“We have a gift for each of you as we end our time!” Janice Hickman looked out at the girls sitting around her. “It’s a special gift; it’s the coolest gift! It’s unique and precious. Who wants to see it?!” The girls smiled excitedly and, one by one, followed one of the Haiti summer interns… Read more
“You can drop me off here!” Stanley* looked at Lauren Neal, Lighthouse Children’s Home staff, with a huge smile. Lauren watched him walk to the house just ahead, ensuring his safe arrival. Stanley’s confidence and excitement at arriving to his new foster home allows Lauren and the Back2Back staff to feel assurance this is the… Read more
“Bon anniversaire!” Everyone sang out as the two boys at the front table smiled, trying to patiently wait to eat their piece of cake. Samuel* and Evens* are celebrating their birthdays today. Birthday celebrations are a special way Back2Back recognizes each boy and girl. Birthday cake is cut into slices and passed around as each… Read more
It’s a sunny, humid day in Haiti. Jesus Name Children’s Home sits amidst winding, bumpy roads, marked by a red gate. Two honks of the horn and the guard slides open the door allowing entrance. The boys’ rooms and the girls’ rooms reside in two separate buildings with a kitchen and eating area in the… Read more
To look at it today, there is grass and trees as far as the eye can see. Across the busy, Haitian road, mountains rise high and powerful – once a bare mountainside, it’s now home to many Haitian citizens and their families following the devastation of the 2010 earthquake. Cows graze slowly throughout the field… Read more
This month’s guest writer is Jillian Hunt. Jillian and her husband Andrew have been on three mission trips with Back2Back Ministries. They live in Cincinnati, Ohio with their three children, and they attend Vineyard Cincinnati. In 2015 my husband and I were celebrating our 15-year wedding anniversary. We originally planned to take a trip together to… Read more
Nurture Groups are one way Back2Back staff members in Haiti, Nigeria, Mexico, and India connect with the children. Meeting weekly, they work toward creating safe spaces for each boy and girl to express their needs and wants. Jimmy, Back2Back Haiti staff member, leads nurture group for the nineteen children at Harvest Care Children’s Home. Each… Read more
A tear slips down Gervens’ face. Lauren Neal, Jesus in Haiti staff member and respected partner of Back2Back, looks out among the children who have lived and grown alongside Gervens for the last seven years. The children at the Lighthouse Children’s Home register surprise, sadness, and wonder. The room quiets as they process the news…. Read more
The children from Lighthouse Children’s Home climbed aboard the bus and chose seats carefully as they settled in for an eight-hour drive to The Citadelle Laferriere. The Citadelle Laferriere sits atop Bonnet a L’Eveque mountain in Northern Haiti. It was built between 1805 and 1820, immediately following the The Haitian Revolution that gained the country… Read more
This month’s guest writer is Kaden Kimple. Kaden submitted the following essay last fall to Power of the Pen, Ohio’s Interscholastic Creative Writing Program for Middle Schools, while her mom was on a mission trip with Back2Back Ministries. When I think of super powers, I think of strength, speed, flight, brains, and maybe the ability… Read more