Christmas Initiative in Haiti Extends to Babay

Christmas Initiative in Haiti Extends to Babay Because of the generosity of Hope Force supporters across the United States, every child in HFI?s Child Sponsorship Program received a gift bag this Christmas. In addition to sponsored children, nearly every sibling of a sponsored child received a present as well. Hope Force was also able to deliver Christmas gifts to many impoverished children in Babay, although the CSP does not yet extend to this village.

Compiled by Reservists, churches, and other groups, the gift bags contained clothing, toys, hair accessories, school supplies and other small items. According to HFI Training Coordinator Sue Duby, ?You can tell people carefully selected each item in each bag. Most bags were packed so full that the top had to be taped. I'm guessing they got excited along the way. One lady sent 18 undesignated bags for children. Another lady sent six bags for children with no sponsors. Each bag contained clothes that were hand- stitched.?

Some supporters chose to contribute to Hope Force?s Christmas initiative in Haiti by donating money or items in bulk instead of assembling individual gift bags. One store in Tennessee gave 120 t-shirts for children in Sous Savanne and Babay. Many sponsors showed their love for the children of Sous Savanne by accepting the opportunity to double the food portion for their sponsored child?s family in December. A church in New York made a last-minute monetary donation to cover the remaining families, ensuring that every family in the CSP received additional food this Christmas.

Sue Newborn of Three Bridges Reformed Church in New Jersey helped organize donations made for the children of Sous Savanne sponsored by her church. Sue was also a member of the team that traveled to Haiti to deliver the gifts in December.

?The bags were overflowing with clothing, underwear, hair bobbles, small toys, sporting items and so much more,? Sue said. ?Each bag had been carefully designed for a beautiful child in the village of Sous Savanne. Each bag represents the heart of someone in New Jersey who has never met the recipient; each bag represents a letter from Christ, a special message to the child that they are not forgotten. Our privilege as the packers of the gifts was that we get to be the ?letter from Christ? not written in ink, but in the outpouring of our love for another.?

Although HFI has delivered Christmas gift bags to the children of Sous Savanne for the past several years, this was the first time that the nearby village of Babay was also included. Hope Force has been working to expand its outreach radius to include Babay because of the community?s extreme poverty and isolation from other relief efforts.

?They have no well for water, so they must hike to the river for it,? Sue said. ?They have no commerce, no school, no church. To get supplies they need to hike to the village of Sous Savanne, which doesn?t have much to speak of either. Whatever they need, they must carry on their heads or backs, or with a mule to get back to their home.?

The desperate living conditions of Babay made delivering Christmas gift bags and food supplies an especially meaningful experience for Sue and the rest of the team. According to Sue, the team saw families gathered together after the distribution to read the story of Jesus written in Creole that was included in each gift bag.

?The Sunday after our return from our one-week mission to Haiti, we sang the hymn ?Go Tell It on the Mountain,?? Sue said. ?Never before had that song had such meaning for me. The Three Bridges Reformed Church mission team had done just that while in Haiti ? go to the mountains to share the Good News of Jesus?s birth. In the remote village of Babay, we had a true missionary experience. It was an overwhelming privilege to be part of the team delivering those gift bags. The fact that God uses us to be His letters, to carry His message and to help share His love is amazing.?

To read a firsthand account of a family who received gift bags, please click here.