What does it look like to bring hope to Haiti?

It looks like soccer and ice cream.

In June we sent a team to serve our Haitian staff and their community through various outreaches. One of them was a youth sports camp. It’s hard to put into words the impact this day had. In the non profit world we love numbers and metrics and tangible impact data. When it comes to the camp, there are some great numbers to share. 100 Haitian kids had a fun day playing their favorite sport, learning new skills, eating a hot lunch, ad hearing a Gospel message. 50 adults from the community enthusiasitically volunteered to coach and mentor. 3 local vendors had a successful business day when we bought drinks and icecream from them to give to the kids.

But the impact goes far deeper than the numbers. Every single person on Chanje staff and on the mission team said the same thing: the kids were so happy. Their joy all day was the best thing about the whole week. It was also incredible to witness so many Haitian aduluts investing in the well being of kids in their community. It was an answer to decades of prayer.

We are still praying. We are thanking God and rejoicing in His faithfulness. We are praying for each of the 100 kids that attended camp, that they remember they are loved by a God that knows them. We pray that they remember that they can do hard things through Christ who gives them strength. And we are praying that they stay connected to trustworthy adults in the their family and community who can continue to mentor them. We pray that these kids are empowered to build an even better future in Haiti.

Special shoutout to the many donors that made this sports camp possible and to our friends at Name Of The Game who were able to supply and screen print the jerseys on a tight timeline. They were fantastic quality and having the different colors made it so much easier to keep track of the kids.

Click to view the video below and see the kids and coaches in action at the first ever Chanje Movement Sports Camp in Haiti!

If you would like to learn more about our efforts to help Haitian youth, click here to learn more about our work through Chanje Movement.