Lavi Project

Who Am I?
Every story has a beginning, and the story of Lavi was shaped through my life experiences. My name is Robert Bancroft, and I am a 1993 graduate of the Genesis Discipleship Training Center, a college of ministry in Santa Rosa, California, and an ordained minister. Professionally, I have 25 years of experience as an Emergency Medical Technician in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, and 24 years of experience in ministry leadership and youth pastoring. Personally, I have been married for 28 years to my beautiful and talented wife Holly, and I am the proud father of four amazing children: Bethany, Jacob, Isaac, and Josiah. My calling in both the ministry and medial fields has brought many opportunities for learning and growth. I strive to use my theological background, clinical experience, and communication and organization skills to serve people in suffering in some of the most impoverished areas of Haiti. How I do that is another story, the story of Lavi.
The History of My Time In Haiti
2005 – My first mission trip to Haiti with Monadnock Bible Conference & Bridge Builders, followed by 5 more in the next few years.
2008 – Started training to lead my own Monadnock teams to Haiti.
2009 – Led first team to Haiti with Bridge Builders (now called Love In Motion.)
2010 – Idea first developed for leading medical teams on mission work in Haiti.
2015 – First medical team trip of 18 medial professionals and support staff traveled to Haiti to operate three mobile medical clinics, treating over 650 patients during the course of a nine-day trip.
2016 – Our nonprofit organization is officially named, Lavi.

The Story of Lavi
What’s in a name? Hope. Purpose. Faith. Life.
In 2010, after many missionary trips to Haiti with Monadnock Bible Conference and Bridge Builders, I began to think about leading my own medical teams to Haiti. These teams would be comprised of medical colleagues and peers who I had worked with during the past 21 years as an EMT. During one of the many late-night strategy meetings that were held as we developed our strategic plans for the new non-profit organization, the question was raised, “what will you name it?” Well, I had been kicking around some options, but nothing seemed quite right.
However, during the course of the evening, I happened to share an experience from a previous trip with the group. A mother had brought her very sick little boy to our mission camp. He was about a year old and dying. Completely lifeless in his mother’s arms, his eyes were rolled back, he had a distended belly, and his body was covered in wounds, sores and scabies. Paul Deasy, the now Director of Love in Motion, and I were the only two medically trained personnel on that particular team. We quickly realized the severity of the boy’s dehydration, malnourishment and infection. As our full team and Haitian friends gathered around and prayed for the mom and baby, someone asked about the name of the boy. His mother looked sad and replied that he did not have a name. We came to learn that the local custom was not to name a baby if the family fears it won’t survive, in hopes of lessening the emotional attachment and also to protect the baby from witchdoctors and voodoo spells. Well, Paul and I began to aggressively treat this nameless child with antibiotics for his infections while we debrided and cleaned his wounds, hydrated him and set his mother up with baby formula and bottles to feed him. We were very concerned that throughout it all, he never cried, not even once. We were only in the area for six days, so we sent the mother home with everything she needed to care for this ailing boy, and told her to come back every morning for a progress appointment. There were small improvements each day, but on the third day, we could not believe our eyes! He was completely alert, smiling, eating, and even able to sit up on his own and hold a lollipop. His fever was gone and his skin wounds and infections were healing dramatically. While we were all celebrating his progress, his mother made a striking request… she asked that we name the baby, since we had shown them both so much love and care. We were extremely humbled, especially as the local pastor who was serving as our interpreter explained that she wanted to bestow this honor on us because she felt that God had used us to help her baby and that we would choose the right name. After some discussion and thought, Paul came forward with a most appropriate name for this miraculous little boy, “Lavi,” which is Haitian Creole for “Life.”
Fast forward to 2016, it’s the morning after our late-night strategy session and a very special couple from our group pulls me aside. Inspired by the story of this Haitian boy and excited about all the possibilities ahead for the work of our team, they suggest “Lavi” as the name of our organization. For me, it was as if a torch had been lit in a dark room, it became absolutely clear, Lavi was it, the perfect name for our medical missionary organization in Haiti.