Everything, by Elijiah Whyte

Hey everybody!!!!!  I call myself Elijah Whyte and I am very excited to go back to Haiti for a second time.  I am 16 and I am in 11^th grade.  I live in Fort Mill, SC but I hail from the Great White North.  I have also lived in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.  I have three little sisters and one older brother.  My youngest sister was actually born the day I left for Haiti last year and her name is Elijette (a.k.a. Gabriella-Elise-Regina Whyte). 

    I went to Haiti last year on the summer trip and it was an amazing experience.  I saw people that seemed to have nothing, but they really had everything.  They were the happiest people I had ever seen.  I originally went to help show the Haitians God’s love and mercy, but I think I learned more about this from them.

    I am very excited to go back and serve the Haitians and show God’s love to those who don’t know him.  In Psalms 96:3 it says to “Declare his glory among nations…” I am also very excited to go see the children and love on them.  They were very fun last time and I know they will be this time too.  I am looking forward to building relationships with the people I go with and the people in Haiti, and especially to see people I met last summer.  It will also be cool to see what has changed since last year.  I put all my trust in the Lord that this trip will be amazing and that we will all stay safe and healthy and I can hardly wait until the day that we leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He has made me new!, by Katy Dassenko

I had started attending Advance in the fall of 2009 and had only been there a short amount of time before I was diagnosed with cancer and put into the hospital. In the summer of 2010, I went with Advance to Daytona Beach, Florida for BigStuf. There I heard Francis Chan speak on Gods blessing and how we think that bad things don't happen to bad people. He reminded us that we're in a WAR every day and blessed are those that persevere when confronted with trials. He gave us a verse: 1 Peter 4:12, which prompted me to read on. As I read on, 1 Peter 4:12&13 became my life verses after having been faced with a big trial. 

In February of 2011, I gave my life completely to Christ and shortly later I came across the verse Hebrews 12:1-3. Telling us to keep on pursuing and running after God and to always rely on Jesus. I had gone to a camp in the summer of 2007 whose theme for the week was The Ultimate Race and they made a song called "Dare to Run". From that week at camp I learned that the race I was running was already won, all I had to do was keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Sadly in 2007, I wasn't really a Christian, but finding that verse 2 years ago and remembering all that I had learned from that week helped me keep my eyes on God.

Last year in 2012, I was riding to school with my dad listening to Aaron Keyes' song "I am a New Creation". The previous summer (2011), I had a t-shirt made with lyrics from his song which I wore a lot. But I had trouble really understanding and accepting that I really was a new creation. God had taken all my sins and shame, and made me a totally new person. This year as I was searching my heart for a senior quote, I pulled out 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, the new new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!", which fit the requirements for how long the quote could be, and also served as a reminder to me that God has made me a new creation! I am no longer filled with the sins, regrets, and fears anymore, but I am a brand new person in Christ! He has made me new! Which is also why I love Gungor's song "Beautiful Things", it reminds me of that old person I was and how God sacrificed his life to make us new!

Making Disciples, by Stephanie Cameron

Hi!  My name is Stephanie Cameron and I am about to graduate from high school and I will be attending Clemson University in the fall.  I have grown up attending Forest Hill Church and have always wanted to go on a mission trip.  I wanted to go last summer but I ended up moving to Charleston and was unable to.  I am so excited about finally being able to go!

            I have always felt God pushing me to go on a mission trip but I have never been able to because I played competitive tennis and could not take time off.  I have decided to stop playing tennis and now I have more free time to go on mission trips and serve more.  Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  This verse has always stood out to me and given me a desire to make disciples, especially after the way that people have poured into my life.  I am so excited about the opportunity to bond with the team and also hopefully make a difference in the lives of the people we encounter while in Haiti.

Preparing to go on a mission trip seems surreal to me because I feel like I don’t know what to expect.  I’ve heard that no matter how you try and prepare, there’s no way to anticipate the flood of emotions you will feel when you see a country as poor as Haiti.  I am nervous about how I will feel seeing how the Haitian people live but I know that God will use the experience to open my eyes and change me.  I think the only way to somewhat prepare myself for this experience is spending as much time in the Word and in prayer as I can.  I cannot wait to see where this journey takes me and the rest of my team!

Gifts, by Brisa Sander

Last summer, I had the opportunity to go to Haiti with Advance. I am so grateful for that trip because my life has been forever changed. I saw God's love more on that trip than ever before. It blows my mind how loving and giving the people of Haiti are. We rode through towns that didn't have houses. They lived under sticks and a tarp. It was really humbling to work beside a team of Haitians that shared the same love for Jesus that I have. I am really excited to return and see the friends that I made there. I also can't wait to work beside some of my best friends and grow a deeper relationship with them, and God. 

I came across a verse in 1 Peter that says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." Each one of us has a different gift that we can use to impact Haiti. I love kids and I can't wait to spend time with them. I believe that every single person on this team is going for a reason and God is using each and every one of us. It is our duty to use the gifts He gave us to serve him. 

Reciprocal Giving, by Michele Dudley

God has allowed me the opportunity to travel to many developing nations, particularly over the past 5 years.  Most recently I was in Ecuador in South America starting a jewelry project with former street boys and underage girls who have been sexually exploited (trafficked).  While I was there, the organization that hosted me talked about the difference between mutual using and reciprocal giving. Mutual using in the context of a mission trip is when both the short-term trip team member and the "recipient" use each other for their own benefit.  The team member may be going to serve for the travel experience, to be part of a team, to learn about another culture and of course the desire to serve others and be blessing. While all of these things are good reasons, our motives sometimes have more to do with ourselves than they do with those we are going to serve. The "recipients" in country sometimes use team members to see what they can get from them to meet their own needs and wants.

The better alternative is reciprocal giving.  This is where both the team members and the people we are working with focus on graciously receiving gifts from each other. The people we we will be visiting in Haiti have little, yet they will make sacrifices to serve us the best food and service they have available – we need to graciously receive what they give us regardless of whether we like it or not.  Our gift will be a smile, a warm hug and serving in whatever way Mission of Hope asks us to – even when it is something we don't want to do.

I don't expect this trip to be easy… We'll be there during the hottest time of the year, likely doing manual labor, in the poorest country in the western hemisphere where the people have little opportunity to overcome their circumstances – but God. If we go filled with the Holy Spirit and the right attitude, our smiles, hugs, encouragement and labor alongside the Haitians will share the hope of Christ which is the ultimate hope for all of our hearts regardless of whether we live in plenty or in want. And usually it is the hardest things that prove the most worthwhile.

Out of the Bubble, by Emily Brady

I decided to go to Haiti because I wanted to get out of the bubble I'm living in, and I want to expose myself to new culture. After the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti I knew it caused the country a lot of pain and suffering, I think I will grasp the actual devastation when I visit this country. I have been to a third world country before, but never with a purpose to serve others. I felt like this was the

perfect opportunity to serve through God. I think this mission trip is going to strengthen my faith in various ways.

My favorite Bible verse is Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you," because it can be applied to almost everything in life. If you treat others with kindness and compassion then you will also be treated with kindness and compassion. But it can also work the other way around; being cruel to someone can cause them to be equally cruel back to you. This verse also represents equality in my mind. You should be treated the same way that you treat your neighbor; no better and no less.

I'm nervous about traveling to Haiti because it's a third world country, and I will be living in completely different conditions than I ever have before. When I traveled to a third world country before it was for vacation and I never saw the areas that were really struggling. I'm able to overcome my fear by the amount of excitement I have towards this trip. Serving the Haitian people, growing in faith, and sharing God's word surpass any nerves I have about this trip. I cannot stress enough

how excited I am to go on this mission trip to Haiti.

Transformation, by Charlie Bowman

Throughout my life, my relationship with God has kept me on the right path and kept me focused despite adverse circumstances. I have been able to keep myself surrounded by the right people and have experienced success in many areas of my life. My favorite Bible verse keeps me motivated and focused to reach my goals. I know that I can do "greater" things through God and only through God. It calls me to step up and use my success to bring glory to God.  

God is now teaching me to humble myself. I have always been the first to brag, and I used to become jealous of others very easily. Slowly but surely, God is helping me to listen to others and to be happy for others more. I am also trying to involve God in my decision making in all areas in my life. I want to be able to set an example for Christ in my school and to the people in my life through my words and actions.

I have never been on any mission trips before. I haven't even left the country or the eastern United States. I think it is time to change that. There are people in the world who have so much less than me, and God calls us to serve them. Going to Haiti is my opportunity to do so. I am slightly nervous, but at this point it feels so far away it's hard to get nervous. I know that will change soon though!