Guest Post: A Dad & His Daughter

(It's a guest post Monday!  Bill Dufrene and his daughter Whitney were part of the group who traveled around Haiti with the No Longer team on the vision trip in May.  They are from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Whitney will graduate from a college in Mississippi this December.  The pair were on their second mission trip to Haiti together, and Bill explains why you should consider making it a tradition with your own life and family.)

The group from Baton Rouge and Birmingham

A Dad & His Daughter

My daughter and I were privileged to serve alongside a group of four men from No Longer in Haiti this past May.  The Baton Rouge group of ten were paired with Blake, Michael, Kevin, and Kent from Birmingham.  My message to No Longer supporters, blog readers, and families is simple: go.  Here is our story...

My daughters and I have always been extremely close.  Anyone who knows me knows my daughters.  One day when my oldest daughter was out of state in college, my wife and I and our youngest daughter joined a great church that places a strong emphasis on missions.  We had only been there for three months when my oldest daughter was home during spring break and visited our new church for the first time.  Ironically, it was, and still is, the only Sunday when church members recounted their recent trip to Haiti.  Two ladies shared photographs and remarkable stories of visiting several orphan villages with a group called Global Orphan Project.  They explained the many blessings they received and encouraged us to go.

My oldest daughter and I looked at each other.  We both knew somehow they were speaking to us.  However, as a father and a self-professed workaholic, I never thought foreign missions was for me.  In my mind, I saw all of the challenges and they were many.  They included, among others, time off from work, expenses, vaccinations, getting passports, living in a third world country, witnessing poverty, travel logistics, safety concerns, health concerns, language barriers, etc.  Meanwhile, my daughter saw the children.

Bill & Whitney

I must confess the only reason I originally decided to go was because I didn't want to send my daughter by herself.  And now, as of today, we have just completed our second daddy-daughter trip to Haiti.  Yes, most people we encountered are struggling to survive, live in unspeakable poverty, and do not have reliable electricity or running water.  Yet they are gentle, loving, and happy.  When you look into their eyes you see serenity, depth, and countless stories.  Their country has infrastructure problems and a storied past.  Slavery, political struggles, perpetual poverty, hurricanes, and earthquakes highlight their history.  In stark contrast, Haiti is nestled inside a backdrop of majestic mountains and blue-green waters.

So, why should you go?  First and foremost, the Bible is pretty clear regarding this topic.  James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says."  Then a few verses later in verse 27, James says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..."  Based on our experience and the experiences of others on both of our trips, be assured that you will receive more blessings than any you give to the children you visit.  The experience is rewarding and fulfilling and often difficult to describe.  Some will say it is life-changing.

Now, what would you do on a trip to Haiti?  It depends on your team and their gifts.  Basically, we did vacation Bible school type activities with the children.  The list included music, singing, dancing, arts and crafts, basketball, soccer, coloring, balloons, puppets, skits, stories, etc.  Even with all of these activities going on, most of the time you will be holding a small child or holding the hand of an older child.  You will struggle with your best Haitian Creole to ask them their name and their age.  You will probably repeat the process at three or four orphanages and encounter between 200 and 300 children during the trip.

The Global Orphan Project is experienced and has the logistical staff in place to ensure that their teams are safe, secure, healthy, and given the best accommodations Haiti has to offer.  Now that I have been twice, I would let my oldest daughter go on a vision trip alone.  However, we have officially made our Haiti trips a daddy-daughter bonding experience and are planning our third of many more trips together.