Nxt Level Student Mission Trip to Haiti

The Nxt Level Student Ministry partners with the RainCatchers Ministry on an annual basis to send a team of High School students to Haiti to help provide water that will address the deplorable yet preventable health conditions that result from the country's critical shortage of water.

"RainCatcher" was created to address the water crisis in Haiti. Most of the country has no running water. There are no sinks, no bathtubs, and no toilets. The associated infections and diseases kill thousands of children every year. Haitian families often desperately try to capture the rainwater from the tin roofs of their houses but have a very difficult time doing so. Simple materials, such as PVC pipes or barrels, are unattainable and considered to be a luxury.

More detailed information about what our students do in Haiti was highlighted in a recent article in the eView (published on July 20, 2011). Below is a reproduction of that article:

Haiti Mission Trip
Impacting the World for Christ

On Thursday, July 7, seventeen people from Worthington Christian Church boarded a plane for Port-au-Prince, Haiti to begin their week-long trip dedicated to helping the people of Seguin, Haiti by supplying them with clean drinking water and protection from the elements.

It is an 8-hour drive from the airport in Port-au-Prince to the Haitian Christian Outreach Medical Clinic (that serves as home for the students) in Seguin. The first four hours of the trip is spent in an air-conditioned bus packed to bursting with people and luggage. The last four hours is spent being jostled around harsh dirt roads in the back of a dump truck.

The students stay on the mountain in the medical clinic sleeping on bunk beds made of 2x4 planks of wood and a trampoline tarp. While on-site, they do not shower for five days -- but they get to eat American food (which they bring with them for the trip).

The first day is spent dividing into three teams and preparing their supplies. Then they hike into the village (5 miles, round trip) to install raincatchers or insulate huts. It takes about 45 minutes to hike to the village and 35 minutes to install raincatchers.

Combined with the rough terrain, the high elevation (6,000 feet above sea level), the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and the difficult work in hot temperatures -- everyone gets bruised, battered and sore. But, they love it. Students who go to Haiti have an experience that will remain with them for the rest of their lives, and many long to go back.

Some of the students have been to Haiti on previous Nxt Level mission trips and were able to reconnect with some of the children they met on their first visit. They got to see, first hand, how their efforts helped to improve the lives of the Haitians living in Seguin. Even with the language barrier with some of the villagers (they speak Creole, but some speak very fluent English), the love could be felt.

A few photos taken by Amy Moore from this mission trip are available on our Facebook page. For more information about Raincatchers, please visit them online or contact

On behalf of the Nxt Level Student Ministries, thank you for your support, prayer and encouragement. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

To learn more about the RainCatcher story, feel free to watch the video below.

Changing Lives from RainCatchers on Vimeo.

"There is no shortage of water given by nature — only a shortage of water being received efficiently by us," RainCatchers Ministries.

With that thought in mind, the Nxt Level Student Ministry at WCC has stepped up to the challenge to help make the world a better place. We send a team of students to Haiti every year (usually in July) to help install rain catchers on the homes of needy families. To help finance this trip, the Nxt Level Student Ministry partners with Champps restaurant to host a breakfast fundraiser (usually in Feburary).

For more information about this great ministry outreach, please visit the RainCatchers website or check out their group on Facebook. You may also contact or call the church office at 614-885-8389.