Sara Geis' experience in Haiti 2016

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
– Mark Twain
 
Those words have never rang more true than during this past year for me. I was able to travel to Haiti twice and stay at the First Fruit Guesthouse with the Estinvil family both times. First in March with a missions group, and the second time in September on my own. The purpose of my second trip was to become better acquainted with the various aspects of the First Fruit ministry and explore how I might fit into the fold.
 
As Mark Twain so eloquently put it in the quote above, travel challenges your view of the world. To get out of your comfort zone, your little corner of the earth, and see how others in the world live adds significance to your life far beyond the value of your financial, professional or social worth at home. It challenges your worldview and gives depth to your understanding of the human experience in places far different from what you have known.
 
In September I was able to observe and learn from the Estinvils about how they empower and equip their fellow Haitians to grow through women’s ministry, youth ministry, education, agriculture and church ministry. They have dedicated their lives to finding creative ways to support their fellow countrymen to rise out of poverty. The respect and deference they receive from those in the communities they serve touched me deeply. Their dreams to critically assess the social, health, and spiritual issues that Haitians have to fight against at a grassroots level impressed me. They warmly welcomed me into their home and family life.
 
I felt like I was a part of something more, something greater than me.  
 
Over the past nine months I’ve started working with the Estinvils on an exciting new Microsavings project and drawing more group bookings to the guesthouse. I also have a passion for education in Haiti, specifically at the schools they are involved with. As I continue to explore my desire to empower Haitians (specifically women and children) to rise out of the poverty through microfinance, education and job creation, and as I work towards a future in career missions, it is an honor to partner with the Estinvils and their ministries.
 
“When we understand people, made in the image and likeness of God with creative capacity, it changes absolutely everything about the way we understand wealth and poverty.”
– Michael Matheson Miller

Sara Geis