Students Enjoy Haiti Trip

As many of you know, our family adopted our youngest son, Peter, from Haiti. Though the process was terribly long, our school rallied around our family and our adoption. Together, we all watched as God performed miracle after miracle to finally get Peter home to us. Since the process started, I have been given the privilege of taking our students on mission trips to Haiti. This trip is life-changing, and though this is my 13th trip (I think), it never gets old. Many have heard me say, “I never hear God more clearly than when I’m in Haiti.” It is a beautiful land full of beautiful, joyful people.

This year, we took 20 students and adults to Haiti on Feb. 15-20. We stayed on the third floor of an orphanage in a community called Camatin. While we were there, our girls held VBS for the kids living in the mountains. We taught them Bible stories, told them of the love of Christ and, of course, had snacks. Thanks to many amazing, generous donations, we were able to purchase 80 fruit trees that we handed out to local farmers. We bought goats for a family, handed out gallon-sized bags of seeds for families to plant for their own crops, repainted the dining room, and our own Shani Nokes, aided by Polly Xie, painted a mural reminding the girls that “Nothing can separate them from the love of Christ.” Thanks to donations from our 2nd and 6th graders, we had four suitcases packed full of shoes! Our kids got to hand them out to kids in the village after church on Sunday. It was an amazing opportunity!

Our students made me so proud; they never complained once and they tirelessly showed the love of Christ to each other and the people of Haiti. They witnessed true poverty and how people can be joyful in spite of it. I know Haiti has changed my life forever, and I’m sure it has theirs too! If you’d like to learn more about how you can help, please visit the website for the orphanage at https://www.atanieshopeproject.com/.