Mondays get such a bad rap. After the weekend who wants to see Monday? When you are having a bad day you might be said to have a "case of the Mondays". Poor Monday! So I thought I would bring a bright light to Mondays by highlighting ways you can make an impact both locally and globally. Every Monday I will highlight an organization that is doing great work whether it be stateside or abroad. I will also be raising awareness as to how you can partner with these organizations. Partnering with organizations and making an impact in the world... Not hating Monday so much anymore when such positive things are happening! This week I am highlighting Life Connection Mission in Haiti. This is an incredible organization with which I have had the privilege of partnering in person. They do so much for their community, and I honestly don't know how they do it. They have always worked incredibly hard to make a positive impact for the people of Haiti despite high levels of crime, but now that their president was recently assassinated and the crime rate and riots are continuing to rise, they need our help. Let me tell you about my experience with them.
I visited Haiti on a mission trip a few short years ago. When I arrived in Haiti via airplane, I wasn't truly prepared for what I was about to experience. Stepping off of the plane I was bombarded by people begging to carry my luggage in exchange for just a few dollars so they could get something to eat. We had an escort to take us to the Life Connection Mission compound which was maybe an hour or so from the airport. On the way to the compound, I was overwhelmed by the sight of garbage everywhere and the smell of smoke. There is no trash service in Haiti, so mounds of trash fill the street. The only way to get rid of the trash is to burn it, so the air constantly smells of smoke. People are selling water in bags on the street because regular water in Haiti is undrinkable. And there is so much poverty. Thank the Lord for organizations like Life Connection Misson.
Life Connection Mission is similar to Compassion International, but it is so much more. I sponsor a child through Compassion, so I have nothing against them. What I am saying is that Life Connection Mission not only sponsors children, they take care of their entire community which is nothing short of a miracle for this small organization. I actually had the opportunity to go and stay at Life Connection Misson for a week and complete service projects with them. And you can too. They allow groups to come in, stay at their gorgeous facility right on the water, and go out and serve the community with them. I got to see with my own eyes how they were using the donations they received.
One of my friends sponsors a child through Life Connection, so we had the opportunity to go to the child's house and meet his family. His house was a one-room cinderblock building with a dirt yard surrounded by other cinderblock buildings with dirt yards. Throughout the course of the week we met other children who needed sponsors, visited the school they attended, took food to a homeless shelter, took food to those who lived in the mountains and could not get to town, and took food to certain neighborhoods where the need was greater. When people saw the vehicles from Life Connection Mission driving through town, they started following behind them. They knew they were going to get to eat. There were so many people in need of food. SO MANY. In fact, there were more people than there was food and it almost caused a fight among the people. We must have served a few hundred people over the course of a week.
We also visited Life Connection Mission's medical center where they offered free healthcare to the community. We also had the opportunity to visit a few orphanages. I think this was the most heart-wrenching for me. I met the sweetest little boy at one of the orphanages. He was barely two years old. We didn't speak the same language, but we played ball together. He crawled up in my lap and played with my hair. I was in love with this little boy. Even today, years later, I get tears in my eyes when I think of him. Other children saw him in my lap and saw us playing ball, so they came over to join. He didn't want to share me or his ball with anyone. I encouraged him to share and he got so upset at me. Just look at his little face. He is not happy. He would not play with me anymore after that. I begged him to smile at me, but he was having none of it. I was so sad to leave that little boy when he was upset with me.
Over the course of the week, we helped so many children, adults, families. It was hard for me to leave knowing they would be continually in desperate need. I am so thankful for Life Connection Mission and the work they do. There are many ways you can support them from right where you are. You can donate funds for rice and beans, donate funds for school lunches, or even sponsor a child. The cost is actually quite minimal, comparative to Compassion International. Again, Life Connection is much smaller, so the way they stretch their funds to meet the needs of their entire community can only be an act of God. Get connected with Life Connection, support them, and then one day go and serve with them. Your life will never be the same. I am including a link to their website below. Please let me know if you make a decision to support them. I would love to celebrate that with you. What an impact you will be making!
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