If you get car sick, claustrophobic, scared driving through river beds, picky with food, can't stand smells, naked children, or poverty, then this trip probably isn't for you. With all that said, will it be the best week of your life? Probably.
Join us. Click on 'be a part of the story' and get your deposit in!
Deposits for July trip to Haiti are due Feb 1. $500 non-refundable. All payments can be conventiently made right through this website. The trip will be this summer, July 16-23. We're unsure of what we'll be doing project-wise, but we're sure of what we'll be doing the rest of the time... driving, bouncing around, sweating, playing games with children, eating super interesting food, seeing old friends, making new friends, taking cold showers, or no showers, working, and interacting with some of the most best people in the Caribbean! It will likely be the most interesting week of your life.
2018 is going to be a pretty great year for LQVE. We'll continue to support healthcare and education needs in S/E Haiti, and in a brand NEW venture, we're going to be investing in training to help develop ideas for businesses. It's a year-long training session by Haitians for Haitians that will teach entrepreneurial principles and practices. Healthcare, education and wealth creation. We couldn't be more excited about playing a small role in these three crucial areas. You have lots of places you can give as we approach the end of this year, but if you're undecided about who to invest in, consider being a part of the story. We'll need every dollar for 2018! Blessings!
We raised almost $4,000 on Giving Tuesday. Thank you! Meanwhile, some really important things are happening in Cascade Pichon, including our work with Heart to Heart International on providing leadership training for young entrepreneurs to start new businesses. Wealth and job creation is a huge deal in this part of the world. Stay tuned!
Donations made through LQVE's Facebook Fundraiser today, Giving Tuesday, may be eligible to be matched, AND all fees are being waived. Go HERE to play a part in the story. No pressure, we know there are a lot of great places to give. Thank you!
I don't believe in an explanation as much as I follow the announcement that Jesus is King. It has social, ethical, political, and artistic implications to everything I do and all that I am. I cannot run from it, nor do I want to. I cannot hide from it, nor do I seek to. I cannot explain it, though my mind constantly wrestles with it's meaning. He's the hope and the future, because he is the present and reality. The news that Jesus is King is the brilliance of my life. Everything else is shadow.
Lots of people... "Aren't there shady characters in the Haitian government? I've heard there's a lot of corruption there."
Me... "As opposed to the lack of shadiness and corruption in our government?"
A few years ago, our oldest kid indicated she was feeling like she should prepare to be a medial missionary in a place like Cascade Pichon, Haiti. I thought lots of things, but one of them was, "Ha, I'm going to be spending the rest of my life helping her raise money." We would have been, of course, proud to help her do so.
And then, Jan 1, 2015, happened and she stepped into the heavenly dimension far sooner than any of us imagined. A bunch of very cool opportunites have come our way the last couple of years, but nothing quite like the invitation from my friend Steve Weber at Heart to Heart International who asked if we wanted to support the community of Cascade Pichon by supplying medicines, and hiring a full-time nurse. I thought lots of things, but one of them was, "Ha, I'm going to be spending the rest of my life helping raise money for this."
And so the story goes.
There are lots of places to give these days. Don't stop giving somewhere else, but if you feel led, setup your account at the GIVE section of our Be A Part of the Story page to support the ongoing work LQVE is doing in S/E Haiti. You just never know where life is going to lead...
There are currently three trips being planned for 2018... a Spring Break trip in March, a nursing trip in May, and a Summer trip, July 16-23. None of the trips are easy, simple, convenient, or particularly cheap. You'll be hot, someone on the team will probably get sick, you'll eat food your digestive system hasn't experienced before, there won't be warm showers, you may not have running water, there will be little to no wi-fi, or electricity, or comforts of home. And... it will probably be the best week of your life. Email us at lqveinfo@gmail.com.
I believe Jesus is the way to Father God. (John 14:6) But, there are lots of ways to Jesus. We, in this pluralistic society, need to validate all those different ways. No two people have the same experience, but this is OK because God is endlessly creative. You can't exhaust the infinite. He's constantly sowing and weaving love into all the different ways people navigate through life.
Wallace and Rachel Fa'agutu lead worship concerts around the world! Join us Tuesday night, 7PM, September 19, on the campus of MidAmerica Nazarene University.
I love this picture. It's just a reminder of how we're attempting to use the game of soccer to do life with our friends in Haiti. We're really not trying to fix anything, or save anyone. The truth is, we realize we need as much fixing and saving as the Haitians! We're simply trying to enter into life with them, and in the process trust that Love is saving all of us.
Trent, Kalyn, Kendriana, Rose, Kara, Marcel, Llamar, Chris, and Cara just got back from the most recent LQVE trip to Haiti! They were there with Shay Foster for a week playing soccer, hacky sack, hanging out with kids, painting, teaching, playing more hacky sack, in the ocean, driving all over S/E Haiti, seeing old friends, making new friends, playing more soccer, teaching nursing skills and more! So much work, and yet they look so happy! Funny how that works.
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord, Jesus, when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed you are our glory, and joy." A verse Paul wrote to his Thessalonian friends, and a verse every parent could write to their children. 23 years ago today, Johnna and I officially became parents. It's been quite the life. I give a thought about parenting, and Jesus, HERE. Our son, Shay, is in Haiti now. That's a pretty good way to spend his sister's birthday. He'll be joined by 8 others next week doing work there. Blessings to all of you who've been leaning into LQVE with us. Graves aren't dead ends, they're corridors to heaven.
Haiti is a couple of thousand miles from my home. I started going there to be good news, but the truth is, there are many things within the Haiti way of life that wind up being good news for me.
If you watch and listen, Haiti makes clear the things that are wrong with our social body. If we want to be converted as a society we have to be with people who are marginalized. It's how we find out what's wrong with our body.
If the rich are truly with the poor,
If the powerful are truly with the marginalized,
If those who are full are truly with the hungry,
Then everyone experiences Good News.
Our next trip to S/E Haiti happens July 18 this summer! Pray or donate if you feel led. So many good things are happening!
The shortest distance between two humans is a smile.
Our friend, Dylan, took this shot (and several others in this post). It's water, and life, and future.
It's hard to put into words the beauty of these people, and the beatify of the land in Haiti.
Taking a break while working on the school in Cascade Pichon.
Haitian smile.
Soccer. Always soccer.
Bananas.
One of our projects on this trip was helping to repaint a Cholera Treatment Unit.
Two girls in Gran Gossier.
Some of the Cascades of Cascade Pichon.
