Blessings!
Greetings in the name of our Wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
There is so very much going on right now in Haiti. We feel this newsletter barely scratches the surface. However, it is our way of staying in touch and letting you know what God is doing with Child Hope in Haiti.
Our primary emphasis right now is "normalizing" the kids' lives and helping, where we can, to rebuild and help families in the community.
We are all working hard and sometimes lose sight of the need to rest and spend the time we need with the One we love. This, however, is critical and is not the area we need to decrease. If anything, we need to increase the time we spend in intimate prayer and study of God's word.
So, please... this request above the rest -- Pray! Pray! Pray!
Pray for the missionaries working so very hard here to spend ample quality time with the Lord.
Pray that we may bring honor to the One who sent us in all we do.
Pray that our hearts be pure, seeking His will and purpose every day.
Pray for the protection of our children and that we always make their spiritual lives our emphasis.
This is just a start but wow! how it will help if everyone reading this sets aside a little time each day to pray for us here in Haiti.
Thank you so very much.
God bless you.
The Manasseros
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 This Saturday/Sunday: CNN Documentary
This weekend CNN will be airing a documentary on Maison de Lumiere (The Lighthouse) called "Rescued". It will be airing on May 8 and May 9 at 8PM EST (check your local listings). It features footage from the recent earthquake relief efforts, profiles of two of our children - Markenson and Cendy - and shows film footage from the very earliest years of the ministry and Child Hope in Haiti. We hope you will have an opportunity to see this one-hour special and let others know. We are praying that this documentary with first and foremost glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In addition, we pray that a favorable response will inspire more faith-based stories at CNN. The documentary is being produced by Rose Arce and Jonathan Olinger and is hosted by Soledad O'Brien.To see the trailer and for more information see http://www.childhope.org/about/earthquake.html If you're on facebook you can RSVP and invite your friends to the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109406875756546If you have CNN, consider hosting a viewing party - If you don't have CNN, you might consider coordinating one with a friend who does! If you are hosting a viewing party, sign up at: http://www.discoverthejourney.org/rescued.php |
Q&A Update
 How are the kids?
The kids are actually doing pretty well. They love their new school and are more optimistic about the future. We had one of the top executives from Acra (a major corporation here in Haiti that is in textiles, food, financial services, building, etc.) speak to the kids. Our kids were very honored that he talked with them. He shared how optimistic he is for Haiti's future even though they lost a lot in the quake. The kids were very encouraged and blessed through the presentation.
What are your current building projects?
We are currently focusing our building efforts on helping our Haitian employees. Last week we repaired Fritz's house (he is our orphanage manager) and did a lot of work on Mimose's home (a nanny at our boys home). This week we plan to complete Mimose's roof, and continue work on Mme Michelet (our head cook) and Etra's (our MDL office manager and nanny at the girls home) family's homes. We also continue to rent homes for employees if their home was destroyed in the quake. This week we are also starting our first prefab house for a member of our community (more info on this below)
Who is helping? There is a team from Kansas here right now that is helping. We're training Edison, a carpenter, to be our new home construction specialist. Yves is also participating and we expect to add a few more kids as we ramp up.
 What do they hope to accomplish this week?Working with a good friend and Christian brother Stephan Vervloet, we will begin building permanent pressure-treated wood-framed homes for needy families. There are two different models available that we will be offering that can be customized based on a person's lot size and personal needs. Generally, these homes can be built in one day with minimum construction expertise. Each home is valued at $2100, but he is donating three, and giving us one free for every home we buy from there! Stephen's son, Yonalt, who is here with us on Spring break from school in Holland, is joining our work team of 20 Haitians and our visiting missions team to build our first prefab house.
What is needed for next steps on this effort?We badly need a flat bed truck that can transport the pallets of building materials. See http://www.edivvy.com/event/relieftruck to contribute. What is the tent, tarp & rent ministry and how is that going?We were passing them out tents and tarps like crazy but now we are shifting to getting people into hurricane-proof and permanent housing and out of tents  What is the status of the feeding program?It is still very active and serving over 100 kids. It's an excellent program that is making a difference in the community and helping MDL kids learn how to serve others in Jesus name
What is the status of the medical clinic and what has changed since the earthquake?The medical clinic is very different than it was when it was based at the boys home. It is bigger and can treat many more people. We have a big, well-stocked pharmacy. We are seeing a lot of people on a regular basis. We are treating a number of health problems that are a result of the poor sanitary conditions in the tent cities. How would someone get involved with the ministry?The first step is to enter your information online by clicking here We will contact you as we need volunteers with your skill set. You can also organize a team. Teams normally stay one week. Individuals sometimes can stay for a longer term but that is dependent on the need. We currently need longer-term missionaries for the following positions: - Summer teachers
- Fall teachers
- Fall MDL school principal
- Handy Man/Mechanic
- Retired Business Entrepreneur to teach and mentor kids who are starting new businesses
- Vocational Teachers
- Doctors
Where can I get updates about all that is going on in Haiti? and are posting updates to our website as regularly as possible. |
Camp-in-a-Box 2010
 We are gearing up for Camp-in-a-Box 2010. What is Camp-in-a-Box some of you may be asking? The idea was to take an American-style summer camp experience, put it in a box, and take it to Haiti. It's a special week long camp for the kids at our orphanage where we worship together, do Bible studies, play soccer, do crafts and all the things kids do at a typical summer camp. The kids really look forward to this every year and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to do this for the third year in a row. Please be praying with us as we prepare for this event this summer. If you are interested in hearing more about camp please go to the Child Hope website contact page and let us know. |
Sponsor a Child
One of the best ways to help out the children of Maison de Lumiere (The Lighthouse) is by becoming a child sponsor. As a sponsor, you have the unique opportunity to participate in the growth, support and development of a child or children at the orphanage. You can correspond with the child, receive updated pictures and share your faith and encouragement with him or her. We have updated photo galleries to our boys and girls pages on our website, as well as made sponsoring our kids through the website easier than ever:
To see our boys page, click hereTo see our girls page, click here |
Madame Jocelyn Many of you may remember hearing about or have financially supported an employee and woman in our neighborhood named Madam Jocelyn. She has returned to Haiti after being in the Dominican Republic for four months for radiation treatment and more chemotherapy for Stage IIIB uterine cancer. As the cancer is not yet in remission, her doctor is recommending more chemotherapy followed by a special type of radiation called brachytherapy, which will both be conducted in the DR. There are no guarantees, but her doctor says that this continued treatment can be very effective in eliminating the cancer in her body.
The total cost of the treatment is $3500, which includes room and board in the Dominican. It is urgent that we raise this money within the week so Madam Jocelyn can return to the Dominican for the treatment. The longer the time period between treatments, the greater the risk that the cancer will metastasize or be more difficult to treat.
Will you please join us in praying for the funds so desperately needed to help this dear woman continue her treatment? We know our God is great and can heal her. Please keep Madame Jocelyn and her family in your prayers. If you feel called to help with her medical expenses, you may donate online at http://www.edivvy.com/event/madame-jocelyn. Keep praying and may God bless you. |
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Child Hope Website Updates
We are constantly improving and updating our Child Hope website. Here are some pages that have been updated recently:
Graduates Page - Some of our kids who have graduated out of our program and what they are doing now
Boys/Girls Pages - We update these pages regularly with new pictures of the kids. You can also choose a child to sponsor directly from these pages
Photos - We have updated this page with some pictures from teams since the earthquake. If you have pictures from a team that has come at any time please email us via the contact us link on the website!
Calendar - Here you can see all the upcoming teams and events!
Videos - We've added one new video from one of our teams that came after the earthquake
Blog - This is where you can see what our missionaries in Haiti are posting on their blogs
Child Hope is now posting regularly on
Facebook and Twitter:
 
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