As it should be

Six weeks ago, I was visiting with my friend, Pastor Joseph Kesnel. Joseph is Haitian. He grew up poor in a large family raised by a single mom. As a young man, he found a way to America and became a successful real estate developer/manager, first in NY, then Florida. Ten years or so ago, he felt a call to go back and help his people in Haiti, especially orphaned and abandoned children. He left “the good life” and dove back into his homeland. I met Joseph for the first time after the earthquake. As we’ve worked to help rebuild, Joseph has been a friend and partner to The Global Orphan Project, and especially to the orphan.

This last meeting, Joseph and I stood on the second story of a building on Joseph s property just east of Port Au Prince. The building used to be the school where hundreds of children were educated and fed each day, but the earthquake changed that. Many classrooms are leveled. School now meets under tarps strung together in the courtyard. Looking at that tarp facility, I asked Joseph the obvious, What do you need?

“Plates and bowls to feed the kids,” Joseph replied.

“How many?”

“300, 400, 500,” Joseph answered “whatever you can send.”

That began a string of phone calls to leaders in generous churches like Colonial Pres and Olathe Bible Church, who contacted people in quality companies like Berry Plastics, Aerotek, Applebee’s, and others. This Thursday, a GO Project team headed to Haiti will hand deliver 300 plastic plates and bowls. They will be in Joseph Kesnel’s hands by Sunday, for use at school on Monday.

What was given did not go into some black hole. It’s won’t get stuck in a warehouse somewhere. It will be placed in the hands of children who need it, just as intended; just as it should be. On behalf of the children, thank you for giving!