Bryn Gyolai is a friend of Many Hands from Tennessee. This is her second time in Haiti.
This past week I had the opportunity to visit Many Hands in Sylvain for my second time. Going into 2022, I didn’t think there was any possible way I would be able to visit Haiti again, but here I am, less than a year later, recounting another incredible, heart-filling trip to the place that I love. God truly made a way!
On the first day of my visit, Christi relayed to me a comment by a Haitian she had conversed with previously, “We Haitians exist, we do not live.” I was saddened upon hearing this. After a week in-country, however, I identified the difference between those who exist and those who live.
“I am blown away by the love and generosity and joy of the Haitians amidst trial.”
A life without God is a dead, hopeless life, and the contrast is crystal clear. I am blown away by the love and generosity and joy of the Haitians amidst trial.
There was a man named Latwa, who was a strong Christian, whom I was blessed to interact with. Despite having no food and a falling-down house this elderly man sang with overfilling joy and praise to God. Or how about Jean Rubert, who is the PET chaplain at Many Hands. His father’s cow, which he had spent his life savings on, was killed by a truck, and when I asked Jean Rubert about it, he humbly responded, “I praised God with my family that a person was not hit and for God’s provision over our family.” What an attitude! Or Christi Gabhart, who is a missionary in Haiti, and told me that she really doesn’t know if she is afraid of anything because she has learned to trust God through her experiences in the uncertainty of Haiti. Or Claudin, Many Hands’ head of agronomy, who loudly and boldly would pray over anyone we came into contact with.
These are just a few examples. I haven’t even mentioned the joy I saw in Wesley, Elixir, and Lovely, or the helpful heart of Herby, or Craig’s steady presence. Their love for the Lord filled me up and encouraged me that whatever differences separate us, we as Christians are all called to live, not just exist. I feel so blessed to have experienced this first hand. All praise and glory to God for the work He is doing through the Haitian people!