Karris Hudson

“This is the end of my week in Haiti, but I feel like it’s the beginning…I will come back one day – soon.” – journal of Karris Hudson, 2/9/2002

Karris Hudson visited Hope for Haiti Children’s Center for the first time at age 21. Now, nearly seven years later, she has become a vital part of the ministry at Danita’s Children, handling administration responsibilities on the field, as well as being “Mami Karris” to 75 children. On top of these responsibilities, Karris has also nearly completed her college education doing distance learning classes from Haiti, and will graduate next year. At age 28, Karris’ wisdom and fortitude are that of a woman twice her age, and her love for Haiti and its children is contagious, both in passion and action.

Karris, like the other missionaries at Danita's Children, had every reason to not sacrifice her American life and move to Haiti. Raised primarily in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, she was born into a compassionate family and was raised learning how to serve others. As a child, she and her mother would go on weekends to a storage facility in her community where donated goods were kept, and help to distribute the items to the poor. She always enjoyed working with the less fortunate, and by the time she entered junior high, Karris knew she wanted to be a missionary.

Throughout the next six years, Karris went on short-term mission trips and continued to serve the local community. As high school neared its end, she applied to go to college in Knoxville, Tennessee, but as the deadline came to send in the final paperwork and accept her admission, she felt unsettled. Although she did well in school and was excited about moving on to college, she felt as though this was not God’s plan for her life. Karris made the tough decision to stay home that year, and turned down her acceptance to that particular college. Instead, she worked full time at a local mortgage company and attended night classes at a local college in Nashville. “That was the first experience I had with really choosing to make the hard decision to follow God,” Karris says. “I was really lonely that year, but I knew God had something in store, and I wanted to listen and be ready.”

And she was right. God did have something in store.

During her year at home, Karris was introduced to Pastor Bill Wilson and Metro Ministries, an outreach to inner-city kids in Brooklyn, New York. She instantly felt a connection to the kids. The following fall, she began working at Metro, and stayed there for three years. During that time, she was introduced to Danita's Children, and decided to go visit Haiti.

Karris spent a week at the Hope for Haiti Children's Center that changed her life forever. Six months after returning to the States, she moved to Haiti. At the time, there were less than 30 children at the orphanage and only 100 in school. The church, feeding program and school were all under one thatched roof, and the property that is now a playground, school, church, cafeteria and boys' home was nothing more than a field of weeds and cacti.

Karris has been in Haiti to see 45 new children come to live at the orphanage, and nearly 500 new students start school. The faces of the children, she says, are a constant reminder of why she is in Haiti. “People ask me why I gave so much up to come to Haiti, and I tell them that I didn’t give up anything. For me, this place is a dream come true. I have found my true purpose here, and I have gained everything." Karris often refers to Proverbs 19:17 that says, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” Karris wants to lend something to the Lord, and is happy to be able to do that in Haiti.

“There are many nights in Haiti that I go to bed with tears in my eyes, thanking the Lord for the privilege of being able to serve ‘the least of these.'"

Karris Hudson’s life is truly an example of the joy that results from service. Although she has witnessed great pain and suffering, she has also witnessed a love that is greater. She says, "Living in Haiti, for me, is a dream, because I get to be a part of what God is doing here, but the important thing is to be in God’s will wherever you are.”

To financially support missionary Karris Hudson, please indicate so in the comment box on your donation when you give today.

To contact Karris: karris@danitaschildren.org