Linda Schuler Gunter is the Co-Founder of Love Him Love Them
From the moment of stepping off of the airplane onto Haiti soil, shouts of “Mommy Linda!” immediately arise welcoming David and Linda Gunter back to the place where their ministry Love Him Love Them was forever changed. Unbeknownst to them, the greatest source of life change in their own lives and in the lives of the thousands of people they’ve since encountered started with a few pairs of flip flops and choosing to step out in faith for the 30 orphans they encountered on Christmas Day 2011 during their first mission trip to Haiti. With a heart for sharing the love of Jesus and making a difference in communities overlooked by others, David and Linda once again set out on an adventure of faith, choosing to do something about what they experienced, which has been the cornerstone of their non-profit since its inception.
Throughout their careers as real estate investors in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, David and Linda Gunter were faced with homelessness, drugs and prostitution on a daily basis. In choosing to make a difference in the only way they knew how, in 1998 they turned one of their rental properties in Vine City, Atlanta, the 5th worst crime ridden neighborhood in the United States, into a homeless shelter. They named the shelter and the non-profit George’s Place in honor of Linda’s daddy, and they operated with funding from their friends and family. As years passed, they moved out of the Atlanta area and closed the shelter in 2003. Love Him Love Them became their new name, and their new ministry in northeast Georgia included an after-school program, jail ministry, providing for foster children, hosting community activities for special needs adults, and an annual Thanksgiving meal delivery for the local homeless and homebound. In 2004, a tragic event occurred that left 5 children who just happened to be Haitian without a mom and dad. On the 17th day of the 7th month of the year 2007, David and Linda’s family grew from the size of 2 to 7 with children ranging in ages from 7 to 17. Because of their new Haitian children, the Gunter’s were soon to have an encounter in Haiti that would change their lives and their ministry forever.
In 2011, the year after the devastating earthquake rolled through Haiti, the Gunter family decided together to forego their traditional American Christmas to travel to Haiti instead. What they saw, smelled and experienced throughout their trip completely wrecked them. They took gifts that first year for 17 girls in an orphanage named HUG, and on a whim, decided to stop into an orphanage on Christmas Day named LifeSaver with a meager suitcase of flip flops in hand. Sitting on a urine stained daybed cradling one of the newly orphaned babies, David and Linda listened to 30 children with no possessions and no parents sing praises to the Lord for fulfilling their prayers over the past 3 months and what happened to be their greatest need – a simple pair of 99 cent flip flops. It was then that the Gunter’s knew something had to be done and chose to put much of their ministry focus on Haiti.
With Linda’s gift for vision and commitment to turn every obstacle into an opportunity, and David’s prayerful guidance and heart that people come to know and grow in Jesus, their ministry continued to expand. In the summer of 2017, their dream for the children they met at LifeSaver orphanage just a few years’ prior became a reality when the doors finally opened for the children to travel to the United States. With $120.00 remaining in the ministry’s bank account, David and Linda took another leap of faith and toured with the children throughout the southeastern United States to raise funds to support the orphanage and mission work in Haiti. For the first time, the children were able to share their joy with the countless they encountered. Paired with the Gunter’s story and Linda’s vibrant and magnetic personality, the Love Him Love Them Haitian Orphan Choir Tour quickly became a source of inspiration and a place for life change.
Today David and Linda Gunter are continuing to change lives through the ministry work of Love Him Love Them. With 30 incredible orphans at their side, they continue to raise awareness and funds for their ministries in Haiti with their annual choir tour. Their ministries on the ground in Haiti include a newly built hospital, church construction, a vocational school, transitional housing, storefronts for job creation, sponsor schools, and orphan care, to name a few. Love Him Love Them now hosts annual mission trip opportunities to Haiti, with the annual Christmas trip being their most loved, having served as the cornerstone for their ministry today. And David and Linda have continued to minister to the families of northeast Georgia through many of the programs that accompanied Love Him Love Them’s start.
www.LoveHimLoveThem.org
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