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| Child Hope International | March 2012 |
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His Love Endures Forever |
Greetings dear friends and family, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever."
Psalm 118:1 The Lord we serve never ceases to amaze us. He continues to work mightily in the lives of the children we serve. As we see more and more children grow into teens, then, into young adults and then, into adults, we see God's signature on the great work He does. Seeing young men and women of God, born again in the Spirit, and dedicated to living lives that honor their Creator, blesses and humbles us to no end. We see His faithfulness in the non-stop demonstration of His great love. This newsletter profiles two young people, one of whom is our daughter Ariana. Junior Fan Fan, one of the young men at our boys home, is the other. In their lives you can see the indelible mark of a loving and faithful Creator. Two young people who know what they want to do and are selflessly dedicating their lives to bringing glory and honor to the Living God. When I see these young people, I am in awe of God's love as it manifests in their lives. His presence engulfs them both and is seen in their joy. And these are just two amongst many special young people here that proclaim Christ in their words and deeds. It is easy to see why David proclaims four times in Psalm 118, "His love endures forever." His love does indeed endure forever and it never fails. If you have an opportunity, please join us in April, at one of our Celebration Dinners, to celebrate our God's great and faithful love He has boldly demonstrated His love in the lives of the children we serve in Haiti. And this is cause for celebration! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever. In Christ in Haiti, The Manasseros |
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 Meet Junior
Junior is a seventeen year old young man with a heart of gold. Many of the kids nicknamed him "Pastor Junior" because of his dedication and diligence to studying and preaching God's Word.
Junior came to us at a young age with a group of young street kids that were begging on Delmas Blvd. in Port-au-Prince. His father died when he was young and he lost his mother shortly after moving into the MDL boys home. Today, Junior, this once timid child, boldly preaches the Gospel, having put his faith and hope in Christ more than four years ago. He often teaches at devotionals and even partnered with other children from MDL two summers ago in doing an evangelistic outreach for their extended family members and community in the village where they grew up. Junior is a humble, bright and intelligent young man. He is currently attending an American Christian School in Port-au-Prince, called Morning Star. Upon graduation, he is planning to attend Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California. He is also an active leader at our transition program. Having learned how to silk screen, he is actively designing, printing and selling T-Shirts through one of the transition programs more successful micro-businesses. He actively teaches and manages the other children interested in learning the silk screening trade. Please pray for Junior, that he would continue to thrive in every aspect of his life, and that he'd keep Christ at the center of everything he does. If you'd like to sponsor Junior, click here. |
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Ariana Manassero: Featured Speaker at Long Be ach Celebration Dinner
It is an amazing story of how a nine year old girl's dream to build an orphanage in Haiti comes true, resulting in a dynamic mission that is transforming young street kids lives and helping transform a nation.
Ariana Manassero had a dream to build an orphanage, school, church, and hospital on the island nation of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. She felt this dream was God's calling on her life. Little did she know that, at the age of 12, her dream would come true, causing her entire family to uproot their lives, give away or sell everything they have, and move to Haiti where they minister daily to street kids, orphans and at-risk children in Haiti.
Today, at 20 years of age, Ariana's dream has become reality, where her family operates a boys home, girls home, school, medical clinic, feeding program and a vocational training/transition program. Her story has been featured on radio programs, news articles and even caught the attention of CNN's Soledad O'Brien who featured Ariana in her 2010 documentary Rescued. More recently, Oprah Winfrey traveled to Haiti, to interview Ariana and her family for Oprah's new cable series The Next Chapter.
Today, Ariana lives and works at the MDL girls home where she mentors and shares the love of Jesus with the littlest girls at the home.
Ariana will be a featured speaker at the Long Beach Celebration Dinner, Sunday, April 29 at The Grand where she will share her story and heart for the children of Haiti. To book seats for the dinner, click here.
If you would like to book seats for the Santa Barbara Celebration Dinner click here. Please note: for those interested in staying at the Bacara Resort overnight, special room rates are available through April 6th.
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Education Update
Five Students Prep to Take 9th Grade Exam Early One of the bigger challenges many of our MDL kids face is, having entered school later in life, most do not match age and grade in school. For example, we have one child who is 16 in 4th grade. Therefore, high performing students are encouraged to skip grades, if at all possible. In Haiti, it is not the grade you pass that advances you but the government exams you take. There are key government exams required of all students starting at grade 6, and continuing in grades 9, 12 and 13. For example, if a student passes their 6th grade class but fails the 6th grade government exam, they are not considered as having completed 6th grade. They must pass the government exam to advance. Recently, Ivens, our MDL school principal, sought to challenge MDL 7th and 8th graders to take the 9th grade exam. In doing so, if they pass the government exam, they will advance to 10th grade next fall. This a real advantage for those who want to get closer to their age/grade goals. To accomplish this goal, a group of teacher/tutors were hired and others from our existing MDL School teaching staff were recruited -- the goal, to complete the ultimate "exam crunch." The teachers have launched an intensive learning effort, giving kids sample govt exam tests and drilling the students with information all week long.
Students who opted for this special program are in school from 8am to 5pm and also attend on Saturdays. This is not a program for those who are not seriously dedicated to passing the exam.
Students in this program include: Walgens, Elisee, Ti-John, Macorel, and Evans.
Please include these ambitious young men in your prayers. The exam is in July. If the program succeeds and the students pass, our goal is to continue the process next year. |
Saturday Night Worship Reaches Local Community
 Saturday nights, when most kids are thinking about going out, hanging with friends or just having fun, the MDL kids are having church.
Recently, the Lighthouse kids decided to provide church services on Saturday nights to reach the local community with the Gospel. They do everything - from leading praise and worship to giving the sermons. With a worship team comprised of  young people from both the boys and girls home and the community, they sing beautiful Haitian worship songs (and an occasional English praise tune) and present a Creole message that shares God's word.
In the beginning, only young children were coming but now entire families are present at the "come as you are - it doesn't matter how you're dressed" event. And the community is blessed.
"It's simple but very powerful. We've seen God move in a mighty way at these services," said Junior Fan Fan, MDL's "pastor in training" and a frequent speaker at the services. The MDL kids have a heart for worship and the community. This event is the perfect outlet to share the love of God and grow their your faith.
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 Washington Team Making a Difference
We welcomed a team of 10 people from Washington state, many of whom were first time missionaries to Haiti.
What a blessing they were! Their team projects ranged from tiling the guest house kitchen, repairing appliances, cleaning and organizing, to taking new individual and group photos of our school children and praying over our staff. They said that some of the highlights of their visit were working at the transition program and being able to pray in the tent cities with Jean, nicknamed "Chill Up," one of our Haitian staff members. Thanks for loving on our kids, our staff, and community! We appreciate you and the many others that come to serve and love in Jesus' name. |
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Upcoming Events
April 9-16 - Calvary Chapel Santa BarbaraApril 27- Celebration Dinner Santa Barbara California
April 29 - Celebration Dinner Long Beach California May 4-12 - Times Square Church Missions Team
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