When I step back for a moment and think about what has happened through Aslan in Haiti over the past 19 years, I am amazed. Our first trip there in the summer of 1996 opened our eyes to a new world – one of beauty as well as one of great suffering and sadness. There was no jetway when we landed in Port-au-Prince. We knew, however, that it was love at first sight from the moment we walked down the stairs onto the tarmac and were hit with a blast of 95 degree Caribbean air. Haiti had our hearts.

Haiti 1996 A 2

Lynn Ann, Daniél, Colleen and Dustin ~ arriving in Port-au-Prince 1996

Now 19 years later, Aslan has a beautiful medical clinic on our land in L’Acajou; and it’s all because of our bright-eyed son Daniél. We would never have considered going to Haiti, were it not for him. Several years before, Africa had captured his young heart when he spent the summer in Uganda helping build a foundation for a medical clinic. Our clinic is such a tribute to Daniél, the life he lived, and the compassion and love he grew to have for the people of Haiti.

Clean Examination Room

One of the examination rooms in Aslan’s state-of-the-art medical clinic in L’Acajou, Haiti

Over two hundred children are learning about God’s love because of the dream of our two sons. When Daniél’s work schedule made it hard for him to take off time to continue going with us, our younger son, Dustin, stepped in to continue encouraging us in our vision for these “forgotten people.” Dustin traveled to Haiti 13 times before his tragic death barely 2 years after Daniél.

I’ve always loved the movie Braveheart, and one of the most beautiful quotes from this movie is: “Every man dies, not every man truly lives.”  Daniél & Dustin left this world much too soon. But while they were here, they built an enduring legacy that lives on through the work they helped start in Haiti.

Dustin&Boys

Dustin with young Haitian friends

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