With my sister, Pam, and her family (the McCormicks) living in Haiti and investing in the Haitian people, we asked Pam if there were any specific needs needed to be met. After talking with my sister, she immediately thought of the children in the community and identified a desire to build a park and playground in their community! In the center of their town, the kids currently gather to play in a “grass” area with the playground equipment consisting of a swing set with no swings and one rusted, sharp, and hold-filled slide. While the McCormicks and their organization are working so hard to solve the basic problems of poverty in their town, we figured this could be a small way to directly reach out to the children in the community. A park could provide so much joy to the children in Haiti…it could be a central gathering area for the kids to play, a place to build community, and much more. Pam and I were so excited about this opportunity.
At dinner one night we shared the idea with Laekin and Micah. Since we visited Haiti in 2010 and had a chance to play at the “park” in the McCormick’s community, they quickly understood and agreed that the children in that community could use a new park. We started talking about ways to save and raise money for this project. Laekin said, “I have 3 dollars in my piggy bank we can send to Haiti!” Soon after that, we spent a few hours going through ALL of their toys and filled up 5 boxes of toys to sell in an upcoming garage sale (along with a lemonade stand the kids want to set-up). Since this idea has been bouncing around our house, it has led to conversations about people in need, conversations about other needs of the Haitians, conversations about homeless people that we see on the street corners and digging in trash cans for food, and conversations about the what can we do to help. We see God moving in the hearts of our kids and it is so exciting. One night before bed Laekin looked at me and said, “Mom do you really, really want the people in Haiti to have food to eat every day? I said, “Yes I really do, why?” She responded “Because I really do too.”
We are looking forward to seeing how God continues to move us to action. When we visit Haiti again soon, it will be exciting for our kids to see the progress of the park and to be reminded of the ways that they gave their money, possessions, and time for the benefit of others.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17, 18)
(Stay tuned for more info on how you can get involved too!)
