WHAT NEXT?

VOLUNTEER

Would you prayerfully consider serving with Healing Haiti? We are grateful for the talents you are willing to share and will honor the amount of time you are able to contribute. This is not about stretching ourselves too thin in the name of serving. It’s about many of us coming together so the load is lighter on all and the serving is sweet! Please reach out to us by clicking on the “Become A Volunteer” tab below.

GIVE

Continue to support the people you have served on your missions trip. Our ministries are critical to keeping families healthy and thriving.

There are many ways impactful ways to donate.

CREATE YOUR OWN FUNDRAISER

Raise money for Haiti through a creative fundraiser of your own. Some ideas are: a birthday campaign on Facebook, a fun run, lemonaide stand, fundraise for one of our campaigns on Nextdoor.com to get your neighbors involved, discuss sponsoring a child with your small group.

Would your classroom like to fund our water truck for a month or supply our feeding centers with meals for a week?

Need help putting a fundraiser together?

SHARE YOUR STORY

Be an advocate for Haiti. Tell your family, friends, and coworkers what you witnessed on your trip to Haiti. Share the story of God’s love in action in your heart.

Ask them to join you in supporting the people of Haiti as they rise up. Healing Haiti has photos and videos to help you with storytelling.

During the months leading up to our mission trip, we spent time preparing our hearts and minds to be ready for what we were to experience in Haiti. Just as the pre-trip planning was important, so is taking time to debrief and prepare for our re-entry back home. Debrief is just as important as pre-trip planning…if not more important. We need to remember that although we are going back to our “normal life,” we are carrying new experiences with us and it is difficult to know how things back in the U.S. will affect us.

Those that have traveled on a mission trip have found when they get back home, they are so full of excitement, but can also have feelings of guilt at the abundance they have and maybe even get a bit judgmental of our culture and how we spend money and lack godly priorities.

It is good to recognize these feelings, which may lead to lasting changes in us.

One way to help understand the Post Mission Trip Re-entry process or stress is to define it:

Re-entry stress is like culture stress (also called culture shock) in many ways – only in reverse. While culture stress is associated with a sense of disorientation brought on by a new and unfamiliar environment, re-entry stress is precipitated by returning to a setting you presume to be familiar, but which in reality is no longer the same.

It is the unexpected and often subtle nature of such change that can cause stress for individuals as they return from cross-cultural service. What was once familiar and comfortable no longer appears the same. Something definitely has changed – sometimes it is the environment but often times it is the individual.

It is important to prepare for re-entry stress before you leave Haiti! You will never be completely at home again after your time of service because part of your heart will remain with the people you serve. This is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.

TIPS FOR TRANSITIONING HOME AND DEALING WITH RE-ENTRY STRESS

· Expect it and realize that it is normal! Give yourself time to work through it. Be patient with yourself and others as you go through this process.

· Keep your sense of humor and remember to laugh!

· Remind yourself to be THANKFUL for the opportunity God gave you and the things you experienced and learned on your mission trip. Realize the difference between readjusting totally to “the way things were” and incorporating new values based on all that you experienced.

· Be ready to answer the question that everyone is going to ask you…how was your trip? We recommend having three types of responses in mind: one of about 30 seconds, one three minutes, and one that could last 30 minutes or more. For most people, they will be interested in the 30 second answer. Do not be discouraged. Pick one story that stands out the most in your mind and be as detailed as possible when you share it with others. Pray over ways that you can share who God is and His heart for the people of Haiti. This is another way God is going to continue to use you in sharing your story and creating a ripple effect.

· Continue to stay in community with your team members once you are back home where you can discuss the transition you are experiencing. Encourage each other to continue to seek God and living a life of significance!

· Be positive in the way you relate with others and yourself. It is very easy to go back to the U.S. and be overwhelmed with the amount of affluence that exists. Resist the temptation to be critical, judgmental or to fix everything. If you are negative and attacking, your message will be lost. Find ways to communicate positively that encourages and edifies, while gently nudging people to action. You must also remain positive with yourself. Don’t go home and feel guilty for what you have. God doesn’t want you to feel guilty. Instead, God wants to motivate you towards action and living a life with significance.

· Partner with God. How can you continue to make a difference from where God has placed you? God needs his people everywhere. Remember that God is calling you to Himself here, just as He did there. Seek Him and make the most of every opportunity you are given here, just as you sought to do there. Make a list of tangible changes you are going to make – join a bible study, get more involved with your church, find ways to volunteer within your church and community, commit to praying more…. Write them down. Refer to the list often.

· Find ways to plug in with Healing Haiti. Become a sponsor of one of our amazing students or beautiful elders, help financially support a local sourcing campaign or project in Haiti, become a story teller of your mission trip experience, get your church or workplace involved, return on another mission trip and get your friends and family to join you.

If you are having a hard time re-adjusting back to life back home, please reach out to your team leader or send an email to Healing Haiti at re-entry@healinghaiti.org for someone to get in touch with you.