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Sarah shares how her life has been transformed by her time in Haiti, what a blessing she is to so many!

If you would have told me 4 years ago that I would have the passion and love for Haiti that I do today, I would have laughed and said “yeah right”. But thanks to the short term missions trips I have been on with CWO, my passion for Haiti is immense. My first trip to Haiti was a very rough experience. I had panic attacks every single night and was convinced I was not going to make it back to America. After that trip I had come to the conclusion that I would never go back to Haiti.  One year later I had the realization that my panic attacks were caused by spiritual warfare and I did not want the devil to win. So, I decided to go back to Haiti and my life hasn’t been the same since. I have gone every summer after that and loved every second of it. God has shown me a love and passion for Haiti that has grown into me wanting to eventually move there and work with kids who are deaf.

This past summer I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the Pignon Christian Center for the Deaf in LeJeune, a small village close to Pignon. The deaf community is not very accepted in Haiti and rarely get an education. The school is a place that provides the children with language and a community where they are loved and accepted. To be a part of that was one of the greatest blessings of my life. God really moved me during my time at the school. He showed me a lot about His character and His love for those who are so often forgotten. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was getting to watch the kids pray and going to church with them. They do not pray in their heads like we so often do rather they visually express their prayers through sign language. Getting to see their hearts and their faith through their prayers never failed to make me cry. Going to church with them was also a great experience. They could not hear the service yet they were so excited to be in a place where they could praise God. There really is no valley too low, no distance too far, nor any hearing impairment that can separate us from God.

If I hadn’t had the support and encouragement from Greg Yoder, the President of CWO, my family, and CWO to go back to Haiti after such a hard first trip I would have never gotten to experience the true beauty of Haiti. God knew that He had something special planned for me in Haiti. He pursued me and guided me to a place that has captured my heart. The way that I feel God’s presence in Haiti is incredible and my heart finds joy when I’m there. I am so excited to continue going on trips to Haiti with CWO and hopefully move there in the future. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16