Haiti Mission Trip -- April 28-May 8, 2010

After the earthquake in Haiti, the images of the devastation on the news would not leave my mind. For the first few days after it happened, I had that numb feeling like when I was a television news reporter ten years ago. Back then, I would literally shut off my feelings as much as possible not to be affected by the horrors I was covering daily: murders, natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados, teens literally splattered on the road from drunk driving. Normally, I could control my emotions while covering the story, but some time either later that day or even days later, those moments could haunt me. For some reason, the tragedy in Haiti did the same thing. But, what could I do almost 3,000 miles away?

My San Diego church, Flood (http://diveintoflood.com/), announced one Sunday that the organization Children of the Nations was arranging emergency mission trips to help, and they were specifically looking for medical personnel and communications specialists/ journalists to serve. Children of the Nations (http://www.cotni.org/) partners with nationals to provide holistic, Christ-centered care for orphaned and destitute children, enabling them to create positive and lasting change in their nation. I signed up, and over a month later I am now a non-medical member of a small medical team heading to Haiti to help.

This trip will be my eighth international mission trip, but from all things considered, it will be the most intense, considering the catastrophic situation in this country. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake. The Haitian government also estimates that 230,000 were killed, 300,000 were injured, and one million were made homeless. The government reported that nearly 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial building collapsed or were severely damaged.

This trip will also be different, because I will not meet my team until I land in the Dominican Republic on April 29th. The team members are from other areas of the country as well. A big part of my past mission trips involved pre-travel team building activities and lots of meetings. When we arrive, our five-person team will stay the night in the DR then head to Haiti to stay in tents and work with the Field Hospital run by the Harvard Health Initiative. This hospital is located at Love A Child orphanage.

The high school site I teach at here in San Diego, Canyon Crest Academy (http://teachers.sduhsd.net/mraines/), is allowing me to use personal and unpaid leave to make the trip, partially because I will bring the experience back to share with my students. I plan to have my advanced Cinema students produce a documentary with the video footage I record on the trip. My favorite part of teaching is to share real world experiences with my students, and I cannot imagine a better opportunity to do just that. In 2005, I brought students to Long Beach, MS to donate funds, help out in the clean up after Hurricane Katrina, and create a television news story about the trip. It’s one of the most powerful experiences I have been able to provide.

For the past eight months, I have been attending a class called theodyssey (http://theodyssey.org/) through our church. The goal of the program is to guide people through the process of spiritual formation, defined as being conformed to the image of Jesus for the sake of others. It’s been an awesome journey that has changed my life. We will end the class this Monday with a celebration of our time together. Two days later, April 28th, I will leave for ten-days in Haiti. I cannot think of a more practical way to begin this next phase of my walk with Christ. I still have a lot to do to get ready for the trip, and honestly it is a little overwhelming right now, but I know God will use me in the lives of others in ways I cannot imagine through this trip. From past experience, I also know He will teach and mold me through the process. Back when I was a television reporter, I never imagined I would be one of the people responding and assisting in this way after a major disaster. God’s plans are so much bigger than mine. Please pray for me as I prepare physically and spiritually for this endeavor.