Haiti Vision Trip Booklet by manyhandsUS

WELCOME

Welcome to Many Hands! We are so excited for your interest in coming on a Vision Trip with us. Our hope is for a life-changing trip, so please read this packet very carefully. It has much information to digest and use to help ensure a great trip.

Many Hands was founded in 2008 by a group of people who wanted to make God real for the people of Haiti. Through radical choices and despite the ongoing civil unrest, Many Hands has continued to steward the vision given for the country of Haiti.

Many Hands serves in the North Central plateau of Haiti, in the Pignon area. Pignon is an agricultural community, with a size of about 30,000 people and greater community of around 150,000 people. We run a variety of programs in Haiti, with our six focuses on education, leadership development, agriculture, safe homes, medical assistance, and economic development. Our stateside operations are based out of Pella, IA.

May God bless you and keep you on the journey as we transform together, to be love in action, in a broken world.

TO BE LOVE IN ACTION, IN A BROKEN WORLD

MISSION AND VISION

Transform Together Love Action Broken World

Romans 12 transformation, a whole person transforming mentally, physically, and spiritually

Vision

We do this in unity, giving our strengths and allowing others to help in our weakness

Ephesians 4:2 love to bear with one another in carrying burdens with humility, gentleness, and patience

Luke 4:18-19 action, proclaiming the Good News giving freedom to those held captive, physically healing people, and setting the oppressed free

Our world is moaning in brokenness. All are broken and in need of a Savior

Many Hands envisions a world where people transform together, through the presence of Jesus Christ, to be called people, living with purpose, unleashing God-given talents and resources to bring Good News in a broken world.

Core Values

We are Image-bearers of God.

We believe that all have a God-given identity and all have a purpose in God’s plan. All are called to serve their purpose, not have the purpose serve them. In relationships, we will help people understand their true calling and stand by them as they unleash their God-given talents to bring the Good News within their circles of influence.

We are the Sent People of God.

Just as God sent his son Jesus and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, we are to be the sent people of God, bringing the Good News to people wherever we are called. Jesus is waiting for us when we get outside of ourselves in faith and will meet us to help us fulfill our purpose.

We believe in Saved Wholes, not just Saved Souls.

Jesus didn’t come to be an insurance policy after one dies. He came to bring life and life to the full. We are called to fulfill Jesus’s mission in Luke 4:18-19 to proclaim the Good News, to physically restore that which is broken, and to release people from oppression spiritually, relationally, and economically from that which binds.

We are Better Together.

As states in Romans 12:3, we are all broken and in need of a savior, we are just broken in different ways. As we enter into each other’s poverty with our riches, we are all transformed. Through this process, our image of God gets bigger, as it should, as God has a global heart for His people.

We go an Inch Wide, Mile Deep.

We believe in focused impact, not random activity. Breaking the chains of generational poverty, both physical and spiritual, is incredibly complicated. To work in this environment, we break it down into focused building blocks that stack on each other, moving towards a common goal. One person, one family, one community, one region, one country, one world.

We work in Integrity to create Sustainability.

We seek systematic God-sustaining change to fulfill Jesus Christ’s Kingdom purposes. We strive to honor God in a fiscally responsible way, making every effort to create transparency in our organization’s doings. We acknowledge and live in the tension of short-term giving while seeking long-term God-sustaining change. God is one of abundance and we will honor His generosity in the resources given to us.

FUNNELS AND PYRAMIDS

WHY GO TO HAITI?

In today’s fast paced life, it is extremely difficult for those in their “comfortable” settings to truly see God’s global heart and to slow down enough for God to speak to them and show them where He wants them to be part of the solution. As a mission, we take very seriously the opportunity to introduce you to the work God is doing in the areas in which we work. We are excited to share with you the vision God has presented to us and pray you continue to be part of the solution even after you return home.

No two vision trips are the same. But, we have found that a few factors help ensure successful trips. They are:

• Strong leaders

• Seeking to understand before being understood

• No pre-judging or pre-conceived notions of what is best

• Respect for country and leaders

Our hope is that both you and the Haitians are blessed by your time in country. Together, brothers and sisters in Christ, we learn from each other and bring hope to one another. We are all the hands and feet of Christ. We trust God will work through all the planning, preparation, and prayer to make your trip a powerful experience to glorify God.

“We want to do this together. We believe that we are better together, that God has called us to live life in community, to be love and action.”

-Tim Brand | Founder & CEO, Many Hands

OUR FOCUS AREAS IN HAITI

Education

Educating the next generation can break the cycle of poverty. Through our programs, we focus on a holistic approach to education. First, we support families’ physical and financial needs, through our Power to the Parents initiatives. Then we create world-class learning environments in the classroom with fully-trained and equipped teachers through the School of Light. We also support 19 area schools through feeding programs, providing over 1,000,000 meals each year.

Leadership Development

We desire to equip and strengthen leaders to transform their communities and bring hope. Our programs encourage and challenge individuals to be servant-hearted, focusing on the needs of their community. Through our community Bible studies and our culturally relevant Lead Like Jesus curriculum, we create a solid foundation for change by investing in local women and men who lead in love.

Agriculture

Our programs are focused on meeting the food challenges rural Haitians face. We provide farming resources, create scalable solutions, and further the agricultural education of local farmers. Overseeing 700+ family-owned goats and cultivating 20 acres of farm ground, each year we can produce over 30,000 lbs of food. By focusing on sustainable farming solutions that meet the community’s needs, we tackle food insecurity, giving families the power to feed themselves.

Safe Homes

One of our goals is to provide each family enrolled in our Love in Action initiatives with a cement floor. New floors reduce sickness in children, dramatically decreasing infant deaths from preventable diseases and increasing school attendance in older children. It can also save parents on unnecessary future medical expenses. We also build new homes, with over 125 homes built to date. We strive to source local materials and labor, creating a benefit not just for the family receiving the house but for the local economy too.

Medical Assistance

A major key to future success and productivity for children in Haiti is healthy physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Through the First 1,000 Days Program, we provide at-risk families access to better nutrition, health care, protection, stimulation, and spiritual development. Because of this program, we reduce childhood stunting, maternal mortality, and infant mortality, as well as increase health education, cognitive development, and overall well-being of mother and child. We also serve hundreds more annually on a case-by-case basis through our work in the community.

Economic Development

We recognize the need for sustainable employment opportunities and believe in supporting families to live a purposeful life. To accomplish this, we provide hundreds of jobs in the region through agriculture, construction, education, and jewelry making. We partner with Vi Bella, a social enterprise ministry that empowers artisans through creating handcrafted jewelry.