Eight Moody Bible Institute students spent their Spring Recess ministering to earthquake victims living in the Carrefour community of Port au Prince, Haiti. Before leaving in early March to work with the Tabernacle de La Grace church, Welson Cesar, junior pastoral studies major, team leader and native of Port au Prince, said, “It is our goal to help equip Haitian Christians with the tools they need to share their faith effectively, and spread the gospel’s message of hope and love.”

For 10 days, the students stayed in Grace Village, a 20-acre ministry compound that has become home to 20,000 displaced people since the earthquake. During the trip, they were able to demonstrate Christ’s love through manual labor, evangelism and teaching.

“While the natural disaster caused urgent needs in Haiti, God graciously allowed our team to start planning this trip three months prior to the earthquake,” said Cesar. “Our central focus was to glorify God in response to His holy nature. This trip allowed us to meet physical needs as well as the more eternal, spiritual needs of these people.”

In addition to donating 16 family-sized tents, they gathered garbage, distributed food donations and comforted children who were receiving vaccinations. The group also trained 750 church members in evangelism, distributed 2,000 Creole gospel tracts, and preached translated sermons during daily revival meetings and Sunday services. They also spent time in orphanages teaching children Bible stories and created an English language blog to help a local ministry organization raise financial support.

“The greatest need we witnessed among Haitians was their crippling dependence on foreign aid to access food and other necessities,” said Cesar. “Because of this and because of not knowing when they will be able to rebuild their homes, they live with much uncertainty. They need our prayers and our support, and to know the security of our Lord’s love.”