Through Thin and Thinner

Bethel Mission Outreach

Four years have passed since the first group of MBU students traveled to Croix Des Bouquets, Haiti, in hopes of building a meaningful relationship with the Haitian community. Ever since, MBU has arranged a particularly rewarding mission trip to the country every summer, adding a number of engaging projects to the agenda each time.

The annual summer mission trip to Haiti takes place through a partnership with the Bethel Mission Outreach, a mission organization located in Croix Des Bouquets. Spending almost two weeks in Haiti allows MBU students the opportunity to help and get to know Haitians in need. This year’s trip, however, had an additional purpose: to help rebuild from the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake damage. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has long undergone many years of political and civil unrest. In May, MBU students went to the poverty-stricken country once again, this time to rebuild a family’s house and to help rejuvenate the community of its losses. The trip only furthered the strong connection with the Haitians that was established four years ago and will hopefully continue in the future.

Relationship

After spending 10 busy days in Haiti, MBU students came back to campus with much more than they originally left with. Memorable bonds were made with the Haitian families as the students worked on the house and appreciated quality time with the community.

Blythe Smith, an MBU junior, made a new friend during her time in Haiti this year.

“[Emanuel] was so warm and genuine,” Smith said. “He would try to communicate with us and help us if he saw us carrying stuff. It was really cool. We got to bond with him.” 

Smith was not the only MBU student to make a close friendship while on the trip, however. Some of the students, returning to Haiti for the second or third time, were able to continue friendships with Haitian children that were created years ago.

The main purposes of the recent mission trip—construction and evangelism—gave MBU students an ample opportunity to build meaningful relationships with the Haitians, particularly with the family whose house they were building.

“Working on the house was good because it connected us with the family,” said Smith. “It was amazing to see the difference in our relationship with them from when we first got to Haiti to when we left.”

Being immersed in such a friendly community had a profound effect on the way MBU students understood Haitian culture.

“I think what was special about [being in Haiti] was seeing that they have such a different way of living,” Smith said. “Their definition of work, family, and church is so different from ours, so it was really humbling for me to spend 10 days with people who really understand the true meaning of those words.”

Evangelism

Led by Pastor Gary Hyppolite, founder and director of Bethel Mission Outreach, MBU students dedicated much of their spring mission trip extending to the Haitians the faith they had been longing to share. While much of their time was, in fact, spent building a new house for a deserving Haitian family, the students wanted to make sure they got to know the Haitian community through worship and fellowship.

“Every trip is a little bit different,” said MBU campus pastor Jonathan White. “One year, we might do a lot of evangelism and a little bit of construction. Sometimes we have more time for construction. This year was a good mix.”         

The students, along with Pastor Gary and Pastor White, led a three-hour Sunday church service at the mission base, complete with student testimonies and engaging worship music. Giving testimonies was a rewarding experience for MBU students, but they also turned out to be quite the challenge.

“It was hard because you had to say half a sentence, and then Pastor Gary had to translate,” said Lauren Maniaci, an MBU junior who went on the trip. “It’s hard to give a testimony and have it be powerful.”

The power of MBU’s evangelism went far beyond Sunday worship service, though. Bethel Mission Outreach created the ideal setting for MBU’s mission in Haiti. Worship music began playing from the compound at 4 a.m. every day and continued to create a powerful presence throughout the week.

“The first few nights we got to fall asleep to worship music,” said Jessica Rodell, an MBU senior.

Construction

MBU juniors Ryne Brewer and Josh Smith constructed much more than a friendship with the Haitian community this summer.

Brewer and Smith were just two of 11 MBU students to travel to Croix Des Bouquets, Haiti, this year to lend a compassionate hand to the victims of the January 2010 earthquake. The mission trip was an opportunity to bond with the Haitians, yet it also had a tangible goal: to complete a new house for a family of six who had previously lost their home to the earthquake.

Spending 10 days building a house for a family in Croix Des Bouquets made for an engaging project, Smith said.

“There were a few days where we basically got up at the break of dawn, headed to the house, and worked on it till about sundown,” he said.

Prior to MBU’s arrival in Haiti, the Haitian family had been living in a tent on their friend’s property, leaving plenty of construction work for the students to complete during the 10 days.

“The house was about halfway done by the time we got there,” Smith said. “All the foundation concrete was laid, as well as the concrete structure. All they needed were windows, a door, and a roof, so our job there was to help build the whole wooden roof structure, which took just about all week.”

At the end of the trip, the house was complete with a wooden porch, painted concrete walls, a sturdy tin roof, and three interior rooms. To the students, however, finishing the construction did not account for all of their gratification.

“The best part was the satisfaction of knowing that it was all God’s doing,” Brewer said. “It wasn’t us; it was all Him. It is amazing that this family now has a new home, which will serve as a beacon of light for that area for years to come.”

VBS

Among all of the activities planned for them, a particular favorite with the Haitian children was a two-day Vacation Bible School, specially arranged by MBU students.

MBU students wanted to ensure that the young children were able to participate in wholesome activities that children in the U.S. regularly
get to enjoy.

“This year, it was really important to me that we made sure the kids were having fun,” said Jessica Rodell, an MBU senior who was in charge of planning the Vacation Bible School. On the first day of VBS, the kids excitedly crowded three different stations of worship music, crafts, and sports. Naturally, the craft and painting stations attracted the most attention from the children, who do not normally get to do arts and crafts in Haiti.

“I loved being able to do the free paint because, as an education major, I think it’s really important for children to be able to express themselves, especially artistically,” said Rodell. “In Haiti, that doesn’t usually happen. Children don’t usually get to express themselves or have a voice.”

The second day of VBS consisted of fewer activities than the first but still allowed room for creativity. The Haitian children enjoyed making and decorating their own paper tambourines.

Rodell, who has been to Haiti three times now, reflects on her time bonding with the Haitian students during VBS.

“Meeting children’s basic needs is very strongly on my heart, and that’s my life; that’s where my passion is,” she said. “You need to meet those needs for the students and love on them and care for them and give them that love that they may not be getting anywhere else. Even hugging a child is meeting a need. Letting them braid your hair is meeting a need for them.”