Our Story
When you get the chance to visit Haiti, you sense very quickly that this special place is different than anything you’re used to. Security guards quickly shuffle you to their vehicle parked outside the airport and literally move traffic out of an intersection to keep their precious cargo – you – in motion, to keep you safe. You get to your compound and settle down a bit into the secure environment. Then you begin to meet the local residents – a people that love their country, and care about their neighbor.
From 2018 to 2021 members of our team here at Abigael Relief Foundation were privileged to be able to serve in Haiti on mission trips sponsored by the organization Friars Suppliers. Our work was varied, some of us built simple homes, some were running the wood shop, we all kicked in to provide food to large numbers of people from the village, and others visited homes to evangelize. Each bit of work brought its own joy, its own experience.
The center of it all was the Haitian people. Many worked side-by-side with us for the benefit of others in the community. Those that we worked with for many hours each day became friends.
Following the visit in 2021 it became too dangerous for the mission trips to continue, however, the relationships that we built continued on, facilitated through calls, texts and messaging services.
Our Why’s
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Why Abigael Relief Foundation?
As the gangs increasingly disrupted normal life – taking control of the port, causing hospitals and schools to shut down, and much more, inflation and severe joblessness settled in. As time passed, the communications that we had with our Haitian friends became more distressed. We started sending small amounts of money to help our friends. We then began to hear that they would stretch the food in a way that could feed up to 20 including extended family members and neighbors. Two things happened as a result of finding this out – 1) we realized they were being resourceful with what they received, but more importantly, 2) we realized that they were not selfish with these gifts. If they are going to open the door to help others also in need, aren’t we called to do the same? Couldn’t there be a larger impact if we invited more people to be part of this? And thus, after much prayer and guidance, Abigael Relief Foundation was born.
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Why the name “Abigael” Relief Foundation?
During our final visit in 2021 we were working with one of our Haitian friends by the name of Patrick. He informed us that his wife was pregnant and that he would like Abby and Mark to be baptismal sponsors when they returned the following year. Patrick’s wife Maglene gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on April 11th, 2021, and they named her Abigael – after Abby. As it turned out, there was no return trip in 2022. We long for the day to participate in Abigael’s baptism and lovingly named the foundation after her.
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Why are we pursuing these works?
As the distress was building in Haiti over the last year, a number of individuals reached out asking if we would sponsor them as part of a new legal immigration process to come to the US. This is a difficult request given the responsibilities on the sponsor, and whether we believe this is a good path for us to pursue as we continue to serve needs directly within Haiti. Through much discernment we have chosen to sponsor our first family to immigrate to the US. The application was submitted in June 2023, but we – and the family we are sponsoring – wait in a long line still pending approval.
