life update and upcoming haiti trip!

Hi Friends!
While I’ve talked with some of you recently, others of you I haven’t caught up with in several months, a year, or more. I promise, despite my lack of long-distance communication skills, that I care about all of you! This is a little of the background of what I've been up to, and I'd love to hear back about what's going on in your life too!

I just completed my internship at The Chapel in Akron, working specifically with Campus Focus, the college ministry there. It was a two year internship that included full-time ministry as well as classes toward a Masters of Arts in Christian Studies through Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. My internship officially concluded this past August, and for my final thesis, I’ll be writing about my upcoming trip to Haiti in December. Also in August, I began work on my A&P [Airframe and Powerplant] Mechanic’s License through the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. This is the last piece in the puzzle for me to be most fully effective in the field doing mission aviation work – using aviation as a tool to serve people in the name of Christ. Exactly where this path will go, I’m not exactly sure, but I know without a doubt that if I’m following God and trusting Him to lead me, it will be good.

In August of 2009, I connected with a group called MFI – Missionary Flights International. They are based in Fort Pierce, FL, and have a few DC-3s that they use to support over 250 various missions organizations, mainly in Haiti, but some in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere throughout the Caribbean. I volunteered with MFI for a week last December, helping in their warehouse, loading boxes, and serving as a flight attendant / cargo handler on a round-trip flight day, during which we flew from Florida to Cap Haitien, Pignon and back, bringing people and all sorts of cargo both to and from Haiti. When the earthquake struck Haiti last January, it hit me hard because I had been there less than a month before. While it was impossible for me to fully comprehend the totality and depth of the devastation that the earthquake had caused, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I needed to help somehow. I remember a few days after the earthquake, sitting and staring at the computer screen, seeing the flood of pictures and news stories about the thousands and thousands of people whose lives had been so severely affected over the past few days, and being overwhelmed by just imagining the fear and confusion and panic and hopelessness that they must have felt.
MFI had begun relief flights less than 18 hours after the earthquake, partnering with Samaritan’s Purse to provide water and food and tarps and other immediate necessities, and they posted a list of needed items on the website. I spread this list to people I knew, and as soon as the word got out, it was met with an outpouring of support and donations from so many of you who wanted to help in whatever way you could. It was a huge testimony to me of God’s faithfulness to His people in a time of desperate need, and of the unity of the body of Christ, as people from all areas of my life contributed so generously.

That generosity inspired, empowered, motivated me to dream: what if? What if I took a group to Haiti to help over spring break? How could we help? Sending down tons of boxes of donated supplies was a great and very much necessary piece of the puzzle, helping to meet so many immediate needs… but my heart ached to be there, on the ground in Haiti, using my own two hands to serve in whatever capacity was needed. I discussed this with a few friends, and over the next two weeks or so, a team of 11 formed. We had no idea yet specifically where in Haiti we would be going, who we would connect with, or what we would encounter once we got there, but we knew God was calling us to go and serve, and so we trusted that He would be faithful and lead us exactly where He wanted us… and He did.

In true Campus Focus form, a few guys from our ministry had been in Haiti over Summer 2009, and had gone back with a couple others to help immediately following the earthquake. They connected us with Mission of Hope, a ministry in Grand Goave, Haiti, run by Lex and Renee Edme. Mission of Hope (MoH) runs a church of several hundred people, a school of several hundred students, and an orphanage that houses just over 30 children. About 80 percent of the MoH buildings were completely destroyed or severely damaged in the earthquake. Our Spring Break team of 11 helped dig foundations and did other manual labor to begin the rebuilding process post-earthquake. When we returned home, so many others from Campus Focus wanted to join the rebuilding efforts that we put together a team of 14 people to return to Grand Goave in June. Nine people served for two weeks, and five of us stayed for the entire month, including Caleb Kuzman, Stephanie Kline, and myself who had also been on the Spring Break team.

[read more updates from our June trip under the archive log!]

Not only is Mission of Hope currently working to rebuild their own facilities, but since June, they have also been partnering with Samaritan’s Purse to build temporary housing for thousands of people since the earthquake. Our June team, along with another group from the World Race, built almost 100 homes for families in the village of Thozin [where the main MoH church/orphanage/ school is], and also up in the mountains near St. Etienne, where there is another MoH church and school. It was wonderful to be able to serve the people in the village during the week and then talk with them again at church a few days later. Each family we served was so full of joy and gratitude and love, and the kids especially were great to spend time with everyday. They remembered each of our names, and would scream them when they saw us walking down the road each morning! Another great aspect of MoH’s work is that they truly want to empower Haitians to develop skills and work for themselves, rather than fostering the cultural mindset of dependence on outside help. MoH employs quite a few Haitians, including a crew of Haitian builders who we worked with building the Samaritan’s Purse homes. One of the things I’m most looking forward to about going back is getting to continue friendships with Mary-Yve [the wonderful cook], Pepe [the building crew foreman], and all the others that blessed us so much during our time there. After spending a month with a group of people, they really do begin to feel like family, and I can’t wait to reunite with all of them in December!

That brings us to the future: what’s next? The people of Grand Goave, and of Haiti as a whole, have captured such a piece of my heart that I know I will continue to spend time in Haiti for years to come. I would leave tomorrow if I could! However, since school and work and responsibility frowns on random disappearing acts, we’re currently planning the next trip to Grand Goave for December 11-19. This time it will be myself plus six others, including Caleb, who will be on his third trip as well. While details are constantly changing to meet current needs, we are anticipating that the December trip will include continuing construction of more Samaritan’s Purse homes, as well as more time with the children at the orphanage and teaching at a church service or two. In addition to the upcoming December trip, I am also anticipating another trip in the spring, as well as another longer period of time spent in Haiti next summer. Beyond that… we will see what God has in store!

How can you help? Pray. Pray for the people we will be serving in Grand Goave and St. Etienne. Pray for Lex and Renee and the other faithful at work at Mission of Hope as Christ’s hands and feet to their community everyday. Pray for our team, that we would be following God closely in all that we do, and that we would continue to rely on Him and His strength as we are challenged and stretched. Pray that we would be focused 100% on what God has for us in Haiti, and not what we have planned for ourselves. This is truly the most important way that you can partner with us to do God’s work in Haiti!

If you would like to make a financial donation to assist with the cost of the December trip or future trips, whether it’s ten dollars or several hundred, I would love your support! All costs for a week trip [including airfare, food, housing, transportation, etc] total $900, while a two week trip increases to $1300. Because we are traveling independently from a specific organization, all checks should be sent to me directly, and I will return a receipt of your donation for your tax purposes. [Kim Conrad, 616 E. Buchtel Ave, Akron, OH 44304] It would be most helpful to receive your donation for the upcoming December trip by November 15th (ish). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Love you all, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon!
To Him be the Glory.