Chedeline was born in a small village in Northern Haiti.  She is the oldest of three sisters.  At a very young age her father left her mother for another woman, dramatically impacting Chedeline's mother's mental health. When Chedeline was 4 or 5 years old, her mother decided to walk with Chedeline from their village in Northern Haiti to Port Au Prince in the south, where the father had moved.  The journey was over one hundred miles away and would take more than a week.  They would walk all day, with the mother often carrying Chedeline, until they could no longer walk.  Then, they would just sleep by the side of the road.  When they arrived in Port Au Prince, Chedeline's grandmother, who is a Christian, took Chedeline from her mother, questioning the mother's mental stability.  Another relative, an uncle, took Chedeline from the grandmother, citing the fact that she was too old and too poor to support the child.  He and his wife were also poor so Chedeline ended up begging on the streets. 

With the coins she collected from begging, she would give everything to her mother whom she loved very much.  Her mother would feed her when she could. Chedeline's father, who was arrested for stealing and thrown in jail, later escaped jail when a wall fell down at the facility he was staying.  He would come and try to take Chedeline to live with him and his new woman but Chedeline did not want to go and relatives would always prevent that from happening.

On the streets, her life consisted of dodging in and out of busy traffic, asking people for change and trying not to get hurt.  She met up with a group of girls, also from the Cap Haitian area, and would travel with them "in packs" to try to stay safe.  One girl, Isguerda, was even from her old village.  It was dangerous and risky dodging cars and tap taps as they ran from car to car begging for money.  Often, older street boys would assault the girls and take the money they had collected for the day.

On occasion, Chedeline and her friends would get a free meal at the Maison de Lumiere boys home nearby.  There, she would meet people who seemed to care about her and would sing songs about Jesus.  She wished she could stay at the orphanage but she knew it was for boys only.

One day, her friends from the orphanage came by to tell her they were starting a girls home.  She could hardly believe it.  She found her mom and asked her if she could go and her mother said yes.  When her father found out he tried to have the mother arrested saying she was crazy to send his daughter to an orphanage.  Nonetheless, Chedeline was allowed to move in to Maison de Lumiere.

Since coming to the home, Chedeline's life has really turned around.  In 2007, she gave her life to Jesus and has come to grow closer to Him every day.  She is in school and doing very well.  She loves mathematics and grammar.  She is especially excited every Saturday to be part of a special vocational training program where she is learning to sew.  She wants to be a seamstress when she grows up.

When asked what the happiest day of her life was, she says it's the day she chose to follow Jesus.  When asked what the saddest day of her life was, she said it was every day before that.

Chedeline's grandmother has prayed for Chedeline's mother and she now seems to be of sound mind by the grace of God.  It is Chedeline's prayer that both her mother and father would come to follow Jesus just like her.  Please keep Chedeline and her family in your prayers.

A handful of our older boys are preparing for their graduation  from our program in September of this year.  Each of them will be graduating out of the home into independent living and a life on their own.  Working with each young man, they each have a unique track specifically geared for their gifts and goals.  Some will spend time in an apprenticeship or trade school, others will be launching micro-businesses and others may continue their educations while working part-time. Each graduate will be attending a special weekly bible study which will also allow for updates and additional training that will help them in their new lives.

The graduates include Alex, Emillian, Gregory, Israel, James, Jocelyn, and Markenson. Some may returning to family to live, others may share a place together, and still others may get hired by the ministry.

This is a very big move for all of the young men and we don't take it lightly.  We want to make sure they succeed on their own and go on to be a light for Christ in whatever their jobs are.  We will miss all of our graduates and although they are leaving the home, we will continue to be in regular contact through weekly bible studies, life-training courses and other program elements.  The young men will continue to be sponsored as we work with them for one year helping them get up and on their feet.

Please include these special young men in your prayers as they prepare for this next very exciting phase of their lives.

Did you know that Maison de Lumiere has 28 employees.  Between the people that prepare meals, wash clothes, teach school, tutor, administer, maintain and offer security, many families and hundreds of people are directly supported through the work of Child Hope International in Haiti. 

We wanted to launch a new feature in this newsletter profiling some of the incredible employees that are part of the process of raising up young disciples for Christ here in Haiti and throughout the world.

This month, we want to profile Fritz Desir, one of our longest term employees and our Gwo Boss (Big Boss) -- the manager of Maison de Lumiere.

Fritz is a godly young man with a heart to serve and minister to homeless, orphaned and abandoned children. He has the challenging task of both overseeing and managing our other 27 employees as well as helping shape and mold our children to become "lighthouses for Christ" in Haiti and beyond.

Born September 4, 1974 to a poor family in Port Au Prince, Haiti, he is the oldest of 10 children.  Although it was financially challenging, his parents were able to send him to school in his early years.  Unfortunately, when he was 11 years old, his parents split up and he moved with his father to the city of Jacmel in Southern Haiti.  Shortly after moving, his father died and he had to live with his godparents in Jacmel where he worked with is godfather who was a farmer.  He longed to continue his schooling but his godparents were too poor and he was also needed to help farm with his godfather.  Also, his godfather was a voodoo priest," hougan," and Fritz was daily exposed to their practice of witchcraft.

Over the next few years, it was too difficult for his aging godparents to support him. So, when he was 16 years of age, he was sent back to Port Au Prince to live with an uncle in Cite Solei, Haiti's largest slum.  His uncle, who was a Seventh Day Adventist, had a motorcycle parts business and Fritz ended up working for his uncle in his business.  He also started learning about Christianity.

In Cite Solei, he hung out with a group of friends who would sometimes get in trouble.  One of his friends got in a fight with another boy and was so mad that he wanted to put a voodoo curse on the guy.  This was not unusual, especially for Fritz who grew up with Voodoo.  So they went to the local witch doctor, who went through a big ceremony and said he could place the curse but it would cost a cow, soap and some money -- none of which his friend had.  This illustrated to Fritz how foolish this "religion" was -- nothing but a joke -- a cheap business that it had nothing to do with God.  This sparked him to start attending a Christian church in his area.

A few years later, he was shuffled off to another uncle who lived in a slightly better part of Port Au Prince.  It was there that Fritz started his own little photography business so he could afford to continue his dream -- to finish school.  He worked hard at his business and at school.  In 10th grade, he met a young man named Zachary who became his best friend.  Finally, at age 25, he finished high school.

He really wanted to learn English and started teaching himself and attending an English speaking church.  At that church, he met a missionary who wanted to learn Creole so he made a deal with the missionary to teach him Creole if the missionary would teach Fritz English.  The missionary became a good friend and ended up sponsoring Fritz and his best friend Zachary to attend YWAM DTS training in Saint Marc, Haiti.  The experience changed both Fritz and Zach's life.  They came back from YWAM with a contagious on-fire faith and a burning desire to serve. 

When their pastor (John McHoul) told them there was a new orphanage for street kids that was looking for staff, they were very excited.  When they got the call for an interview they both were offered jobs and accepted the jobs on-site.  It was the opportunity they were praying for -- a chance to pour into a group of young men, not unlike themselves, whom they could teach the Good News of Jesus Christ and help be a part of transforming Haiti and the world for the Lord.

That was four years ago.  Today, Fritz manages the overall operations of Maison de Lumiere, while Zach manages facilities.  Fritz has been a model of Christ's love to these children, the staff and the community in a way that cannot be measured by man.  He is making a difference for the Kingdom of God.

Last year, Fritz married long time friend, Margalie, and now has a baby daughter.  He is now showing the boys what it means to be a godly husband and father.

We are blessed to have Fritz as part of our team here in Haiti.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers as he seeks to serve God, lead his family and the lost children of Haiti in a powerful way.

By the grace of God, we have been able to feed 30-40 needy neighborhood children three times a week for quite some time now.  God is so good!

But in April, a team from Mission Viejo Christian Church in California are coming to jump start our program to the next level.  We hope to move the feeding, which currently occurs at the Manassero home, to the sports center next to the boys home.  The new program with be fully staffed and directed by the children at MDL.  It will include singing of praise and worship songs, a Bible story/message, games and the meal.  It is our prayer that as the Lord provides, more needy children in the area will be helped by this valuable program.

The Mission Viejo team is working hard to raise funds for the program and their upcoming missions trip.  If you are interested in helping them out or joining them April 3-13, contact Jim Duggan at  sbsgjim@sbcglobal.net or 832-331-1886.

It has been a while since we updated you on how the Manassero kids have been doing.  These brief updates will give you a quick recap of what they have been doing.

They have all been blessed with a generous sponsorship that has allowed them to attend private Christian school (except Ariana who is completing her last year of home schooling) and it has been a total blessing.  We were very  skeptical at first (being a hard core home schooling family) but it has turned out to be an excellent experience.

We are making a big push to complete Frankie and Kenson's adoption and it is our prayer that we can complete it within the next two years.  Please keep us and that process in your prayers.

Ariana - Ariana has been very busy cranking on her school studies to finish high school one year early.  She has worked very hard to complete her studies and is on the final stretch now.  She will be graduating in June at South Bay Faith Academy, the home school academy she has attended since she was very little.  Since arriving in Haiti, her heart has been set on full-time ministry and now, with graduation in sight, it looks like her dreams are finally coming true. You can find out more about how Ariana is doing through her blog at http://ari-haitilife.blogspot.com/.

Vienna - Making the transition from home school to Quesqueya Christian Christian school here in Haiti went very smooth.  Vienna, like all our kids here, had been home schooled all her life and jumping into a college prep private school looked like a big hurdle, however, after her first semester and a batch of "A"s on her first report card, it looked like she was going to do just fine.  She's in 8th grade. She has made a lot of new friends and is a diligent student.  She has also just joined the JV girls soccer team and has emerged as one of the teams top players, scoring the only goal in the teams first real game.  This is pretty amazing considering the last time she played soccer was at age 6 through South Bay AYSO in Southern California.

Elijah - Elijah is doing well with the transition from home school to private Christian school as well.  When we were in the States for Susette's cancer treatments he attended Gardena Valley Christian school where he completed the year with straight As.  So, Quesqueya has been pretty easy for him.  He's in 3rd grade. He loves school and learning and is blessed with a wonderful teacher who loves teaching and takes a personal interest in how he is doing.  He is in the midst of his 4th time reading through the entire Bible and feels strongly that God is calling him to become a pastor.  "I love studying the Word and teaching other people about the Bible.  It is my favorite book!"

Frankie - Princess Frankie also enjoys attending Quesqueya.  She has lots of friends and really loves her teacher.  This is her first time in an English speaking school and she loves it.  "This is so much better than Haitian school.  The teachers in Haitian school are mean," she said referring to their disciplinary practice of slapping kids on their hands with a ruler if they don't recite a memorization exercise precisely.  She is in 1st grade. One of her favorite things to do after school is to play with her good friends Katrina and Oline at the girls home.  She's also learning to make purses with the girls out of plastic grocery bags.

Kenson - Kenson is also at Quesqueya, in pre-school.  He loves the school and his teacher and has turned out to be a very bright student as well.  He just has to work on the challenge of paying attention on a more consistent basis.  He is also learning sign language which he really loves.  His favorite subject is recess and snack time.  Elijah and Kenny have been playing baseball every other Saturday with a group of missionary kids and some Dominican kids.  Kenny really loves it and is really quite an athlete.