Follow My Mission Team's Journey to Haiti

Check out our team blog here: http://healinghaiti-kd.blogspot.com/


I am so blessed.. so incredibly blessed to have been called by God to be a mission leader for Healing Haiti. God called me to Haiti January 2011, which was the first time I had been to a third world country... my first time ever on a mission trip. My life did a 180 after that trip to Haiti. The lenses I saw through after  seeing absolute poverty transformed my life in ways that words cannot describe. During my final semester  of college, God placed leading a group of young adults to Haiti on my heart. I tried everything to get a trip together; I contacted different connections I had at my school and sought out ways to make this group happen. I wanted so badly to share this life changing experience with the people my age... I wanted to open their eyes to see the things I had seen, feel the things I felt, and to be motivated to living their lives with PURPOSE and SIGNIFICANCE beyond our material life. Well, the ideas in my head where stronger than the opportunity to lead the group... at the time. I offered the idea of leading the group back up to God; I gave Him control over it. The idea just seemed so impossible, everything and everyone was failing me. My summer plans turned out differently than I had expected. Instead of leading a group, I did a three week mission trip to Haiti where I immersed myself into many different aspects of Haiti. Looking back on the three weeks, God was using this time to prepare me for the big plans He had in store for me. I observed several different group leaders, engaged in all different serving activities, and was able to get more familiar with the Haitian culture. Upon returning home, I reserved a week in June 2012 to lead a group to Haiti. The urge to do the impossible was too strong. I placed all my trust in God.. and He proved to me that all things are possible with Him... (Matthew 19:26)

 And here we are today...A group of 12 young adults between the ages of 20-30 years old traveling to Haiti!! The stories of how God has brought this team together are just so beautiful. He has hand picked each and every team member... placed Haiti on their hearts... and put them in my mist. Each and everyone of them is a gift from God, and I feel so honored and blessed to be able to serve next to each of them in June. It brings tears to my eyes to think about the opportunity God has placed before them... before me. We are so blessed, so truly blessed, to be able to serve some of the poorest people in the world (and to allow them to CHANGE our lives FOREVER). 

It has been a roller coaster over the past few months as the team has been forming and trip arrangements becoming complete. There has been ups and downs, disappointments and exhilarating joys... but most of all LOTS OF PRAYER and TRUST IN GOD to provide. And He has. He has heard our cries... He has heard our Prayers..and He is continually responding and answering on His time... because His time could not be any more perfect (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 49:8)

I have asked God to prepare me for this week in Haiti. I have shared with Him my worries and my concerns, but He continues to remind me that He has chosen me....not by accident.  When I look upon the week with fear, I remind myself that with God's will and plans I should not be concerned...but TRUST.  He has given me the most perfect leader, His Son Jesus, to show me the way. I will carry my cross... offer up all my anxieties, fears, and negative esteem.. and follow the way, the truth, the light. 

I invite you to pray with me and my team as we prepare for what God has planned for us during this mission trip to Haiti. May He continue to provide for our needs... give us safety and protection while we serve.. and break our hearts WIDE OPEN to see the world how He sees it. May He give us the strength we need to serve, and the courage to see our world through new lenses...

 May we ALWAYS seek to bring Him glory. 

-Kristina DeMuth

The cross at the Mass Graves from the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti. *

All dreams are possible.. with God. *

The walls of Grace Village. Healing Haiti's orphanage, worship space, and feeding center for the people of Haiti. *

A baby in Cite Soleil waiting a bath at the water truck stop. *

A young boy at the Cathedral. *

After the 2010 earthquake, the cross was the only part of the whole church that stood standing. *

* All photos are a copy right of Ryan Koch Photography and taken on my Haiti trip January 2012 http://www.RyanKochPhotos.com/

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."- Matthew 19:26

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but  man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11

This is what the Lord says, " In the time of my favor I will answer you, and the day of salvation I will help you..." - Isaiah 49:8

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall fall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:28-31 

I can do all things through HIM who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13 

http://healinghaiti-kd.blogspot.com/

My Testimony of Faith.

This is my testimony of Faith.. of God working in my life. I have never felt so content and happy with my life, as I do now. I no longer am searching for that "thing" that will make me happy.. make me fulfilled. I have purpose and I have significance... significance and purpose beyond this world. Life isn't about money.. it's not about pleasure. It's about finding happiness, and happiness that comes from something that is MUCH bigger than we can even imagine. My happiness comes from the passion burning inside me... the passion of living my life to bring my heavenly Father GLORY and PRAISE. Let me share with you what God has done in my life... in just 23 years. 

When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, I remember one of my uncle's coming to my school to show pictures about a trip he took to Haiti. I was so intrigued at such a young age. All the pictures, the stories.. they stuck in my heart. I grew up being interested in  the life of the Saints who lived their life for Christ... who suffered and died for their FAITH. In the depths of my heart, I admired their courage to face the world and suffer for their passion.  When I was in 7th and 8th grade, I had this barter with God. I told Him that if he made me a "famous figure skater" I would go to third world countries to teach them to plant their own seeds to grow food. I wrote in my diary about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. This was long before my aunt and uncle started their mission in Haiti. I never became a famous figure skater... God had different plans, but I think He liked "my idea" (which were probably His ideas anyways) of serving those who needed to be nourished, spiritually and physically.  In high school, I was so lost.. so sick. My body was physically dying from an eating disorder, and my soul was dying from feeling worthless and without purpose or significance. I felt unwanted.. undeserving of this life. I was close to selling out.. close to just giving up the fight. But God spoke to me... He spoke to me many times during those dark and lonely days. He spoke through friends and family members who tried to reach me at the bottom of the dark hole I was trapped in.  I will never forget the day God called me in the middle of a church service. I remember sitting in the corner of the church, tears in my eyes, and God speaking on my heart. I knew in those moments that God wasn't done with me. He wanted me to live so that others would live. I am slowly learning that this living is both spiritually and physically living!! It is mind blowing that God has placed all of these ideas..  in my mind and on my heart before I even understood what their meaning or purpose was! It brings tears to my eyes to see how God has worked in my life and how He has used me, a "worthless" and "undeserving" human, to do things I could NEVER imagine doing on my own. I can't believe that at the age 23, I have been able to serve some of the poorest people in the world.. that I am able to use my dietetics career to nourish the bodies of the malnourished... that I am leading a group of young adults into the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. God is so alive in my life, and I have never felt more passionate about Him before!! I can not look back on my life and say that I have accomplished all this on my own... NONE of it would have been possible without Him.. without my Father being so ALIVE in my life. He has placed this perfect plan together.. putting all the people and opportunities on my path. I just thank the Lord that He has given me the courage and the strength to say YES and to believe. I can't imagine where I would be or what my life would look like if I didn't trust Him so much. 

I encourage you to listen to what God is saying to you in your life. How is He speaking to you? What is He telling you to do? Are you listening? ... Those burning passions to serve others and to live your life with PURPOSE and SIGNIFICANCE weren't instilled by YOU. Start believing. Start trusting the Lord. You'd be surprised by how much you can accomplish.. how much good you will be able to do when you start listening to HIM. He has a perfect plan for you... are you ready to start following it!? Take a chance on His plan! You have NOTHING to lose.. 

He has told us that, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35. 

Scripture does not lie.. it truly is more blessed to give than recieve. When we give our time, treasure, and talents to others in need, spiritually and physically ... God blesses us with Grace, with His Love. When we continually live life for Him, we are blessed with happiness and fulfillment. Nothing of this world can destroy happiness that comes from the Lord... from the Father, himself. 

At the end of my life when God asks me what I did with the gifts He gave me, I hope to look Him in the face and say, "Father, You blessed me with so much. I have NOTHING left. I used everything you gave me to serve your people." What an accomplishment that would be!!! 

 This means "God Bless you" in creole. 

 No Greater Love than This. 

After the 2010 earthquake, this was all that remained standing at one of the churches in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 

World Water Day

Only 30% of Haiti has access to safe drinking water... there are over 9 million people living in Haiti.

Can you even imagine!? 

No running water to shower in...

Drinking water that is contaminated..

HERE ARE THE FACTS.

Learning to Walk

The orphans help one of the youngest learn how to walk!! It's amazing how fast they can learn!! 

A Recap of My Nutrition Work in Haiti

Well, it's officially been 2.5 weeks since I have been home from Haiti. I figured it is about time that I release some information about the outcome of my nutrition experience in Haiti and the approach we have taken to enhance the overall health of the children and elderly we serve.


I'd first like to start out this blog post by thanking the Healing Haiti board and volunteers (especially the medical team, host family, and feeding center advocates), my uncle Jeff Gacek (the founder of Healing Haiti),  my family and friends, my school professors, my internship directors and fellow interns for all your continued support for my nutrition-related mission work in Haiti. Without any of this support and encouragement, I would not have been able to do so much in so few days! I would also like to thank the team at Meds & Food For Kids for their great costumer service and readiness to help me and support me with my mission in Haiti. I would like to thank Print 4 Change for purchasing the Medika Mamba supplements for the kids in Haiti; your organization is doing wonderful things to grow more good in Haiti... I love what you guys do!


I would also like to take this opportunity to give thanks to the most deserving of all praise and thanksgiving; my Father, God. Without His perfect plan, His never ending love and forgiveness, His power and His strength, I would not be able to do anything. For it is through Him, and through Him alone, I am strengthened to do His work.


Earlier this fall, I was sitting in the waiting room for a dentist appointment and looking through e-mails on my phone. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly known as the American Dietetic Association) sent out an e-mail with recent nutrition related articles from around the United States. One of the articles was about this peanut supplement used in Haiti that was saving lives of the malnourished babies. The article caught my attention and when I arrived at home I watched the video that talked about Meds & Food For Kids  and the outstanding work they are doing in Haiti.


 Meds & Food For Kids is based out of St. Louis, MO. However, they also have a factory in Haiti that is staffed with local Haitians, which means the organization is providing jobs and supporting the local people. So not only is Meds & Foods For Kids helping to reduce cases of malnutrition in Haiti's children with their peanut based nutrition supplement, it is also providing work for people in the local communities. Even more so, the organization is growing more good in Haiti by not only hiring locals to work for their factory, but by taking the efforts to work with local farmers to develop Haiti's peanut agriculture! Meds & Food For Kids is working with the farmers to increase their quality and yield of peanuts in order to meet the demands for the therapeutic food called Medika Mamba (which means peanut butter medicine in Creole).

A video about Meds & Food For Kids.

The mission of the organization captivated my interest, and I kept them in the back of my mind as a potential resource to use for Healing Haiti. About a month after stumbling across the Medika Mamba, I was asked to look into nutrition supplements for the underweight orphan kids sponsored by Healing Haiti . Immediately, I started doing my research and started looking for a Ready-To-Use- Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to help meet the nutritional needs of our kids. I started contacting people in my network (school professors, professional registered dietitians on LinkedIn, and others volunteers working with Healing Haiti's orphans) and the team at Meds & Foods For Kids. I started a list of potential supplements that we could use for our kids, as well as priced and analyzed the nutrition profile of our American supplements (pediasure, ensure, boost, and protein powders).  Even though I knew we could potentially get a supplement donation of American made supplements, something was tugging at my heart saying that the best option for our Haitian kids would be to use something that was produced in Haiti that was supporting the local people and agriculture. One question I keep active in the front of my mind is how can we do the most good for our Haitian family without making them completely dependent upon us as Americans. 

At the end of the day, the Medika Mamba produced by Meds & Foods for Kids was the product that stood out as the golden supplement.While it is traditionally used for infants and children 60 months to 5 years old, the nutrition profile of the supplement was ideal for the needs of our children and would add a significant amount of calories from fat and protein to aid in growth. The peanut based supplement provides 520 kcals, 26 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and a significant amount of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium, and iron per serving of Mamba. The supplement is composed of peanut butter (made from local peanuts), vegetable oil, skimmed milk, and a vitamin/ mineral powder that is formulated to prevent refeeding syndrome amongst malnourished/ undernourished children. 

While in Haiti, I traveled with two nurses that serve as Advocate Leaders for Healing Haiti's medical team and preformed over 95 nutrition assessments (79 orphans between the ages of 9 months and 17 years, and 16 elderly ranging in age from 27 to 103 years). I took the heights, weights, and arm circumferences of all the individuals, as well as examined their physical appearance to find any significant physical signs of nutrition related deficiencies. With the elderly population, I also did some speech pathology work to assess their lip and tongue muscle strength to identify potential issues with chewing and swallowing. 

 My make shift work space. 

 checking arm circumferences. 

 one of my youngest clients. 

 some very dry knees.. hopefully, more protein (with sources of B Vitamins) will help reduce the dry skin. 

 Dry, brittle, and discolored hair is one of the first things I look for when identifying malnutrition. 

 Very large abdomen either due to parasites or protein-calorie malnutrition. 

 This girl had very little muscle or fat pad. 

 Checking out the gums, teeth, and tongue for  signs of nutritional deficiencies. 

After each day of work, I plotted all of the children on The WHO Child Growth Charts so that we could see where our kids were falling in comparison to the world's standard. While each kid will follow their own pattern of growth, there are several red flags to look for in abnormal growth patterns; delayed growth, stunting, and significant low body weight for age and height. The reason low body weight for age and height is such a concern is that it can cause problems such as decreased immunity, delayed wound healing, poor brain development and cognitive functioning, mood alterations, and early death. 

After completing each child's growth chart and reviewing some of the nutrition-related physical signs, I compiled a list of kids that would need extra nutrition support to catch up on their growth and/or gain weight. Twenty kids at Grace Village and fifteen kids at our other orphanage were a significant low body weight for their height and age and/or had low arm circumferences that indicated poor body fat and muscle for their age. I also used physical symptoms such as discolored hair, extremely dry skin, and appearance of fat/muscle pads to confirm my decisions of which kids were in need of extra nutrition support. In addition to starting these kids on the Medika Mamba supplement, I worked with feeding center at Grace Village to help them provide meals for the kids that would be prepared with foods higher in protein, whole grains, Vitamin A (beta-cartoein), Vitamin C, Iron, and Calcium (all which are necessary for the normal growth and immunity of the kids). I made lists of foods that were produced locally in Haiti that would be high in each nutrient so that they could refer to the list when going to the market and preparing meals. 

I am happy to report that the 20 kids at Grace Village have started their Medika Mamba supplement this week. They will be on this supplement for a 4 week period, and then we will assess their growth status to see if the additional calories have aided in weight gain and overall growth.  I am also excited to watch how the overall health of the children at Grace Village will be enhanced as they began to receive the proper nutrients for normal growth and development, as well as receive clean drinking water. 

I am truly blessed to be able to use my nutrition-related knowledge to grow the good in Haiti. I continually thank God for the opportunities He has given me to use my talents to serve others, for none of this would have been possible without His strength and His blessings. I pray that God will continue to use me to serve those living in dire conditions to help them receive access to safe and nutritious foods. I pray that God will give me the courage and opportunity to take my skills and knowledge to the slums of Cite Soleil, where I have seen kids with significant nutritional deficiencies, wasting conditions, and weakened immunities. Only by the grace and protection of God will I be able to conquer this initiative. 

 Lunch at Grace Village. 

 I recommended they eat more peanut butter-- good source of protein and fat. 

 I was very excited to see that they listened to be recommendations and purchased Extra Fancy Wheat Flour... hopefully, we can work towards getting some oatmeal and whole grains. 

 Lunch on the stove in the Grace Village Kitchen. 

 Some of the girls dinning in the new feeding center. 

Little cuties visiting me after lunch! 

50 Friends in 50 weeks

I am so humbled and so blessed to be apart of this amazing project. A wonderful, young lady (and a former high school classmate of mine) living in Iowa has started a blog project that involves hearing other people's stories and sharing them with the world in hopes to step outside of herself and see the world from a new perspective. In 50 weeks she hopes to interview 50 women from each state in the United States. I am excited to see the stories unfold and to be able to hear how others are living their lives and making a difference in the world.

Thank you Alexandra Guzik for your beautiful words and amazing writing! I appreciate your humbleness in sharing other people's stories; this takes great strength in itself and is truly inspiring!! I wish you the best of luck on this project!!


Follow Along Here: 50 Friends in 50 Weeks

God spoke to me yesterday.

Call it coincidence or maybe just pure chance, but I am convinced that God spoke to me yesterday. I was upgraded to first class on my way home from Haiti; for whatever reason I was not assigned a seat, so the lady at the desk chose a spot for me and gave me one of the best seats in the house. A totally undeserving surprise that put me into shock. When I got to my seat, I was in complete disbelief.  I am pretty sure the flight attendant was getting a kick out of my excitement. When we arrived in the Miami airport yesterday, a few of the team members and myself had Chinese food for dinner. I grabbed a handful of fortune cookies and passed them out to the team saying, "Hopefully God will bless us all with good luck and success." My fortune cookie message said, " You will be a bundle of energy, always on the go." It was pretty cute...pretty generic. After time had passed for a bit, I grabbed two more fortune cookies for the plane ride.. just in case I needed a little snack later... and headed back to wait for the flight to Minnesota from Miami. While waiting to board, I wrote a blog about staying awake for God's signs and his voice speaking through our lives (see my blog below).  I posted the blog, and immediately boarded the plane. I sat next to a very nice couple and showed them pictures from my trip to Haiti; they were pretty blown away by the pictures and really interested in the work we were doing there. About half way through the plane ride, when all the people around me had pretty much fallen asleep, I opened up one of the fortune cookies in my bag, ate the cookie, and read the message. UNBELIEVABLE. In all of the years that I have eaten fortune cookies, I have never had a message say anything like this. And trust me, I have eaten plenty of fortune cookies in my day... I used to collect the messages for scrapbooking. The message put me into total and complete shock and made me realize that God is really speaking to me in my life. The message said,

 Totally ironic that I had just written about signs from God and opened a fortune cookie to read a message about Him. I just find it odd that a fortune cookie from a public restaurant would have such a message and that it would be revealed to me at such timing.

The good news that God revealed to me is that He is listening to me... He is revealing Himself to me in small, yet simple ways. And His messages are NOT failing to go unnoticed. We are called to have faith like a Child... and that is EXACTLY what I am doing. Believing, trusting, and not second guessing His calling..His plans.. and His signs.

"God will help you overcome any hardships." ... is true for all of us, not just myself. I have seen God help my friends in Haiti... I have seen Him help my friends in Minnesota.. and I have seen Him help my own self.