Ken and Jill DeYoung farm near Laurens, Iowa and has enjoyed flying for many years. Immediately following the Haiti earthquake in January, 2010, a call went out from Bahama’s Habitat to all available pilots to help bring supplies in and injured people out of Haiti. Ken answered the call and within a day was in Haiti helping shuffle supplies and doctors in and the injured out. He spent 3 weeks steadily flying missions between the southern United States and Haiti. Building relationships with doctors, destitute Haitians, and helping orphans in Les Cayes, he has continued to fly to Haiti most every month.
Part of Ken’s Story…
As I began flying medical supplies into Haiti shortly after the 2010 earthquake, I was taken back by the extreme poverty. My heart was broken by the need I saw…and the need we continue to see. We are so fortunate to live where we do and have the resources, as Americans, we take for granted.
Why was I born in Iowa and not in Haiti? What is my responsibility as a Christian to care for the orphans, widows and poor and how can I make a difference? The orphans in Haiti had parents with the same goals and aspirations for them as I have for my grandkids. How can I close my eyes to this? The help we take into Haiti is a life-changer for them. To think that one truckload of corn can build a home for a family that is living under a tarp with no clean water or food, that is an amazing thing.
To see the smiles of those receiving this help will change your life, as well. We don’t consider ourselves to be rich…but compared to most of the world we are. At the end of the day, what will my legacy be? When my grandkids realize I lived in a time and place that could care for people in such desperate need, how will they judge my response?