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Love with no bounds

To a flourishing partnership between MEBSH Bwadjout (Haiti) and City Grace Church

By Cathy Lee

April 6^th, 2016

DEAR FRIEND,

This July 23-29, I’ll be returning with a team of 6 from City Grace Church, New York City, to MEBSH Bwadjout, a church and school in a small village on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It will be our 3rd missions trip as a church, and my 4th trip there as an individual.

It’s with immense privilege that I share with you our hopes and dreams for this growing relationship between two small churches that share the same hemisphere, but have little else in common (or so it seems!).

At the end, I’ll share details in case you’d like to support us.

backstory: an unlikely partnership

2013 (photos and reflection here)

In 2012, Both New York and Haiti were hit by Hurricane Sandy. It was shortly after this that City Grace’s Justice leader, Hanne, felt convicted that we, a small church plant, should pursue global missions. We shared this common bond with Haiti - and we realized we were just a 4-hour plane ride away from this country that felt so distant. A country that is quoted in many books and articles as “the poorest country in the western hemisphere”. A country rocked by slavery, oppression (by the French and Americans, multiple times), and the earthquake that turned their world upside down in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people. Nowadays, Haitians refer to it as “the event”.

Partnering with Praying Pelican Missions, who helps short-term missions teams align their skills with the needs of the local church, we went to Haiti that summer and helped build the foundation for a church and school in Bwadjout. At that time, the church of 75+ was already meeting under a big tarp, which provided slight protection from the hot sun. We also were able to pray with and get to know the people in the village, in the church, and many of the children, who were endlessly energetic. We distributed and planted lemon and mango trees in our new neighbors’ backyards, as a tangible symbol for their growing faith.

2014

We went back to Haiti, this time, helping with digging a cistern for water in the back of the church/school building. This would give the community and schoolchildren faster access to clean water. To our amazement, there had been so much progress since we had left, thanks to local Haitian construction workers, and other missions teams and resources. There were actually walls and a roof! We also helped lead a Bible camp / vacation bible school for the children in the village, performing fun skits, singing songs in English and Creole, and teaching simple bible lessons in order to share the gospel. It was such a delight!

That year, we had 3 friends from New York join us to create a documentary of what Haiti was like 4 years after the earthquake. There’s a lot of footage of our missions trip in there :) The documentary will be released early this May (2016)! Keep your eyes peeled for details about that!

2015

As City Grace Church went through a hard time with local ministry, the council decided to not return to Haiti in 2015, as there was much on everyone’s plate at the time.

I was disappointed for many reasons - but the main reason was that I had promised the kids in Bwadjout that I’d come back next year (silly me, why did I make that promise??). Feeling adventurous, I called up my friend Dimitri, a Haitian, and we planned a vacation to Haiti along with 3 other friends. That’s right, a vacation in Haiti! It was an amazing trip spanning 3 cities, the craziest roads, traffic, and rivers (we had to cross) I’d ever encountered in my life. It was also breathtaking to see the beauty of different parts of the country.

Of course, I made sure to visit Bwadjout and see the kids, as promised. I gave them all of the photos that I had taken over the past 2 years, because they rightly should see and have them as much as I am allowed to take them. Here are some moments from 2015:

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Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

snapshots over the years

These are the 2 teams that had the privilege of serving Bwadjout in building the foundation of the building in 2013, and the almost-complete structure we came back to in 2014.

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

Love with no bounds

2016: praying for a long-term partnership

Each missions team has been inspired to more fully live for God’s kingdom, appreciate their brothers and sisters in Christ in a completely different country and context, and understand Jesus’ love as shown to them by the hospitality of the Bwadjout church. I’ve learned that serving is an immense privilege, and God has been using my service to transform my heart to be more like His.
Despite the short-term nature of our trips, we encourage our Haitian brothers and sisters in word and deed to continue pursuing God in every way in their community. The physical foundation we built is just a glimpse into the strong spiritual foundation of many of those we met. And we want to keep that foundation strong, however God would use us. We want to help support our now-known brothers and sisters in their flourishing in Christ, and we want to pursue a long term partnership. “This is your second home”, says Pastor Junior, of MEBSH church.

In order to make this long-term partnership a reality (I’m dreaming 10+ years, teams eventually visiting to and from Haiti and NYC, year-round communication and prayer), we’ll need to overcome barriers. These barriers include the English/Creole language divide - most Haitians don’t speak English, and most of us don’t speak Creole, and the time and commitment it takes to continually understanding a completely different culture and deepen relationships beyond where they are now.

THis trip: july 23-29,2016

This trip, we hope to continue bridging that language divide.

This trip, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of MEBSH Bwadjout church’s short and long term needs, both physically and spiritually.

This trip, we want to leave knowing the name of every church leader, and most of the members and their children. (Ambitious - but hey, in Christ, all things are possible!) Then, we can pray specifically and intentionally for however God wants to meet their needs and turn any sorrow they might have, into praise.

We don’t know exactly what we’ll be doing in Bwadjout this year, as the church’s needs do change, but we’ll have a better picture soon, and I’ll update you about that when we know.

Join us on this journey

Here’s how you can support me and the rest of the team (Anna, Kaitlyn, Craig, Lina, and Whitney).

Giving financially (tax-deductible) - We have $4000 left to raise as a team ($900 for me), to cover room/board, Praying Pelican translation staff and support, and ministry materials.

Give online - please choose “Haiti Missions Trip - Cathy Lee” from the dropdown

If you’d like to give via check, please make it to “City Grace Church” and put “Haiti Missions Trip” in the memo line. You can give it to me or send it to 37 W 26th St, Suite 314, New York, NY 10001.

Prayer - this is so crucial!

If you’d like to receive email updates about how you can pray for our team, please let me know.

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© 2026 Cathy Lee

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2016

A diverse and changing country

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