Creole language of the Haitians. They are among the growing number of displaced families who have been dumped back into Haiti, but who have not lived here for generations and they have nowhere to go.
Someone once asked me, “What does hunger look like?” These four children live in a remote village, and often go without food for days at a time. The younger children have been eating dirt, small rocks, and even goat feces to fill their bellies. The youngest child is swollen and her hair is red and brittle as a result of severe Kwashiorkor malnutrition and they all have worms and other parasites. This is what hunger looks like! They are all so sad! It breaks my heart every day!
We face the world of poverty and loss here in Haiti every day. We have taken on the challenges that come to us with our faith deeply rooted in the belief that God has brought us to Haiti to change the human condition of some of the poorest people in the world.
Getting food to the poorest of the poor in Haiti is not easy. These families live near the top of high mountains, sleep huddled together on the ground, walk for miles to find water, and try to grow crops for food. It is difficult for Haitians to grow gardens because of very little rainfall and poor soil conditions. Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Our “Gospel” is our “love in action.”
There are so many children in Haiti who are starving, their families have had to feed them Bon Bon Té (mud cookies) because they have no food. With the lack of rain, the crops have failed for the last four harvests and water sources are drying up around the country.
It’s hard to believe that just one hour and forty-five minutes from the shores of Miami, there are many poor children in Haiti who “work very hard making Bon Bon Tè” (mud cookies) to eat and to sell to other hungry children. This is not God’s will. The Lord wants us to feed these hungry children He has put in our path, so they will never have to eat “dirt cookies” again.
We recently traveled with our Mobile Medical Team to the remote village of Savaan Pit. We had a wonderful team of medical volunteers that saw nearly 1,400 people in two days. Our volunteers provided medical care to the poorest of the poor. There are no doctors or nurses in these mountains, so we took the medical care to the Haitians living there.
It is for these precious people, that we have created our Feeding Program. You can’t look into the eyes of these children and then turn away without trying to relieve their suffering.
If you will keep your eyes and heart open, God will show you someone each day that He wants you to care for. When you care for the poorest of the poor, the great blessings of Psalms 41:1-3 (Seven Supernatural Blessings) will come upon your life! “Love is something you do!”
As we travel into the “regions beyond,” we find more families in desperate need of food, clothing and other basic human needs. Young or old, they suffer alike.
It is up to all of us to do our part and show God’s love to these forgotten people. Help us bring food, medical care, compassion and the Word of God to those whose need is so great.
There are so many Haitians who lack for the most basic needs like clean water, food, medicine and shelter.
Love A Child creates outreach programs to help the people of Haiti.
We bring food to those in need through our Feeding Programs in schools, villages and distribution to 70 other missionary organizations here in Haiti. Still, the extent of the need here is so alarming that we are constantly making appeals for new partners with a heartfelt desire to help the poorest of the poor.
Our Child Sponsorship program is another great way to reach out to the poor, and provide a future for thousands of Haitian children every day. Sponsored children are able to attend school, receive a Christian education, eat a hot, nutritious meal each day, and receive medical attention when they are sick. There is no greater gift than your love and compassion to a child in need.
We thank God for our missionary partners, who feed and care for thousands of Haitian children that are truly the poorest of the poor. We receive our donated food from Feed My Starving Children and we pay to transport the food from Minnesota to the Love A Child Kingdom Connection Food Distribution Center. This begins with trucking the food to Miami and loading it on to a cargo ship for a 17-day trip to Haiti. The next big obstacle is getting through Haiti’s customs, which always takes a miracle, and finally transporting it to our Love A Child Kingdom Connection Food Distribution Center. From there, it goes to villages and schools all over Haiti, our Malnutrition Center, and we also share with 70 other organizations that feed children throughout Haiti. Thank you, partners!
There is still so much we can all do to help the children of Haiti, their families and the communities, while bringing hope and dignity to all of these people. They say it takes a village to raise a child, we need to make the villages strong so that they can support all their children. Love A Child has initiated many programs to bring not only relief, but to help Haitians move themselves out of poverty through our Sustainability Initiatives, helping Haitians help themselves. This is Madamn Sonja, with Dave Balsbaugh, our Sustainability Director, who has helped her start her Moringa production business. By planting thousands of Moringa Trees, we are helping to establish a business and bringing positive effects for Reforestation too.
Our Agricultural Training Center is teaching future farmers of Haiti how to improve their soil, grow fruits and vegetables to not only feed their families, but to sell in the marketplace for possible income. They are shown below building compost piles. This will enable them to add nutrients back to the depleted soil to ensure a more successful harvest.
Gwo Maché Mirak is an open-air market that was completed in 2014. This has brought hundreds of jobs to the area, and supports the locals who sell their produce, clothing, artwork, professional services and so much more at the marketplace.
There is so much we can do when we work together. We are so thankful for the wise board members that guide Love A Child to help the Haitian people. God bless all of our board members and God bless all of our partners who stand with us each and every month to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor. We want to thank Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Kingdom Connection, and Joyce Myer Ministries—Hand of Hope for sponsoring a container of food each month, 272,000 meals. We also wish to thank our Love A Child Partners for helping to sponsor a container of food, and feeding thousands of children…
Together we are making a difference!
“For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”
— Deuteronomy 15:11
God bless you all for saving lives and bringing hope and dignity to the people in Haiti.
Sherry