This trip to the western hemisphere's poorest nation as a family is one that we have prayed about for some time. It is definitely a step of faith -- making plans to go, saving, asking, and trusting that God will make a way. If you feel any inclination to support us in finding a way to make this trip as a family, we would gladly welcome and very much appreciate your help.

I visited Haiti for the first time in January 2014 with a team of strangers in order to see where Grandpa Rockwell's Kitchen would be built and help in whatever way I could. We did a lot of the things one might expect to do on a short-term mission trip: deliver needed supplies, assist with work projects, and mingle with the locals. A year and a half after that first trip, my wife Angela joined me on my second trip.

Even more, though, we want to be able to support he American missionaries of The Hands & Feet Projects in what they see the need for. They're there, on the ground, on a long-term basis. They know the people. They know the culture. They know their Haitian neighbors needs, particularly in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. We just want to be available to encourage and do whatever we can to support their needs and the needs that they are intimately aware of in their community.

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, and in accord with The Hands & Feet Project's mission to care for the orphaned and abandoned and keep families together, our goal will be to take supplies requested by American missionaries and to humbly serve and support in whatever manner we are asked once we hit the ground. But, just as much, we know that one of the best ways we can serve is by simply investing our time, resources, and hearts into dignified relationships with the people of Haiti.

We've been very fortunate to have already established friendships with some of the kids of The Hands & Feet Project as well as the Haitian and American missionary staff at the Ikondo Mission Village and Thozin Children's Village during the first two trips. We look forward to giving Julia and Jacob that same opportunity to establish friendships with people that they've only started getting to know through photos, videos, and written correspondence.

In addition, we look forward to giving them the chance to visit Grandpa Rockwell's Kitchen, the main kitchen at the Hands & Feet Project's Ikondo Misison Village, named in honor of their relationship with their Grandpa Jim, my dad, James A. Rockwell. They special bond that they shared, until he passed away in 2012, was truly beautiful and meant a great deal to all three of them. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity for them, after four years of knowing about the kitchen, to finally visit it and reconnect with their Grandpa's memory in a unique and beautiful way.

We've been saving and working to make this trip a reality, but, we can't do it on our own. Can you help? Please pray for the success of our trip, in terms of what God has planned. If you also feel lead to support our trip financially, please know that your donation will sincerely be appreciated.

Below: Two of the three children we sponsor who live at The Hands & Feet Project's Children's Villages: Kettia and Nickenson. One of the central purposes of this trip is to enable Jacob and Julia to establish friendships with Kettia, Joel ( the third child we sponsor - not pictured) and others. When Angela and I went to Haiti in 2015 and talked with Kettia (who I'd spent time with during my 2014 visit), the first question she asked was, "Where's Julia and Jacob?" We're hoping that she won't have to ask that question when she sees us in 2017.