Visits to Haitian Homes Inspire Friendship Teams

Haitian culture has a very strong focus on relationships. In the US many front porches are simply a covered spot to search for the keys to get in the house while Haitians almost seem to live in their yards or near the road. In the US, the sharing of a smile and a greeting between pedestrians is getting rarer, as people engage with their cell phones, rather than the people around them. In Haiti, it is hard to walk down the street for aerobic exercise, because it is rude not to stop and chat with the folks you meet – even with distant acquaintances! It is unusual for Americans to just drop by to visit a friend for fear of being an imposition or an interruption. The sound of “Onè” at a Haitian front door is truly an “honor” and is received with joy. To visit a Haitian home is to honor the family and to show them that they are valuable.

One of the most memorable experiences for Friendship Team members at HAFF is a visit to the home of someone who is sick, disabled, mentally ill or otherwise in need of prayer. Each team conducts visits a little differently: they may worship in song, read scripture, pray - or all three. At the conclusion of the visit, the Friendship Team usually leaves the family with enough rice, beans, bouillon cubes and oil to make a single meal. Often these visits are in the Bohoc community, but sometimes teams travel to make home visits in other communities where HAFF works.




 Visiting with EC member Maccene (in tie) and
his 4 older boys, who are all students at IPB.

In addition, Friendship Teams usually visit the homes of some of HAFF's Executive Committee (EC) members. This allows visitors to get to know the leaders of HAFF in the personal context of their homes and families. Visitors listen as the EC member shares his hopes, visions and priorities for HAFF's ministry and then gather prayer requests from the family. Finally, several individual visitors pray for needs of the family and for the ministry of HAFF.


Visiting Haitian homes teaches team members how to focus their prayers for the community, for the ministry of HAFF and for its governing members. Home visits also give them more motivation to pray because they now have met the “faces” behind the needs. Often the testimonies of faith of the people with whom they pray, are some of the most touching experiences visitors will have in Haiti, causing many to report, “I thought I came to Haiti to give, but I have received back much more than I have given.”

And yet, visiting Haitian homes is a ministry to the family receiving the visit. Knowing that Friendship Team members have taken the time from their families, activities and homes and have spent the money to visit Haiti means a lot to most of the people in HAFF's service area. Having the team then take the time and make the effort to come pray with or visit with a family in their home means even more.