RESPIRE HAITI

school being held inside the church....
location of where the NEW school will be....
darling Gaberielle...my heart.

im here to tell you alittle bit about the community of Gressier,Haiti and a non profit organization by the name of RESPIRE. in creole this word means breath. and the verse that stirred Megans heart to name her non profit this is from Job 33:4. it reads: "the Spirit of God has made me and the Breath of the Almighty gives me life."

now about megan.. shes 24. from Lafayette, a Tulane graduate. and now lives in Gressier and she is the founder of Respire. this nonprofit was created to empower,educate, and encourage orphans and children in Haiti.

i met Megan at my church in january when she came to share about the nonprofit she was about to start. at this time i had already been to haiti so i could not wait to hear more about what she was going to do there. our conversation lasted awhile because of the similarites our hearts shared. next thing i knew i was planning my trip to Gressier. this past June i shared 10 days with megan.

and this is where it gets hard to talk. its not easy to talk about a place where you are surrounded by desvesation. where every where you look there are families packed in tents. children having to walk miles to the only well in the town for water thats not even that clean. parents struggling wether they can keep their children or not. seeing kids becoming slaves for the family that took them in. going into orphanages that are packed completely out and struggling to stay open. hearing about a government that is so curupt it makes you sick. seeing people bathe in the streets after it has rain bc thats the only water they can get. knowing that 77 of the 97 kids at the school are slaves and knowing that school is an escape from slavery for most kids. the list goes on. it makes my heart break.

this is where we are called to step in. as Christians, as the church.to love our neighbor.

-Respire feeds about 700 children every saturday.

-Respire also provides medical attention to most of the community.

-right now, there are 97 kids that meet everyday for school in a church building. their classrooms are divided up by standing chalkboards. imagine that. 97 kids in one building. its really loud,crowded and not to mention hot.

-most of the kids come to school on an empty stomach and its hard for them to focus so, respire has a plan to provide breakfast for each student as they arrive to school.

-now here we tend to take education for granted. and these kids of this community are starving for it. they travel miles on foot to come to a place where they know they are loved. the teachers want so bad for their students to be safe and get an education to better their lives. it cost under $2 for a cement brick and under $7 for a bag of cement. we spend milions of dollars on replacing buildings in our own community just so that they look good on the outside. donations for the school is the biggest need as of right now. the school. a place of refuge. a place for a future. a place of hope. education. the school is hoping to be done before november.

-Additionally, the most important idea behind Respire Haiti is to teach each orphan and child that they are ALL children of God and that “God breathed the breath of life” into each of them (Genesis 2:7). To teach each child that they are”fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Psalm 139:14). To feed scripture and truth to each of them and encourage each of these children to LOVE the Lord and know their Identity in Christ and know WHO they are in Christ. (Matthew 22:37)

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the people of this community are beautiful and are so thankful for Megan and Respire. the Christians of the community really live in community and its very humbling to see. these people have nothing but have everything in Jesus' name. they are so faithful. They look after each other and love like you would never believe. they live and share life together. they totally rely on the Lord to provide their every need. its very encouraging. ive learned so much from the Haitian people.

Respire has a website and megan keeps up with a blog. i encourage you to look at it and prayfully consider donating. the opportunity to go is always available. The Lord has showed off through this non-profit. He has His hands all over this and megan is in complete awe. its such an amazing thing. i really could talk to you guys all day about this.. its hard to be here when most of the time i would rather be there. but, its also my honor to share with you guys about this and give the Glory completely over to Jesus. Hes the creator of this and i encourage you to be apart of something that is so beautiful. to allow the Lord to use you. open yourself up to the calling of loving your neighbor whether it be here in zachary or across the ocean to Haiti. Jesus will completely blow you away with His goodness!!!

ill finish with a david platt quote from the book Radical Together..

"The reality is that you and i, your church, and my church, all the structures we have constructed and all the stuff we have created could turn to dust, and God could still make a great name for himself among the nations. God does not involve us in his grand,global purpose because he needs us. He involves us in his grand,global purpose bc he love us. so here we sit, with the gospel of God in our hearts, with the gift of God known as the church and with a grand and gracious invitation from God to lock arms with one another in the passionate spread of his glory to the ends of the earth. Lets rise up together as selfless followers of a self-centered God. and lets live-and die as though we believe our highest prize is his global praise. "

www.respirehaiti.org

www.blessedwithaburden.wordpress.com

Thank you for your interest in supporting Respire Haiti

if you would like to mail a check, please send to:

Respire Haiti

215 Karen Drive

Lafayette, LA 70503

Respire Haiti is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit all donations are tax deductible! All Rights Reserved.