Sometimes I am asked, “Why do you go to Haiti?”; “Why don’t you just send your money?”

Since going to Haiti in 2007 with Bob Hager, the vision that I have had is simple… it is to help connect people with a country that is in need, and then watch the Lord do the rest… because after just one trip to Haiti, you won’t be the same.

In just 6 years I have witnessed so much change, both in Haiti and in the lives of those who have experienced Haiti first hand. Sending money may meet a practical need, but it does not build a relationship, change the life of an American or fuel an individual to do more.

I never thought, back in 2007, that I would have the honor of bringing down teams of people who truly desire to make a difference ‘one drop at a time.’ Someone once asked me, “Do you know how to eat an elephant?” I told them “no”. They replied, “one bite at a time.” And that is what happens when you bring a group of people into a country such as Haiti. It may be hard to see the first bit, but over time… you’ve eaten a whole elephant!

From June 26-July 3 there will be a team of 17 going to Haiti. Ten members have been there before, and for 7, it will be their first time. Within those 17 are 5 mother/daughter (or son) teams. The excitment is growing because this team can’t wait to show the love of Jesus to our friends and bless them with much needed support, prayer & practical supplies.

Last summer our team of 9 started the Grains of Grace Feeding Program, where over 340 people [50 families] have been receiving rice each month since last July. Our prayer then… ‘how can we add protein to their diet’. The answer to prayer… ‘Over the last month  we have been connected with an individual who will be supplying us with 1500 protein gel packs to give to the families.’  Plus another church saw the importance of providing rice and are now providing for an additional 17 families. [We are currently working on raising more money to continue this program beyond this summer.]

That was a big bite!

Last summer our team brought down 50 lumiAID solar lanterns that have been providing light to some of the families in Lac’ajue, where there is no electricity. This year, some of our team members are trying to raise additional money so that we could provide more lanterns.

 Our intention this year is to bring the children who graduate to the next grade level to the beach. A wonderful outing that we have done in the past. Most of these children have never been to the beach before.

We are gathering supplies to make up 100’s of ‘hygiene’ packs to help meet those simple, but vitally important needs.

The list of what this team is praying to accomplish while in Haiti is pretty long, so I will end with this…

If you would like to be a part of “eating this elephant” here are a couple ways in which you can get involved:

1) PRAY for the team and for the people that we will be serving 2) Consider making a financial contribution to one of the above mentioned areas 3) Consider making a general donation to the 2013 Haiti Team and it will be used to provide for the people of Haiti.

Donations can be taken on our site through Paypal or you can send a check made out to: Step of Faith Ministry and mailed to: PO Box 805 / Brick, NJ 08723

On behalf of this year’s team and our friends in Haiti, thank you for taking the time to read the blog today and praying about how you can help us ‘eat an elephant’ one bite at a time.

~ Pam