Jared | Haiti

These pictures chronicle only a small portion of my experience in Haiti. 

The first photo is of me and my good buddy Peter. He’s about 5 years old and lives in the boys home that Grace International operates.

The second photo is that of Grace Village, a tent city that moved onto a property owned by Grace International after the January Earthquake. Around 18,000 people call these tents home. Nearly 1 million throughout the nation of Haiti do the same thing.

The third photo is one of our 5 houses that we were able to complete. It’s only 12ft by 12ft but is nonetheless far better than the shanty tents or huts that nearly 1 million Haitians still call home.

The fourth photo is of our team which ventured 2 hours north to spend some time at a beach. While there we baptized one of our team members, Martha, who expressed the desire to do so while in Haiti.

The final photo is that of Lamuel. He too is one of the boys who lives at the boys home. As we arrived many of these boys immediately wanted to play or simply get attention from the older guys since most of these young boys have no father figure.

More photos and stories to come!

I am thrilled to let you all know that I have successfully raised the money needed for my trip! In fact I have raised more than enough and am excited to ‘pay it forward’ to others who may be in need in the next few months. Thank you all so much for helping me get to this point! The trip begins in less than two weeks!

God is good! So many generous folks have donated that I am nearly there with about a month before the trip! Thank you, all of you, who have helped me out so far! Our team already had its first meeting nearly 2 weeks ago and I’m really excited about our team. We’re a bit smaller than most other teams that have gone before us but I’m confident that this group stands out as a rather exceptional group!

Again, thank you for helping me get this far!

-Jared-

Edited and compiled by Ian Pratt, this video features an interview with the founders of Grace International

March 16, 2011

I’m happy to report that $800 has already come in for my trip to Haiti! God is so good! He has provided immensely with two large donations- something I was not expecting nor planning on. $600 is still needed, however. If you’d like to contribute please go ahead and refer to the information in the introduction at the top of this blog. Anything helps!

Thank you!

-Jared-

James 1:27 says “Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

I was always in contact with the gospel growing up in a Christian home. Having accepted Jesus into my life at a very young age I was constantly being morphed and shaped by the idea that God was calling me to live differently. Consequently the latter part of James 1:27, “[keeping] oneself from being polluted by the world,” was ingrained in my heart from very early on. However, as I grew up it became very evident that the actions of my faith were not the base or the source of my faith. In fact it is about Jesus shaping my heart and the fundamental aspects of who I am from the inside out. Thus the outpouring of my heart should be a longing for the things God longs for- and among all of his longings is helping the weak, needy, poor and destitute. This verse is about the shaping of the heart just as equally as it is about the tangible action of helping orphans and widows in their distress.

Said another way, helping those who are in need ought to be a result of what is being shaped in the heart- and the other way as well- that helping those in need shapes the heart.

I expect that my time in Haiti will radically bless those in need their and will also shape me into the man God has called me to be.

The $1,400 simply covers the cost of plane tickets, housing and food. As well, $100 goes directly to ‘The Lord’s Kitchen’ in Grace Village to help feed the residents there.

The $1,400 I need to raise for the trip may seem daunting, however, many small donations will go much farther than fewer large donations.

If you would like to help me go to Haiti please send any donations (in my name) to:

Solid Rock Church

10500 SW Nimbus Ave. Bldg. T
Portland, OR 97223

January 12, 2010

This is the Wikipedia page for the 2010 Haiti Earthquake in which over 316,000 lost their lives and over 1,000,000 were suddenly made homeless. To this day most of these people are still living in makeshift tent villages that are a far cry from suitable or sustainable. Consequently our trip will be aimed at assisting Grace International in constructing an ‘example community’ in building and farming. The goal is to create a community that can provide for itself what it needs (food, water etc).

Hear the Cry: A Ministry of Solid Rock Church

Starting in the Summer of 2010, Solid Rock Church in Portland, OR announced that they were dedicating at least a year of partnership with Grace International. This partnership, which is expected to be extended longer, will send a team of 20-40 church members and staff to Haiti each month to aide with the work being done.