We're Off to Haiti Very Soon!

Dear Family and Friends:

I am going to Haiti!! Or rather, I am going to Haiti as a representative for The Red Thread Promise. As most of you know, I have been privileged to be able to work with The Red Thread Promise, a charitable organization dedicated to helping orphans with medical needs.

Kathy and I are going to visit Rachel’s River of Hope orphanage in Manothe, Haiti. It is about an hour away from Port Au Prince, in the mountains. Pictures are below.

Rachel’s River of Hope orphanage is home to between 15 to 30 babies and toddlers. Rachel McIntosh hopes to find adoptive families for all of her children. She is a way-station for love and care to orphans whose futures are incredibly bleak. While she is searching for adoptive families, Rachel loves her little charges. She provides food, clothing, shelter, and love on an amazingly small budget. As a Westerner I was quietly stunned at how little she lives on, and awed at how she takes what she has and makes the most of it. Rachel is Hope amidst Despair for these little ones. Hope that is showing itself in practical, tangible ways.

It was so intriguing to learn of Rachel’s River of Hope orphanage, because we recognized that TRTP could come join Rachel and show hope to these children too. TRTP has always been a small organization, and we have known that we may only be able to seriously impact a few orphan’s lives. Given the current economy, we have been seeking new ways to meet fulfill our mission, and show good stewardship to you, our supporters.

TRTP can create a Red Thread of hope and promise with Rachel and her children. We are going there to cultivate a firm relationship with this orphanage and with these children. We seek to begin a dialogue in person that we have cultivated online and through others who have met this dynamic, loving woman and her supporters. We seek to come alongside them in their mission to love and care for orphans, particularly special needs orphans.

I truly believe that Hope is the seed that makes living possible in the midst of the impossible. Hope is looking into the face of what seems to be overwhelming circumstances and saying – this is not the end of the story. When we believe that what we see is all that there is to the story, we live with an imprisoned future. But when we embrace hope for these children’s futures, the kingdom of God comes near and all the rules change.

Since I became the mom of my own precious children through adoption, I have been truly haunted by the children “left behind” in orphanages to grow up alone. It is unthinkable that one of my children could have been “left behind”. But for God’s grace that would have been so. To be able to show these orphans love, hope, and a promise of a future would be a dream come true for me personally.

We plan to bring additional suitcases to Haiti and hope to fill them with:

Diapers, pull-ups, wipes, lotion, shampoo, soap, powder, baby oil, toothpaste, Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin, Desitin, Baby foods (all stages), boxed baby cereals, formula, clothes from newborn to age 3 (onesies and other items that can be layered are preferred).

You can support our efforts in Haiti by clicking on the Global Giving button on the sidebar to the right. Thank you for your prayers and gifts.

Jennifer