Home

What does it mean to be home? Is it a place? I don’t think so. People move all the time. It has to be the connection of people located in a place, or as Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeroes state, “Home is wherever I’m with you.” That all being said, it is weird to go to a place so far away from home where you feel so at home. I feel at home in Camp Mary, Haiti.

Welcome

As The 410 Bridge van pulled into the drive, I could see the familiar church and behind the big tree was the leadership council of the community of Camp Mary. As we piled out, a gauntlet of hugs awaited. Madam Leon, Waldeck, and of the rest of the council, embraced us the many expressions of love as we came to rest in our pre-arranged seats in the church.
Pastor Moles started our time together by reading Psalms 133, which begins, How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! A perfect verse to begin our week together.
Next each member of the leadership council stood and welcomed us to Camp Mary. For those who have never been, it was a chance to meet the faces that went with the names we have been talking about. Finally, Madam Leon stood and said “Byenvini lakay” or “Welcome home!”

Vision

For the last three years I have been a part of The Orchard Oxford’s Service Trip to Camp Mary. (See this link for past Amidon Planet posts about Haiti) Organized through The 410 Bridge, an international community development organization, these trips have been about building relationships for the purpose of sharing agape (unconditional love) while simultaneously building up the community, with the community in Camp Mary. So far we have seen Camp Mary secure safe drinking water, now we are seeing the leadership turn their focus on developing schools so that an education is as easy to access as their water. What a beautiful vision for a beautiful community!

Support

If you want to partner with Camp Mary you can do several things.
0) Learn about Camp Mary, the beautiful people and their story.
1) Contact The Orchard Oxford and ask how you can get connected with what is happening in Camp Mary.
2) Sponsor a child from Camp Mary.
3) Sponsor the community of Camp Mary.
4) Pray for the vision of the Camp Mary Leadership Team