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| Child Hope International | January 2012 |
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Remembering |
Greetings in the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, January, for many, marks the beginning of a new year. A time for new goals, a new start, and a look forward to the future. But, for us, January will always be known for the 35 seconds that occurred on January 12th, 2010. The devastating Haiti earthquake changed our lives forever. We will never forget. And we don't want to forget.
We believe it was a wake-up call, a reminder, that our lives are not our own and that, in the blink of an eye, we can be gone from this world.
The people of Haiti will never be the same.
As we took time, this month, to reflect on the events that occurred on that day, we saw more about ourselves than about an event. A need to understand the purpose of our lives. And for those that have been saved by the grace of God, through faith, through Jesus Christ, it is a time to be thankful for His eternal promise -- the perfect gift of a father's love for His children.
It is also motivation. A time to openly share this very real Hope that lives within us.
Because our lives are not our own, we look forward to one day being in heaven, before the throne of our Heavenly Father. But, until then, we cherish the brief moments He gives us in this temporary place to share this Hope for all who will listen.
Jesus is Lord of all and it is only through Him that we can know true freedom. It is our prayer that everyone can know this fact.
When we look at the Haiti earthquake, like any senseless tragedy, we are reassured that our God's love is bigger and greater than any circumstance we can face on this earth.
Spread the news! Jezi renmem ou. (Jesus loves you) In Christ in Haiti, The Manasseros |
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Meet Our Newest Kids -- Jefflina and Ti-Junior
 Meet Jefflina, the first girl we've welcomed into our new girl's home since moving into a bigger house. She is the little sister of Chedline, one of the older girls already at our orphanage Although Jefflina has a mother, we took her into our home because she has been ill for a long time and her mother was unable to care for her. Her mother requested that we take her in because she feared for her life.Jefflina joined us in September of last year. At first she was very shy and reserved, sticking like glue to her sister, Chedline. But now, you'll see her running around having fun with her new "sisters," playing with dolls and playing house. She has a very spunky personality, loves to dance, and is quite the entertainer. She had absolutely no stage fright performing in front of hundreds of people at our Christmas Pageant! Please pray for Jefflina, that she would continue adjusting well in her new home environment and that she'd know the love of Christ at an early age! If you'd like to sponsor Jefllina, click here: Sponsor Sponsor Jefflina.
Meet the newest addition to our boys' home, Ti-Junior. This handsome,  sweet soul, was once often seen in the neighborhood wearing the same clothes for days in a row and causing trouble around the neighborhood. He wasn't attending school and had no parents. Sometimes we couldn't even let him into our feeding program because he'd get into fights with the other kids. He was very erratic in his behavior; sometimes he'd greet us with hugs and kisses and other times he'd get mad to the point of getting physically violent. One day in November, Ti-Junior threw rocks at some of our visitors while they were on a hike. That night, we found him crying outside of our boy's home gate, scared because he said the police were looking for him because of something he had stolen. That night we were also having a time of worship with our boys, girls, and visitors. We invited him in and prayed that God's Spirit of love would minister to him. We let him stay the night at our boy's home (his usual spot for sleeping was by himself, on the grounds of a local church). After much prayer, we felt the Lord calling us to take him into our boys home. Since he's come to us, he's adjusted wonderfully, to the glory of God! His hardened heart is visibly softening and his love for Jesus and others is growing. If you'd like to sponsor Ti-Junior, click here: Sponsor Ti-Junior.
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Two Years After the Earthquake
 January 12th, 2012 marked the 2 year anniversary of the tragic earthquake that took the lives of 300,000 people in 2010 and left thousands more kids orphaned. As we did a year prior, we help a special memorial service on the anniversary day to reflect on the earthquake and to comfort those who lost loved ones on that tragic day. Our hearts were heavy that day, remembering and mourning the lives of those who died and the family members who they left be hind. Our orphanage children, staff, and MdL school students started the day with a walk around our neighborhood and through a nearby tent city. As we walked together down the dusty road, we would stop in front of what was once a home and pray for those effected and sing softly a Haitian hymn. We made circles and held hands, we prayed and others would come out of their tents and join us. We continued our walk and ended where once stood a home now stands two wooden houses. This particular location was meaningful to five of our children who lost their mother under the collapsed home. They now they live at the Child Hope orphanage. We sang songs and remembered their parents. Later in the afternoon we came together again at the Ben's sports center, next door to our boys home, where the boys and girls usually play sports and where we hold our feeding program. The door  was opened to the neighborhood and many joined us for a special time of worship and prayer.
Although it was a very solemn day, we are so grateful and rejoice at the how God used the terrible tragedy to revive Haiti spiritually and help fuel an effort to rebuild it better than it was before the quake. To God be all the glory! From donations, we have been able to help numerous families with food and water, rent, relocating, repairing their houses, and hiring teams of Haitians to build prefabricated houses for those in need. We are still assisting families impacted by the earthquake. If you would like to bless a family in need with a new house, it only costs $3,800. Click here to donate: Family Home Donation and type in "House for Family" in the Special Instructions.
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Get Involved
The beauty of the body of Christ is that God gifts us with different passions, talents, resources, and callings and when we all work together, God is glorified and the Gospel is spread. There are few that feel called to go to Haiti to serve and most of us feel called to support the poor and needy in Haiti from the States. Many come to visit us in Haiti and wonder how to stay involved in making an impact in the lives of our kids. We want to send a special thank you to those who have been so supportive to our ministry in this past year and would like to invite you to get involved too!
 Thank you Al Parrow who donated a screen printing machine and materials to our transition program. Because of this donation, our children have learned to screen print t-shirts to earn money while they are in school. We hope to develop this in a larger business in the future. The shirts made already sell out quickly at our gift shop. We hope to have these available online for purchase soon! Another very special thank you to Starr Merten, who has also helped teach our kids about designing!
Thank you to Carmel Presbyterian Church for doing a backpack and sponsorship drive for us! We were so excited to bless our kids and the neighborhood kids that go to our school with beautiful, good quality backpacks for our school. Also, your support of the children in our orphanage means so much to us. To have sponsors that not only support financially, but pray for and seek building a relationship with our kids is more than we could ask or hope for!
 A special thank you to Amy Wickstrom and MOIS MOPS group and Missions Board for providing the neighborhood kids who go to our school with new black shoes. In order to become an accredited school, our students need to have black shoes and it's important for them to have quality ones to survive the ware of the hot, rocky roads of Haiti. The kids were beaming with excitement to receive their shoes!
Thank you to Heather Nivin, Kristina Graebe, Nathan Isaac in partnership with UCLA and Stalyon Clothing for organizing an amazing event last January 12th to commemorate the two year anniversary of the earthquake . The event celebrated the progress made in Haiti since the earthquake and encouraged young attendees to get involved in the rebuilding of Haiti through partnering with Child Hope. The event included viewing a Child Hope video made immediately following the quake, musical performances, a past missionary from UCLA shared her experiences serving with Child Hope, they sold merchandise that the orphanage children made, and much more. The event was also featured in the Daily Bruin Newspaper: Hope for Haiti in Daily Bruin Photos from the event can be found on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/childhope.
 Thank you to some of our enthusiastic young supporters in Montecito who recently did a bake sale to donate toward Child Hope! Thank you Jenny Bohlinger and Chloe Olsen (daughter of Kathy Ireland) for baking the delicious lemon bars and magic bars. Thank you Jeffrey, Mia, and Ava for helping sell. And thanks for the support from the moms and grandma: Joy, Kathy, and Barbara. The kids raised $500 in just two weeks! What a blessing this will be to our kids in Haiti! If you're interested in getting more involved, contact Jessica at communications@childhope.org.
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 2012 Calendars Now Available
Our new 2012 Child Hope calendars are now available and ready to order for quick delivery online.
Featuring recent photos of the children at Maison de Lumiere orphanage, listing their birthdays, Haitian holidays and Child Hope events, these popular calendars are a great way to remember to lift up the children in prayer and praise God for the good work He is doing in and through Child Hope.
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Special Annoucements
Oprah
If you missed us on Oprah's Next Chapter, it is scheduled to repeat this Wednesday on the OWN channel. Check your local listings for times. Here is a short clip of the showing last night: Sneak Peek of Child Hope on Oprah
Celebration Dinners
Our 2nd Annual Celebration Dinners are just around the corner and there is so much to celebrate in honor of what the Lord has done in Haiti this past year. Mark your calendars for the April 27th dinner at The Bacara in Santa Barbara and the April 29th dinner at The Grand in Long Beach. Tickets will be available in the next few weeks. Be on the lookout for an email announcement!
Missions Trip Openings
Our 2012 Calendar of Calendar of Events is filling up quickly. We host teams every other week from Friday to Friday and most are booked for 2012 already. If you are interested in leading a team, the following time slots are still available: February 24 - March 2, April 27 - May 4, July 6-13, August 24-31, September 7-14, September 21-28, November 16-23, and December 14-21 Please contact Jessica at communications@childhope.org for more information on applying and booking.
Christmas Videos
Keep up to date with our ministry on Child Hope's vimeo page! Here are the highly anticipated videos from the Christmas programs: Christmas 2012 Videos
Intern Openings
If you are interested in interning for 3 months or longer, take a peek at our online application for openings: Staff/Intern Application and contact Jessica at communications@childhope.org for more information.
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New Mailing Address!
Many of you may not be aware that Child Hope has a new mailing address. Please note, the new mailing address is:1225 Coast Village Road Suite C Santa Barbara, CA 93108-3714 If you have the address in your computer, on BillPay, online donation service, phones, etc. please take a moment to update. Our phone number remains the same - 888-808-9595. Thank you.
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Upcoming Events
Feb 10-17 - Steve Noyes Missions Team
Mar 9-16 - Hillcrest Covenant Church Missions Team
Mar 23-30 - Santa Barbara Missions Team
April 27- Celebration Dinner Santa Barbara California
April 29 - Celebration Dinner Long Beach California
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