If you haven't heard about the Kelley family, get ready for this story! In a nutshell, they walked out on the limb of faith (where all the fruit is), sold their home, put their jobs on hold, and moved their family to Haiti several months ago. Recently, they have felt a conviction to be a greater advocate for Haitian families. This is their story and their plea:
A couple months ago, at an orphanage we were visiting in another village, an older Haitian man saw my camera and asked me to take his picture. He proudly stood with his family, his wife and 4 kids, for the picture. After that I watched as the family hugged the oldest daughter and said goodbye as she walked back into the orphanage. They were there to visit their daughter at the orphanage. Here was an intact family with their child in an orphanage purely because it was the only option they had as they struggled to provide. They gave her a better life because someone offered to give her what they couldn't- at the cost of dividing their family.
That moment was the culmination of God throwing us in the deep end and showing us His heart for us here in Haiti. That was the moment that I knew, deeply knew, that we were here to fight for families.
As we move out to Les Anglais with Harvest Field we are so excited about how what they are doing out there molds into our heart for families. They are actively working on reunification of the kids in the orphanage that have families by lifting those families up to where they can provide for their children. They are focusing on lifting up families through vocational projects so that parents can provide for their kids. They are focusing on education and meeting medical needs so that families have brighter futures. This union of our family coming alongside Harvest Field is something that God has perfectly aligned.
We sit and dream about a day in this community where families know that that when they are struggling that they have options and that there is a community around them who will fight with them to better their situation in a healthy, sustainable way. We want to be love to people and families in Les Anglais and meet them where they are.
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Shannon and her family live in Haiti as missionaries. A former published wedding photographer, Shannon continues to photograph very limited weddings per year and focuses on humanitarian photography as she documents their life in Haiti. They are there as volunteers and, to stay in Haiti and serve, rely on support of people like you who believe in their cause of fighting for families. If you are interested in supporting their family through prayer or monetarily, please go tohttp://www.shannon-kelley.com/blog/haiti/. To give directly through their ministry, go to http://tiny.cc/harvestfield, please mention the Kelley’s in the comment box:)
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