September 2022

This past month, several Embrace team members had the opportunity to connect with the Embrace students in our sponsorship program at the school distribution event in Haiti. Each year, every student in the Mission Haiti sponsorship program gets to pick up their backpacks, school supplies, shoes, and books. This year, because of your generosity, we were able to invite more than 2,700 students to this week-long distribution event. A small team of eight volunteers went to Haiti to help with distribution. It was such an incredible opportunity to meet the kids, as well as meet the staff and volunteers that help make this work in Haiti possible.

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to tell the kids about their sponsor families. In order to keep the distribution process running as smoothly as possible, we set up different classrooms in an assembly line that the students passed through to receive their supplies. The final station of the assembly line was the opportunity for the student to read a letter or receive a gift from their sponsor. This was such a cool experience to be able to share with the students a glimpse into the lives of their sponsors. 

The number one goal for the week: make sure every student felt special, whether they were first in line or 400th in line. Students may not remember what they received from distribution, but they will always remember how they felt during it. Some of these kids walked two hours one way up or down a mountain to receive the items that make their education possible. This was a constant reminder when volunteers began to think about how hot it was or got frustrated with how long it took them to pick out shoes. We reminded ourselves of the hurdles that these kids face in order to just make it to school every day, and began to appreciate the work we were doing. We are so proud of everyone who helped make this possible.

During the week in Haiti, volunteers had the opportunity to not only help with distribution, but also see many of the other projects we have been working on. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we share more about the impact you are making as a church!