Greetings!
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
The last few months have been a total blessing for us with missions teams coming from all over to serve and encourage.
We cannot even put into words the gratefulness we feel for those who have given so sacrificially to bless our family and the children of Haiti. With such humble projects as fixing water pumps, toilets and rain gutters, it is not the glamour of the work that draws them here -- but the heart of Christ. It is the hearts of those who serve that are making a difference to those who live here.
But who are those who are sent without those who send? Thank you to all of you pray and support the workers who are sent here.
May the Lord richly bless all those who join us to proclaim Christ through our efforts here.
In Christ in Haiti,
The Manasseros
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 Meet Richard
Richard Etienne is a very special child and one of the most liked kids at Maison de Lumiere. He loves to play and is often seen running around the orphanage, makeshift weapon in hand, playing cops and robbers (or UN and gangsters) or standing in karate stance as a Haitian ninja.
Richard came to our orphanage with his brother Willie shortly after his father, their last surviving parent, died. With many other siblings their chances of survival were questionable. His oldest brother was trying to take care of all the children but, with limited resources, could not always feed them and feared they would end up on the street. Sometimes they would go days without food.
Maison de Lumiere was able to take in both of the boys, provide food and shelter and send them to school. At first, Richard had much difficulty adjusting -- especially in school and, even with tutoring, looked like he wouldn't pass. But, since the move to the new school, Richard now ranks number one academically in his class and really loves school.
At worship time, Richard's voice is the one you hear above all others as he sings, eyes closed, with great passion and thankfulness to God.
Richard, like many of our children, is still in need of sponsorship. Please pray that the Lord will provide the right person(s) to help him. Also, please keep him in your prayers, both for sponsors and that he grows into a man of God, devoted to serving and helping others.
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 Orange County Fundraiser to aid Orphanage Playgrounds
A missions team from Mission Viejo Christian Church (MVCC), who will be coming to Haiti in August, is sponsoring a musical concert to help raise funds to build play areas for both homes at Maison de Lumiere.
MVCC, where Bill Manassero was interim worship leader in 2003-4, has long been a supporter of Child Hope and the Maison de Lumiere orphanage. The missions team will be the first of hopefully many teams to come to Haiti from that church. Their primary objective is to build two playgrounds, one for the boys home and one for the girls home.
To fund the playgrounds project they are hosting a gala musical event on Sunday, June 3rd at 4pm at Mission Viejo Christian Church in Mission Viejo. The event will feature noted soloist and musicians Cheryl Crandall-Hernandez and W. Christian Winn.
Tickets are $10 per person or $25 per family. For more information, contact Mission Viejo Christian Church at 949-465-1940.
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 "Super Team" Gets the Job Done
This has been a year of incredible missions teams. We were recently blessed by a missions team from Calvary Baptist Church (CBC) in Huntington Beach, California. This team came with a commitment to serve, bless and encourage. And they excelled at all three.
Arriving with over 15 bins filled to the brim with needed clothing, tools, supplies and other items for the ministry, they came with a passion to tackle every project on our "needs" list -- and ended up not only completing the tasks at hand but also managed to accomplish projects on our "dream" list!
The team was directed by Pastor Ed LaLonde and his wife Robin, whose ministry includes traveling globally to support and encourage missionaries.
During their visit, one of their top priorities was the completion of a play tower for our children. They also installed a rain collecting system at the girls homes, painted furniture, sewed and installed curtains and couch pads, dug a vegetable garden, built a picnic bench, repaired 5 toilets and held a VBS for all the children at the orphanage. As if that wasn't enough, they further went out of their way to bless the missionary family in a number ways, including the creation of a special romantic candlelight dinner for two for Bill & Susette Manassero.
Although all our teams have been a blessing, this team truly touched our hearts and the residents and staff of Maison de Lumiere. We extend a special word of appreciation and love. God bless you.
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 Incredible Playhouse
It was no small feat. Working from rough, undetailed plans pulled down from the Internet, and with the limited wood and construction supplies available in Haiti, master construction engineers Calvary Baptist team members Dale and Jeff set out to build a playhouse that would rival anything available in the states. Their goal was simple: bless the children of the missionary family serving in Haiti.
The Manassero kids, due to safety considerations, are mostly restricted to staying within the confines of the walls of their home, which has limited space to run around or participate in athletic activities. With both orphanage homes receiving new playgrounds in August, the team saw this as an important priority for the welfare and well-being of the Manassero kids.
Upon completion of construction, painting the playhouse became the biggest challenge of the project. Reason being - the kids couldn't stay out of the playhouse. They kept asking, "Is it dry yet? Is it dry yet?" Barring those challenges, once completed, the children moved in the day we said "It's dry" and haven't left since. They love their new "home away from home."
It has been a wonderful blessing and a dream come true for our children. On behalf of our family and children, we want to extend to the Calvary Baptist missions team a big "thank you" and "God bless you!"
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 More Than Just A Garden
One of the big highlights of the CBC Missions Team visit was the creation of a new vegetable garden at the Girls Home. The beautiful thing about this project was not simply that it would teach the girls about farming and supply vegetables to the orphanage -- more importantly it served as a tool to illustrate an important biblical principle through Jesus' parable of the seeds and the sower.
After the garden was completed and ready for planting, Pastor Ed gathered the girls together and shared the "seed and he sower" parable from Matthew 13 about how God's Word reaches and impacts people in different ways and how we need to make sure our hearts are like the fertile soil. He spoke of how the Word of God penetrates deep and how important it is that our faith have deep roots to withstand the trials ahead. He asked each of the girls to examine their own hearts before entering the garden and ask God to reveal the type of soil they offer. Then, each girl was handed a batch of seeds to plant in a designated garden row.
The event added important spiritual meaning and depth to something as simple as the planting of a garden. Yet each child took the message very seriously. It is our prayer that as this garden grows and flourishes, so will the young faith of these precious girls.
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 GoodSearch.com Helps Send Needy Haitian Children to School
Our highest month so far was March of 2007, where we raised $7.28 as a result of dear friends and supporters using Yahoo-powered GoodSearch search engine to benefit Child Hope. Some of our supporters are now using GoodSearch.com as their "search engine of choice" while on the Internet. Every time they do a search, Child Hope receives $.01 that goes toward educating needy Haitian children.
If you would like to turn your Internet searches into an education for a needy Haitian child, just go to GoodSearch.com and select Child Hope International as your benefiting charity. We really appreciate your efforts on behalf of the children of Haiti. God bless you.
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 Manassero Kids Update
Ariana - She was recently able to go back to the states (w ith a visiting missions team) for a few weeks to see family and friends. She loved seeing friends, her niece Genevieve and relatives again. Although she loved visiting everyone, she was also happy to return "home." Shortly after returning, she was asked to come to a friends prom at a local Christian school (picture at right with prom chaperon Brittany). This was a fun event and great excuse to play "dress-up" in Haiti.
 Vienna - After encouraging us to take a "family vacation" in Haiti, Vienna helped put together a special weekend visit to the town of Jacmel. It was a total blast! Staying at a hotel right on a secluded cove, with a beach and swimming pool, Vienna was in seventh heaven. It was truly her dream vacation. Afterwards, we all thanked her for helping make it happen. Upon return, all play and no work shifted as she rolled up her sleeves to organize her Gospel dance troupe to prepare a dance program to kick off a special church service planned for our new church location.
 Elijah - He is beside himself with joy at the newly completed Playhouse/fort recently constructed by the Calvary Baptist missions team. He couldn't believe it! Usually, most teams focus on projects at the orphanage. The fact that a team would make a project for the kids of missionary family blessed him tremendously. Every day he anxiously awaits "playhouse time" with his sister and brother. He also has taken a big interest in sports -- specifically NBA basketball and NCAA football and is always asking his not so sports-minded and puzzled dad questions like, "Is it legal for a player do an alley-oop and slam dunk it at the same time?"
 Francesca - Princess Frankie is, like Elijah, loving the new playhouse. The only difficulty is her interest in decorating the place with curtains and various Barbie-themed decor against Elijah and Kenson's objections. However, Kenson thought the curtain would be good cover while shooting at each other during Walker Texas Ranger play sessions. Other than that, Frankie is doing well and loves the special clothes and gifts brought to her from the missions teams and other visitors.
 Kenson - We have been examining the possibility of launching a Haitian sitcom called "The Kenny Show" to feature the many faces, expressions and talents of Kenson. Whenever teams come to visit, we never see Kenson because he's always down in the guesthouse entertaining our guests. He's loved by the visitors and we're constantly asked, "How do you keep from laughing all the time? He is hilarious!" The answer is - we don't! Kenny is a precious little boy who always keeps us laughing and thanking God for bringing him in our lives.
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