by Tim Van Maanen, Board member and trip leader for MH4H 

We made it to Haiti! Day one greeted us with so many familiar faces, embracing hugs, loving relationships, and big smiles. I am amazed at the progress God has done in just the past year in Pignon. Despite all the changes I’m witnessing, Haiti is still dirty, dusty, hot, sweaty, and smelly, but that’s just the way I like it!  I wouldn’t want Haiti to be any other way.

Above: This team of five led by Tim Van Maanen (not pictured) anxiously awaits their last flight to Pignon.

I can’t blog long, as I have 13 kids waiting on me to go play some games with them. However, I do want to share that we have been working with the MH4H team in Pignon. If you have not worked with this group in Haiti, I cannot explain how blessed we are to have them on our team. They are hungry for God’s Word and His leading, anxious for the chance to grow in their faith in Jesus.

So far, we have seen God’s fingers in many things. We witnessed Him when patching up a young boy’s leg, feeding a deaf/mute woman, buying flowers from one woman in the market only to bless the next woman around the corner by giving them to her, and killing six rats that were getting into the school’s food supply.

There is so much more to do, but it’s time for me to go.

In His Service,

Tim Van Maanen

P.S. Haiti is so cool.

The Many Hands Editorial Team is a collective of dedicated staff, local leaders, and operational experts working directly on the ground in Pella, Des Moines, Haiti, and Abaco. United by a shared mission to be Love in Action, our team provides transparent, data-driven insights into sustainable community development. Every field report, impact update, and educational guide we publish is rooted in our daily work alongside these communities. We are committed to answering your hardest questions and sharing the real, unpolished stories of how local leaders are breaking cycles of poverty and transforming their neighborhoods from the inside out.

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