Jan 12th Remembered
It’s hard to believe it was a year ago today my world fell apart. Most of the time it feels like the earthquake happened a hundred years ago, but when I find myself jumping out of my skin when someone bumps my chair, I am reminded that it really wasn’t all that long ago.
For the past 12 months I have been waiting for the tears to come. I have cried, short little burst of tears, but there has been this lingering sorrow waiting to burst through my tear ducts. Last night the tears finally came. It was at our Tuesday night worship service, we sang this song we’ve sung a hundred times before but for some reason last night it hit me like a ton of bricks and the tears started falling, those tears turned into sobs and soon there was a small puddle of salt water forming at my feet. The song is a creole song that translated says something along these lines; When your life becomes dark and everything is difficult don’t be afraid. Our Lord says that He is responsible and He will be with you through it all, don’t be afraid.” This time, instead of forcing myself to pull it together I just cried. I was finally able to just cry, and be sad, and mourn the loss, not only for the hundreds of thousand that passed away, the loss of my sense of security but also the loss of a country; the Haiti I knew and loved is gone, everything has changed but God has been there with us through it all.
It is incredible to be here, one year later and see the amazing things the Lord has done. I have heard hundreds of “earthquake stories”. People who should have been at school but were called in to work and their school collapsed, people who were in buildings that collapsed completely who made it out without a scratch, people who were stuck in traffic and were late for appointments in buildings that fell down, people who were trapped in the rubble for weeks and somehow survived. I don’t know why the earthquake happened or why so many had to die. I do know that I survived for a reason, and I will live everyday of my life thankful that I am still here. I will live everyday with purpose and meaning because I have been given a second chance to make a difference.
Mission of Hope has played a huge role in Haiti since the earthquake.
In the past year we have:
Provided a loving home to 65 orphaned children.
Treated 27,419 patients in our clinic.
Performed 266 orthopedic and plastic surgeries.
Served 16,856 earthquake and ER trauma cases.
Made 75 prosthetic limbs for amputees.
Educated over 10,000 Haitians on sanitation, hygiene and cholera prevention and treatment.
Built 18 village homes and two schools.
Fed 11,813 students daily through 50 partner schools.
Educated 200 family farmers with agricultural training.
We are currently:
Educating 2,516 students in our school.
Building a 500 home community for earthquake victims on land given to us by the Haitian government.
Building an agricultural and trade school.
Feeding 11,000 students daily through partner schools.
Treating 100-150 patients daily at our medical clinic.
Providing a loving home to 62 orphans in our new Village of Hope.
Employing 235 Haitians on the ground in Haiti.
Partnering with over 70 other organizations working in Haiti.
Haiti is broken, but there is still hope; hope for a better life, hope for a brighter future. Please visit www.mohhaiti.org to find out more about Mission of Hope and how you can be involved in helping rebuild Haiti.
To support my ministry with Mission of Hope send donations to:
Rachel Montgomery c/o
Falls View BIC
7189 Drummond Rd
Niagara Falls, ON
L2H 4P7
Cheques should be written to: Falls View BIC with Rachel-Haiti on the memo line.
Please take a moment today to pray for Haiti, a country of survivors struggling daily just to make it through the day.
Peace, love and remembrance,
Rachel
For the past 12 months I have been waiting for the tears to come. I have cried, short little burst of tears, but there has been this lingering sorrow waiting to burst through my tear ducts. Last night the tears finally came. It was at our Tuesday night worship service, we sang this song we’ve sung a hundred times before but for some reason last night it hit me like a ton of bricks and the tears started falling, those tears turned into sobs and soon there was a small puddle of salt water forming at my feet. The song is a creole song that translated says something along these lines; When your life becomes dark and everything is difficult don’t be afraid. Our Lord says that He is responsible and He will be with you through it all, don’t be afraid.” This time, instead of forcing myself to pull it together I just cried. I was finally able to just cry, and be sad, and mourn the loss, not only for the hundreds of thousand that passed away, the loss of my sense of security but also the loss of a country; the Haiti I knew and loved is gone, everything has changed but God has been there with us through it all.
It is incredible to be here, one year later and see the amazing things the Lord has done. I have heard hundreds of “earthquake stories”. People who should have been at school but were called in to work and their school collapsed, people who were in buildings that collapsed completely who made it out without a scratch, people who were stuck in traffic and were late for appointments in buildings that fell down, people who were trapped in the rubble for weeks and somehow survived. I don’t know why the earthquake happened or why so many had to die. I do know that I survived for a reason, and I will live everyday of my life thankful that I am still here. I will live everyday with purpose and meaning because I have been given a second chance to make a difference.
Mission of Hope has played a huge role in Haiti since the earthquake.
In the past year we have:
Provided a loving home to 65 orphaned children.
Treated 27,419 patients in our clinic.
Performed 266 orthopedic and plastic surgeries.
Served 16,856 earthquake and ER trauma cases.
Made 75 prosthetic limbs for amputees.
Educated over 10,000 Haitians on sanitation, hygiene and cholera prevention and treatment.
Built 18 village homes and two schools.
Fed 11,813 students daily through 50 partner schools.
Educated 200 family farmers with agricultural training.
We are currently:
Educating 2,516 students in our school.
Building a 500 home community for earthquake victims on land given to us by the Haitian government.
Building an agricultural and trade school.
Feeding 11,000 students daily through partner schools.
Treating 100-150 patients daily at our medical clinic.
Providing a loving home to 62 orphans in our new Village of Hope.
Employing 235 Haitians on the ground in Haiti.
Partnering with over 70 other organizations working in Haiti.
Haiti is broken, but there is still hope; hope for a better life, hope for a brighter future. Please visit www.mohhaiti.org to find out more about Mission of Hope and how you can be involved in helping rebuild Haiti.
To support my ministry with Mission of Hope send donations to:
Rachel Montgomery c/o
Falls View BIC
7189 Drummond Rd
Niagara Falls, ON
L2H 4P7
Cheques should be written to: Falls View BIC with Rachel-Haiti on the memo line.
Please take a moment today to pray for Haiti, a country of survivors struggling daily just to make it through the day.
Peace, love and remembrance,
Rachel
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