Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Haddock.
Morgan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
At the age of 15, I became intrigued with missions work after I spoke with interns from my church that went to Guatemala. They shared their testimonies about what God did on their trip and it really touched my heart how they made a difference in others lives. I decided I wanted to go on a mission trip where I could do the same thing. I asked my parents that instead of presents for my 16th birthday that I could go on a mission trip. They agreed with my request and within a month, I raised the support needed for my trip to Guatemala. Going out of the country for the first time on my own with a group of strangers was quite nerve-racking. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was thrilled for the opportunity. While on our trip the team and I went to a small village outside of Santa Cruz Del Quiche called Sector Pixtup, Canton Pacala. There, the team and I built two homes and led VBS (vacation bible school) at the local school. Furthermore, I met the Ramos family along with their seven-year-old son Ezekiel. At that moment, I felt an instant connection with Ezekiel. Even though I didn’t speak his language, we had kindred spirits. Saying goodbye to Ezekiel was extremely difficult since we built a strong connection over the duration of two days, so I made a promise that I would visit him again. After my second mission trip, I realized I wanted to do more for the Ramos family and the community I’ve grown attached to. Like most impoverish countries many people in Guatemala live on less than $1 a day and live in homes that have no windows, dirt floors and lack of running water. The size of a 10′ x 10′ room would fit a family of ten! This harsh reality inspired me to make a difference in others lives so that generations to come do not have to experience the same hardships as their parents.
Eventually, an organization offered me a position in their program where teenagers “adopt” villages and raise money to provide improvements to them. During the 2018 Christmas season, I raised over $1,200 to provide over 60 students with brand new shoes and four families with other specific needs for the holiday season. When I graduate high school, I will be an intern at an orphanage in Guatemala for a month. In the future, I want to open the first inter-generational care facility in Guatemala! Lastly, I want to make monthly improvements to the village I support, either improve the education at the local school, fulfill sanitary needs such as hand washing stations and bathrooms, feeding impoverish families and provide clean water to prevent bacterial diseases. While also feeding families who cannot afford to put food on their table and much-needed clothing and shoes, but I am seeking sponsors in order to fulfill these goals!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My journey has not been smooth or easy because when you are striving for greatness obstacles always arise. My challenges came in many forms, things I could control and others that I couldn’t, which tried to derail me from goals. One of the major obstacles I faced is during the summer of 2017 was my family and I were affected by Hurricane Harvey. Throughout that period of my life, I experienced loss that I never had before. My main focus was to help my family recover from the damage that the flood caused to our home and decided to put Guatemala on the back burner. When I started to consider returning to Guatemala, the challenge came to finding an organization to take me to Ezekiel’s village. Many organizations have their designated areas that they like to stick to and refuse to stray from them.
After three mission trips fell through, I was connected with an organization that offered me the opportunity to lead VBS (vacation bible school) at the village’s local school. Once I found a mission trip team, it was a process to work out numeral logistics. Some of these included finding a Guatemalan contact because, in Guatemala, each village has elders that are in charge of their community. I needed to find a person who lived locally that could communicate with the elders. Second, I have never planned VBS before, so I was nervous about leading one at only the age of 17 as well as the language barrier. Thirdly, it was difficult to find information about the village such as location, population count and approval from the elders. When stress tried to take over, I stayed strong in the Lord and He worked out all of the details. Even after you succeed in a goal that benefits the Kingdom of God, the enemy is never happy. Every day, I experience new challenges from the devil, but I hold on to the truth of God and he fights the battles for me.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
The foundation of my ministry, Project Ezekiel, is based on Ezekiel 37 in the Bible. In Ezekiel, God gave the vision of a valley of bleaching, dry bones to the prophet Ezekiel. God then asked Ezekiel if these dry bones can come alive again, but he was unsure of God’s power. All of a sudden, the dry bones were formed into bodies with flesh, tendons, and skin, but did not have breath in their lungs. Again, Ezekiel prophesied that the body’s lungs were filled with air. This passage of scripture is not talking about physical flesh, yet your spirit. If you accept Jesus in your life, he will revive your spirit and give you hope in the future that He has for you. First, Project Ezekiel goal is to breathe life into struggling families that are living in poverty in the city of Santa Cruz Del Quiche, Guatemala. Then, the plan would be to begin to spread my ministry to the whole country of Guatemala! I want to see the message of Christ’s salvation spread across Guatemala as well as the rest of the world. That everyone would be touched by God’s Holy Spirit. In Matthew 28:19, God demanded to go and make disciples of all nations and that is exactly what I plan to do! As my ministry grows, it will have the same mission which is sharing the love of God and the gospel with every person that I can touch!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
As a Christian, I do not believe in luck, I do believe in God’s presence in my life. He directs my life and has blessed me in so many ways. I have seen God’s hand in my ministry in both little and big ways throughout the past couple of years! One major blessing is the support I have received over these past two years financially. God has touched people’s heart to give consistently to my ministry and I am very blessed to call those sponsors my friends and family. Another blessing is getting accepted into a summer internship volunteering at an orphanage in Guatemala for a month. Minor blessings come in many forms of confirmations like when someone contacts me and tells me they are inspired by my story of God speaking to me about the future of Project Ezekiel. I’ve learned that your walk with God is going to consist of both mountains and valleys, but if you hold on to the word of God, then it will carry through. Even though I have experienced tremendous opposition, I believe it is all the will of God and I know that His plans are higher than my own! I will continue to praise God through the good and the bad because that doesn’t change the fact that He is a good God. Yes, the future is unclear of where God is taking me, but I have faith and trust in Jesus Christ will uphold his promises to me!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.theforgottenpeople.net/morgan-village.html
- Phone: 7135157102
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morgan_haddock18/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.haddock.5
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