By Carlos Pellot

A group of nine friends from Truro Anglican Church and its Hispanic congregation, La Comunidad Hispana, will be traveling for a week to the town of Petion-Ville in Haiti, east of the capital city Port Au Prince, in August, to volunteer at an orphanage called God's Littlest Angels. The dates are August 13-20.

All nine of us are preparing and awaiting this experience with much excitement. We are praying that the Lord allows us to see what he wants us to see and to do what he wants us to do. Our prayers, time and energy will be devoted to that effect. Although we are a small group of people, we are eager and willing. Although our time will be short, it will be significant.

I want to share this experience with you before it happens because maybe at some point in time you might have it in your heart to be a part of something like this. Maybe you still do. To serve those who are much more vulnerable than we are because of very unfortunate circumstances. That desire is seldom self-serving. It is actually a desire, a longing, that springs forth from a deeper love than human love. Only a divine love will take us out of our daily circumstances and comfort so that we might bear somebody else's cross even if only for a little while.

So while you might not be joining this group of nine people who are going to Haiti, there is actually a very practical way in which you can join us in our mission to serve, care and love God's Littlest Angels in Haiti. We want to give them our full time and energy during that week that we'll spend there, but we also want to bring with us as many items as possible needed by the children of the orphanage.

To this effect, one of our team members has set up an online baby registry at www.target.com which you can visit, see and purchase the items needed at the orphanage. To access our directory use first name 'Haiti' and last name 'Truro'. All of these items are not readily available in Haiti. There are currently over 150 orphans at God's Littlest Angels, so this is a simple way in which you can bless these precious children along with us. They thrive on massive amounts of love and they also thrive thanks to the generosity of people like you and me. Be it with just one item or as many as you desire, you certainly can make these children's lives better.

If you reside in Fairfax, where Truro Anglican Church is located, or in the vicinity of NOVA, we want to encourage you to use the online registry or to go directly to the store (it doesn't have to be Target) to purchase the items you'd like to donate. We are closing the registry on Saturday, August 4. We need your items at Truro by then so that we can start packing and shipping them before our departure. We have provided a huge blue storage bin in the Welcome Glass Covered Walkway at church for you to place the items.

If you reside far from Fairfax and NOVA and would like to donate an item through the online registry, just send a note to Emi Melean at meleane0314@yahoo.com indicating that you've purchased an item through the registry and we'll make sure to pick it up at the local Target.

So whether you're far from us in Fairfax or close enough, you can be a part of this mission trip through your generosity. And even if you can't donate an item to the orphanage, there's another simple, yet powerful, way you can help us, and that is through your prayers. Would you pray for our team of nine members and our missions trip to God's Littlest Angels in Haiti? Please pray for our safety and also pray for the children at the orphanage and all those who care for them on a daily basis. Your prayers are actually the most effective way to join us and help us on this mission trip.

When we come back we will make sure to share the pictures and stories with all of you. Thank you in advance, dear friend, for taking the time to read this invitation to you, for your donation to God's Littlest Angels and, more importantly, for your prayers!

The Rev'd Carlos Pellot is the pastor of La Comunidad Hispana at Truro, Fairfax.