This is a guest post from one of our teens who went on the Mission Trip to Haiti.
by Greg Van Ravenswaay
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity of going to Haiti with the church mission trip. It was my first mission trip, so I really didn't know what to expect. I really had no idea of what we would be doing or where we would be staying. When we first got there, it was a big shock - it was something I had never seen before. I could hardly believe how the people there lived. They hardly had anything. The majority of the houses were either tents or old run down shacks. When we first walked out of the airport, there were people in the parking lot. They all wanted to take your bag, or expect to be paid for helping, and that caught me off guard a little because I had never experienced that. When we got to our compound we met some of the Haitian people there; they were really nice and down to earth.
On the trip I was part of the construction team. We worked on the construction site for a total of 4 days. The first day the materials were late, so we didn't get started right away, but that gave us the time to play with the kids that came to the construction site, and do a Bible lesson. Then later, we helped dig out a foundation for what would later be a university they had planned to build there. Also, that day we moved bags of concrete, sifted sand and gravel for mortar, moved blocks, and helped lay down the blocks.
The next three days we moved a lot of rock. Overall we moved about 60 ton of rock in three days for the foundation of a cafeteria that they had planned to build. At first the other construction workers were a little uneasy about us being there. It took them a few days for them to warm up. The last day at the construction site we all really had a good relationship with the other workers. We were able to give them Bible tracts in their language (Creole), so they could read and learn about the Lord. It was really awesome to see all of them read the tracts. We got the opportunity to pray with them and the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. It was really cool to see all of their faces as Big John shared the gospel with them.
For me personally, the trip was a big eye opener. It really made me feel so grateful for what I have because we have 100x what they have. You appreciate something as simple as water, because the natural water there was unclean. This trip really helped me grow spiritually. It made me go out of my comfort zone and open up a little bit more. I feel more prepared to share my faith with nonbelievers now and in the future. The mission trip also helped me get started on doing my devotions. I have started doing devotions more now then I used to. I also cherished this time working with my fellow Christian believers from the church as we served God together. It was quite a bonding experience. Overall it was an awesome trip, and an amazing experience. I hope to go on more mission trips in the future.
And as a mission team, we want to thank you, Grace Fellowship, for praying for us 24 hours a day for the 7 days we were gone.
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