When I visited Haiti in 2010, after the horrendous earthquake that took the lives of thousands of people, my heart was broken at the extent of the poverty within the country.

As a Haitian-American, I had yearned for this trip for so long and now it was finally here, but because of the earthquake’s aftermath, the already poverty-stricken country was littered with broken buildings, debris, and people living in tents. My heart was heavy.

Every night, it would rain and as I lay on my bed in a hotel room, I was brokenhearted over the thousands of people living in muddy tents enduring the pouring rain. Here I was, enjoying room service and cooked meals while others were hungry and homeless.

Poverty is all around us; it’s not just in Haiti.

There are hungry and homeless people not too far from where we live. We just need to look with new eyes and we’ll begin to notice the kid who wears the same shoes every day, the mom on public assistance at the grocery store, or the elderly man on a fixed income.

All around us are opportunities to show God’s compassionate heart for the poor. Jesus taught us that giving to the poor is a gift to God (Matthew 25:40) because when we give to the poor, we lack nothing and gain everything.