By: Casey Zachary

Many of you know how relentless the work in Haiti can be. We genuinely are blessed to have an incredibly dedicated Haitian staff. Many of you have prayed for strength, wisdom, and encouragement for our staff missionaries and Haitian staff during the tumultuous year of 2011. The earthquake and cholera proved to be gigantic challenges. We have expanded our services and ministries in ways that are difficult to sustain with only 3 staff missionaries. Certainly, God has pieced together something spectacular as we consider all the many hands and hearts that have volunteered to diligently serve in our community this past year. However, it has been our prayer, and many of you have joined with us in prayer, that God would move someone’s heart in such a way as to consider moving to Haiti and working with RHFH full-time.

Well, I am thrilled to report God has touched someone in this way. Here is the answer to our prayers: Jess Lehman

This past weekend, Real Hope for Haiti conducted our annual board meeting. Jess was interviewed by the board. Based upon her declaration of faith in Jesus Christ, her commitment to serve him cross culturally, her sincere love for the Haitian people, and her training in the field of International Development, the board unanimously approved her to join us in laboring for Christ in our little corner of rural Haiti.

Jess was born in Chicago, but grew up most of her life in Appleton, Wisconsin. She professed faith in Christ at a young age and the full force of the Gospel continues to grip her heart daily. A missions professor of mine in college told us that if we weren’t willing to participate in ministry and invest in the spiritual lives of others in our home culture, then we shouldn’t expect anything to be different when we go overseas. I can say with confidence that Jess will not have to worry about flipping any switch. She has made ministry and service to others a significant part of her daily life. She has diligently served in the local church and served the underserved in her own community since a young age.

Her first cross cultural experience was in Ecuador on a church missions trip in 1999. She continued to cultivate her desire to participate in what God was doing globally by making several trips to Africa, serving in the Saharawi refugee camps in western Algeria. This coupled with an additional trip to Uganda confirmed in her heart and mind that God was calling her into missionary service.

Upon graduation high school, Jess relocated to Minneaoplis, MN and enrolled in North Central University. Jess has continued to grow spiritually and prepare herself for service to the Lord during her time at NCU. As God so often does, when Jess was weighing her options and seeking the Lord’s will as to what she should do after finishing college, he closed several doors and opened another. After the earthquake in January of 2010, Jess could not stop thinking about the people of Haiti. About a week after the earthquake, she felt the Lord say to her, “this is why I have been burdening you.”

She followed as many blogs/ tweets/ FB updates that she could. As many of you remember, a dear friend named Debbie Woodward, volunteered to help pack a semi trailer full of supplies to ship to Haiti in the spring of 2010. Jess first met my dad, Zach, when he went to MN to finalize packing and ship the trailer. Jess inquired about visiting RHFH and my dad gave the thumbs up.

Jess arrived in Haiti in May of 2010 and spent a few months serving alongside my family there. She has visited 2 additional times during her senior year at NCU. (She will be graduating in May from NCU with an International  Development major and a Biblical Studies minor). Besides her deep devotion to Christ and her passion for ministry, another reason that the RHFH board was so impressed with her was the high recommendations they received regarding Jess from Zach, Lori, and Licia. They spoke of her impressive work ethic, love for the people, ability to anticipate needs, joy in completing some dirty jobs, and general willingness to support them in any way they needed. We are confident that she will be a tremendous asset to our organization and to the Haitian people.

I trust you will enjoy getting to know Jess as she becomes a part of God’s ministry in Cazale. I won’t be so presumptuous as to try to communicate what her experiences in Haiti have been and how she hopes to impact RHFH and the community in which we minister. I will leave that to her. (You can check out some of her work in Haiti on her blog.)

I do want to take this opportunity to encourage you to prayerfully consider whether God would have you support her and her efforts becoming a part of the RHFH team. As stated above, she is graduating from NCU in May. She has expressed a desire to immediately move to Haiti. The RHFH board would like her to establish a monthly support base before she comes, as they feel as though this would be easier to focus on prior to moving to Haiti. She is also going to need help in purchasing her airfare to Haiti (perhaps someone would like to redeem their frequent flier miles for her!!!).

Many of you are faithful in prayer for RHFH. Many of you give sacrificially to RHFH. We are indeed grateful for your kindness. Jess is a part of our ministry family now, and we are asking you to prayerfully consider supporting her with your prayers and resources as well.

If you are interested in more information or would like to contact Jess, you can email her at jess@realhopeforhaiti.org

Henley, Trey and Anna standing with Jess in front of the sign of her future home!!!

Ideally, she would be thankful to have committed monthly supporters, although I know she would be grateful for one time donations as well. You can give your gift via paypal on the RHFH blog (designate it for Jess) or you can mail a check to our Indiana address (designate it for Jess in the memo of your check). RHFH will receive funds on her behalf and distribute them to her. She would also appreciate any encouragement or commitment to pray for her you would like to offer her via email. (or twitter)

Again, thank you for your continued support in what God is doing in and through RHFH. Awesome work can’t be done without awesome supporters and an awesome God.