The Road to Port-de-Paix

Port-de-Paix is about a 6 or 7 hour road trip from Port-au-Prince, or a one-hour flight on a prop plane. I've been blessed to experience Haiti from both the sky and the bumpy road, and while the plane ride is a much quicker trip, the road trips have been my most treasured experiences. When you take the road to Port-de-Paix, you're able to actually see, up close, the country's landscape and people, both of which, are beautiful. You see towering mountains, turquoise ocean water, lush banana trees, and sparse pastures.

You see women walking the streets with baskets on their heads, kids playing soccer in vacant lots, people shopping at the roadside markets, teenage couples walking home from school, men whizzing by on motorcycle taxis, and cows grazing in the fields.

You pass through cities, small villages and countrysides. You travel on paved roads, rocky dirt roads, and through rivers. At one moment, you're stuck in a traffic jam, and the next, you're going 50 mpg on a dirt mountain road (with no guardrails) while the driver is honking and passing cars in every possible direction.

I added this YouTube video, because I think it captures a lot of what I mentioned. I hope in viewing it, you'll see this beautiful country in a new way.

Tell the Story

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]As the stateside liaison for the Haiti 323 Project, I have the unique privilege and honor to tell you what God is doing in Haiti through this ministry, and in doing so, it is my desire to always give Him all the glory. My sincere hope is that you will be blessed by these stories just as I was blessed in hearing Lonnie Riley's stories about what God was doing in Appalachia. So it is with great excitement that I look forward to telling you how God:

• Changes lives
• Transforms families
• Provides everything we need
• Shows his great love
• Reconciles people to Himself

Just like Steven Curtis Chapman's, "Glorious Unfolding" song, this is just "the beginning of the beginning." Stay tuned - the best is yet to come!

Interested in being a part of the story? Please visit our Needs page to learn how you can partner with us.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The Haiti 323 Project Is Born

My first trip to Haiti in October 2012 was a remarkable experience. In some ways, it is hard to put into words. I felt both despair and hope. Deep sadness and great joy. Fear and peace. But, more than anything, I felt God's presence. He was there, just as He is here - whether we realize it or not.

I've visited Port-de-Paix three times on short-term trips. By going back to the same location, I have been blessed to become friends with Larry and Diana Owen, many Haitians - both youth and adults - and my fellow "Haiti Mateys" (other trip participants). It was on my 2013 trip that I felt called to do something more, although I wasn't quite sure what.

Through a series of conversations and many prayers, the Haiti 323 Project was born. The 323 stands for Colossians 3:23 which says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."

I chose this verse, because it talks about the importance of working for the Lord regardless of occupation. I felt like this verse tied in nicely with the Haiti 323 Project's purpose of  providing vocational training, through sewing and apprenticeship programs, in Port-de-Paix.

The Northwest region of Haiti lacks many educational and vocational training opportunities. This project will help fill the gap by providing much needed training so program participants can secure good paying jobs to provide for themselves and their families. In addition to vocational training, the Haiti 323 Project will continue spreading the Gospel and showing God's love among the Haitian people.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]