I'm Partnering with Mission E4

On two occasions, I have had the opportunity to visit Haiti (only a 2 hour flight from Miami) with a Mission E4 team. Haiti is a country plagued with 80% unemployment, corrupt government, limited access to safe water and food, extreme poverty and list goes on. 

While in Haiti we assisted with building projects, attended church services and spent time visiting local elementary schools.

One day at an elementary school the children played their version of Haitian Pinata. Unlike the game we are accustomed to seeing in our country with dozens of pieces of candy spilling out of a cardboard donkey, let me explain the Haitian version: The school principal tied just two small Tootsie Rolls (about an inch long) to a string hanging from a rafter. A boy was blind folded and able to knock them down to the ground with a long stick (winner!). The boy beamed as he went back to his seat near his classmates while clutching the Tootsie Rolls in his hand. As I watched, I noticed that the winner gave one of the precious Tootsie Rolls to another boy sitting next to him. The recipient unwrapped the Tootsie Roll, tore it in half, and gave that half to another boy sitting next to him. The winning boy, now with one Tootsie Roll, tore it in half and gave that half to the boy sitting on the other side of him. Those two precious little Tootsie Rolls provided something so joyful for four children that day!

What a selfless, kind act of sharing and caring for others, even though he had so little to give. I didn’t hesitate in choosing a child to sponsor on that first trip. No matter what one has to give, there is someone’s life that you can impact, someone who has so little but yet generous enough to give and care for others. You can be that Tootsie Roll winner, just like that little boy at the Haitian school that day. God bless!