As we continue looking back at the “firsts” that have shaped God’s Vision for Haiti, this week we’re going all the way back to one of the very first visible signs of the vision God had given us for this property.

Before the Mission House.

Before the Ministry Center.

Before the school, clinic, or church.

There was a well.

In February 2018, we began drilling a well on what would someday become the GVFH campus.

It was supposed to take about two days. A week later, we still didn’t have a working well.

The drilling team had found water, but they also encountered rock that prevented them from getting the pipe deep enough. Eventually, the lead person called Juska and told him they might have to stop.

Juska didn’t know what to do.

The money had been given specifically to drill a well. How could we spend most of it and have no well to show for it? And where would we find the money to start all over again?

So Juska did what has become a familiar part of the GVFH story.

He asked people to pray.

Board members and friends began praying that the drilling team would be able to reach the water.

The crew agreed to come back Monday and give it one more try.

That evening, we wrote an update to our friends:

“Come Monday, they worked at it all day and YES, we do have water! Everything went well…so to God be the glory.”

Soon afterward, the hand pump was installed.

And then something beautiful happened.

Our neighbors started coming for water.

People who previously had to travel much farther could now get water close to home. Because of the depth of the well, the quality of the water was better, too.

What began as an essential need for a future ministry campus immediately became a way to serve our community.

And it still is.

More than eight years later, that well continues to provide water for the GVFH campus and for people in our surrounding community.

When we look at the campus today, it’s easy to notice everything that has been built since then. But before there were classrooms filled with students, a clinic caring for patients, a church gathering for worship, or offices filled with staff serving children and families…

God provided water.

One well.

One answered prayer.

One of the very first gifts that helped make everything else possible.

As we celebrate the first 10 years of God’s Vision for Haiti, we’re grateful for every person who has prayed, given, and believed in this vision from the very beginning.

You have helped us build something that continues to bring hope – sometimes in ways as simple and essential as a cup of clean water.

P.S. As we look toward the next 10 years, please pray that God will continue to provide what is needed – sometimes before we even know how important it will become – and that everything He places in our hands will continue to bless the community around us.