Nine years ago Margaret Trost took a "reverse mission" trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to serve the poor. Her husband had died unexpectedly, leaving her to rear their young son, alone.  

"His death was devastating," Trost said. "I didn't feel excited or passionate about the future." But the Haiti trip seemed like an opportunity to explore her faith and find some meaning. She also hoped the trip would help her heal.

What Trost found upon arriving in Port-au-Prince was profound poverty, rampant hunger and AIDS victims dying — without pain killers or other medicine — in the hospice where she volunteered. In the midst of it all, however, she found something else — spiritual rebirth and renewal.

And the people of Haiti gained a fervent advocate who leveraged her deepened faith and passion to help feed its hungry children. "I couldn't get Haiti out of my mind or out of my heart," she said.

Trost chronicles her life-giving experience in a book, "On That Day, Everybody Ate: One Woman's Story of Hope and Possibility in Haiti."

The UCC laywoman recently shared memories of her Haiti visits and read excerpts from the book at United Christian Church, Austin, Texas. The suburban congregation is dually aligned with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the UCC.

"This story has meant so much to me," Trost said during the visit. "It has been such an important part of my life." Profits from the volume help to support the feeding ministry in Port-au-Prince's St. Clare community. "I hope the book will inspire people to value the small steps we can take to make a difference in our world," Trost said.

After her initial visit in 2000, Trost returned to her California home inspired to do something ... anything. But she was not sure where to begin. While in Haiti she met a Catholic priest, Gerard Jean-Juste, who shared his vision to begin a feeding ministry for the community's children.

There was one immediate obstacle ahead. The parish lacked financial resources. "Maybe I can help him have that food program," Trost reflected upon returning home.

St. Clare's need and Trost's passion soon intersected. In sharing her experience with friends and family, she learned that a $5,000 donation had suddenly become available through the Wisconsin Conference of the UCC.

In short order she was able to have the funds sent to "Father Gerry." The feeding ministry was launched. This was only the beginning. As Trost shared her story, donations from friends, relatives and church groups continued to pour in. She soon needed an organized way of handling the contributions and forwarding them to the Haitian community.

That's when the What If? Foundation was born. It began as a one-woman, not-for-profit corporation whose first year's gifts totaled $10,000. In 2007 the foundation raised over $275,000, with more than 95 percent going directly to the people who need it most — the children of St. Clare's parish. Over the years those gifts helped the program grow from a Sunday meal for 500 to serving more than 1,500 children and 200 adults, Monday through Friday.

In a subsequent visit, Fr. Gerry shared another more ambitious vision. He wanted to pave the roads, and build a cafeteria, library, school and health clinic on the church grounds. It seemed impossible. Hunger was so prevalent in Haiti that providing the one hot weekly meal was a miracle.

The Catholic priest held out hope that things would happen. "Piti piti na rive," he said in Creole; which means, "little by little we will arrive." Little by little some of his hopes have materialized, starting with the feeding program expansion.

St. Clare's parish doesn't have a school yet, according to Trost, but the What If? Foundation provides scholarships that help educate 200 of the community's children. Every year the What If? Foundation has a goal to help more and more children receive an education.

And little by little, Margaret Trost was being transformed. "Thanks to my experience in Haiti, and my partnership with St. Clare's Church, my heart had healed and I am living with joy and purpose again."

Margaret Trost is a member of First Congregational UCC in Berkeley, Calif., and was a UCC Office of Communications board member during the late 1980s.