Tuesday, August 27, 2013

ABCs of Me: Helping Haiti Heal

Our dear friends, Nicky, Christy, Xander, and Ellie Runk have been called to the mission field of Haiti.  Haiti is a dry, desolate country of about 10.1 million people.  It shares a border and an island with the Dominican Republic.  The DR is a lush, beautiful, tourist destination.  There are rain forests and crops and resorts and many people from all over the world come and visit this part of Hispanola.  It has roughly the same climate and number of inhabitants but why the difference from its neighbor?  The belief is that Haiti is the only country in the world to have been dedicated to Satan.  On August 14, 1791, some people say that voodoo priests met and made a pact with the Devil that if he would help them expel the French, then they would serve him.  I don't know if that is true.  I can only tell you what my missionary friends, The Runks, tell me.
Haiti is full of starving people and desolate lands.  The people have burned the ground all over the country for their crops all the way up the sides of the mountains eliminating trees and flowers and shrubs.  Green things(not talking aliens here) are necessary parts of our ecosystem.  They are needed for oxygen(you know, breathing) and for helping with the rain and thus irrigation of crops which provide food for people.  My friends say that this is the place where hope is lost.  There is even the term that Haiti is where missionaries go to die.  Meaning that they lose their passion for spreading the gospel in the shadow of so much need. 
On a daily basis, families must decide which kid will eat and which kid will starve that day.  They, often, have no shoes and very little clothes.  They live in hovels with sewage running in the street and where gangs and corruption run rampant.
The Runks, serving a group called Global Outreach, were called to Haiti about 3 years ago on a full-time basis after Nicky going on several short mission trips.  They live on a compound and Nicky goes out and drills wells for people in the surrounding communities.  He helps teams provide life giving water for the people while sharing with them the soul saving Living Water.  Global Outreach runs a burn clinic on the compound.  Many children suffer severe burns on their bodies due to cooking over open fires while their parents are out working or searching for work or water.  There is also a school for children so that they can learn to read and write.  They get clothes and at least 1 meal a day.  They provide training for pastors from all over Haiti on how to share the gospel.  There is, yet, another ministry that provides bags of beans and rice for the elderly who are kicked out of their homes and communities and are homeless.  They are deemed worthless. 
The Runks love the Haitian people and want to serve them.  I tried to post a video but couldn't figure out how to embed it so here is a picture of the family. You can friend them on Facebook to see the video or see it on my page.  I shared it as well.

Would you consider coming alongside of this family as they drill wells, feed people, heal people, and love the Haitian people?  Any donation will help as it costs a fortune to live in this extremely poor country.  They have stepped out in faith to obey God's call.  Go to their website RunkMissionHaiti and find more details.  We love this family and know they hearts and how they ache for this tiny, 5th world country.  They are doing what so many people won't.  They are helping those less fortunate.  When you give to Global Outreach with the Runks, they get 100% of the donation.  May God bless you for prayer.  Pray for them and pray for the country.

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