Christmas in Haiti

This Christmas I will receive my first 2 week Christmas break as a middle school teacher. I have been looking forward to this time for months now. I always told everyone "the first break I get from school  I am booking a one way ticket to Europe and going backpacking." Now, Christmas quickly approaches. Over the summer I agreed to wait an hour longer for another flight and in return I received a $400 flight voucher with Delta. If you could imagine the smile on my face as I dreamed of all the places I could fly to for 2 weeks.

Now as I sit two weeks away from my Christmas break, I did something I haven't done since I started thinking about my time off, I prayed about it. I asked God what I should do with my two weeks off. I have had the travel itch for a few weeks now and I haven't left Columbus since my last mission trip to Haiti. I began praying “God I have two weeks off, two weeks to give to you, what do you want me to do with it?” The more I prayed about it the clearer the answer became. I need to help people.

The other night I was praying for a little girl I met in Haiti that captured my heart. I began praying that God is giving her shelter, protecting her health and that she is given food and water daily. It started to hit me how bad she had it and by the end of my prayer I was praying that she is still alive. I stopped for a moment, and I  couldn't help but think about all the orphans in Haiti. I remember one orphanage where there was only 1 adult to care for over 80 orphans. The children did not have shoes, shorts and some did not even have underwear. These children also lacked nutrition and medical supplies. Some days the children would go without food and clean water. Suddenly resting over my two week break did not seem so pleasant. A year ago when I began asking God for a new job, I asked him to bless me with a position where I can give back to others, where I can have free time to travel and now God has honored that. I now have a job with 3 months off in the summer, 2 weeks off for Christmas and a 5 day Thanksgiving break (which I did not accomplish anything but overeating). I asked God one final time how He wants me to spend my Christmas break, is it with my loving family that I see on a weekly basis or was it in Haiti with children who have no one to feed them, no one to clothe them and worst of all no one to love them.

I realize not everyone reading this can up and leave for the Holidays. In fact, I believe I am in a privileged position. I feel I am young, single and independent at this time in my life for a reason. This year I have chosen to spend my first Christmas break away from my family. I have opted out of my routine of relaxing and reflecting on all of my blessings. I decided why not use my time and resources in a bigger way. Since I know many people are reading this and either think I am crazy and have gone off the deep end or wish they could be going with me, I want to ask you to open up your heart this Christmas. I am raising money for the orphans of Haiti, 100% of all the money raised will go to food, clothing, toys, toiletries and clean water for children who have nothing. In Haiti, $2 can feed a child for a day so any amount, large or small, will make a BIG difference. For instance if you give $14 you could feed one child for a week. My flight to Haiti has been paid for, I have a free place to thanks to some loving missionaries and now I am relying on YOU to help me raise money for this great cause that God has put on my heart. I will post pictures and you can follow my journey on Facebook (if you haven't added me as a friend please do so or follow me on Twitter @Speak_Z_Truth). I will also be blogging about my experience and displaying pictures of the children and resources YOUR donations will help this Christmas.

REMEMBER: 100% of the money you donate will go to providing food, clothing, hygiene equipment, toys and medical supplies. Your money will not be given to an organization to distribute. I will be purchasing and handing out all items purchased.

Donations are collected through the paypal link below!

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=DYUZJPDUSBUWW&lc=US&item_name=Christmas%20in%20Haiti&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted

If you cannot donate but would like to help please "Like" the link below or share it with your friends and family. I realize you may not be able to give but someone you know may be able to.

Thank you for reading and God Bless You!!

Zach White