While in Haiti, I had a chance to ask Brad Johnson (president of Mission of Hope) what separates good serving trips from bad. Here’s a summary of our conversation:

Be prepared to serve at all times: The trip is not about you! Although you’ll get a ton out of serving with Haitians, come ready to dig trenches and clean toilets.

Be strong: Conditions are rough, sleeping with no a/c, no warm showers, bugs, mosquito nets, malaria and 100 degree weather. Christ came to serve, not to be served… follow his example.

Be flexible: Things will not go the way you expect, so you have to be willing to flex any moment. This summer we were supposed to paint an orphanage, but the paint didn’t show up, so we built a sidewalk.

More to come in Part 2.