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| Child Hope International |
March 2013
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Celebrating the Risen Lord!
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Greetings in the name of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
This is the time of the year when we focus in on the amazing miracle that unites all believers in hope and faith -- the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We celebrate the Risen Lord not only because of the hope and significance to our faith but it is also a reminder of our resurrection - from our old selves to new creations in Christ. All our sins are washed away and we have been adopted into a Royal Family.
The resurrection is so profound that great men throughout the centuries even could not dispute its importance and impact for the world.
Napoleon said, "I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."
Albert Einstein said "As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."
And Dr. Simon Greenleaf (a famous Harvard University professor of Law) said, "According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history."
Another attorney, Dr. Frank Morrison, decided to take three years off from his law practice in order to try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After three years of intense study, he found that the sheer weight of the evidence compelled him to conclude that Jesus Christ actually did rise from the dead. As a consequence he wrote the famous book entitled "Who Moved the Stone?"
Because the resurrection is so compelling and significant, it is also a time of the year our enemy hates - especially here in Haiti. All month long, practitioners of voodoo march through the streets of Haiti in rara bands to mock the resurrection, stopping at street intersections (symbolizing "the cross") to further mock the crucifixion. Sacrifices are made and drunken revelry is the standard.
It is a time of extreme spiritual warfare as well and we ask our supporters and friends to please remember us in their prayers at this time. We know many believers and missionaries here that get hit with illnesses and calamities during this time of the year, including us at Child Hope. However, we do not fear the season. We rejoice in it. It is just further confirmation of the truth and importance of our Lord's resurrection. And if we do become ill or experience difficulties at this time, we find hope in second Corinthians 12:10 -- "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
We gladly celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! And this year at MDL, we saw even further significance as we spent the last two days holding a Seder to observe Passover from a messianic perspective. With our dear friends from Revolution Church in Maryland, and directed by Andrew Hunter, one of their members who is a messianic Jew, we shared two very special Passover meals together as he highlighted the significance of each Passover element and its reference to our Passover Lamb. It was a beautiful event.
Praise the Lord our God! He is risen! Hosanna in the highest!
Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!
In Christ in Haiti, The Manasseros |
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Meet Jean Paul
Jean Paul Jason is the newest member of the Lighthouse family here in Haiti, having arrived in February. He is seven years old and is from Les Cayes, in the southern part of Haiti. Jean Paul's mother died shortly after the January 2010 earthquake and he has been passed from relatives to friends since then. Although he lived with his godfather for a month after his mother's funeral, he was ultimately taken to an orphanage in Port au Prince because they could not afford to care for him. Later (2 years), the orphanage closed and he went to live with his aunt and a teenage sister for 2 ½ years. They could not care for him so he was brought to the Lighthouse.
Although he had a difficult start in life, Jean Paul is a sweet boy and who has adapted well to his new home. He is a bit shy but warms up to you after spending time with him and showing him you are truly interested in him.
He loves all his new brothers at the home and is often seen playing  with his new best buddy Wilson. Staff members say he is alert and active (house mama Cindy re-emphasizes the "active" part of that description). And he is very strong and has a great deal of energy. He can be seen running, climbing, playing basketball and soccer all within the span of an hour.
He loves attending MDL School where he is in kindergarten. He likes his teacher and fellow classmates a great deal and can't wait to go in the morning. He also likes to play soccer and basketball and his favorite color is blue.
Please pray for Jean Paul's continued health and happiness and that he will come to know the love of Christ as he grows with us.
Jean Paul currently has no sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring him, just click here.
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Team Leader Shares His Experience in  Haiti
Volunteers are an important part of what Child Hope is doing in Haiti. Teams, specifically, are a critical element of our efforts. In an interview with Jody Giles, he shares his experiences leading teams to Haiti.
When Jody Giles first visited Maison De Lumiere (MDL) orphanage in June of 2011, along with his family and several members of his church, he didn't know he had begun a lifelong relationship with the orphanage and Child Hope International. Giles described a scene at the Newark Airport as the group departed for Port au Prince. Problems with airline mergers had caused the group to change both airlines and airports at the last minute. This resulted in the party arriving at the gate after the plane had pulled away. Said Giles, "The gate agent was on the phone asking that the plane please return, because there was a missionary needing to board who was going to help little babies. I looked around to see who she was talking about and realized it was me!"  During that first trip, 13 travelers headed for Haiti, each bringing two suitcases full of supplies such as computers, tools, sewing machines, etc. for the mission. When asked what the travelers did with their own belongings, Giles replied, "Each person was allowed a knapsack or carry-on item. All of their personal belongings had to fit in that." One of the projects the group hoped to accomplish was to build a small pre-fabricated home for a Haitian family. Once they began the home construction project, the group soon realized that it was better to allow the locals to complete the construction and so earn the income to help their families. This allowed the visitors to focus on other projects, such as establishing a computer lab and teaching Vacation Bible School.
Later that year, Giles, who has known Bill Manassero since before his family moved to Haiti and is currently Chief Information Officer for Under Armour, was asked to be on the Board of Directors for Child Hope International. Giles says he is proud to serve amongst an amazing collection of board members. Giles has visited MDL four additional times since that first trip in  2011. His family, including his wife, Bernice, and sons, Eric, age 19 and Daniel,17, have alll been to Haiti. His sons really want to give to the Haitian community and have made lots of friends in Haiti. Giles reports that he was impressed with the guest house, which is safe, comfortable and clean. On each subsequent trip Giles and his family were able to reunite with children and staff they had met on prior trips and see their progress. He said of the additional visits, "The sequel is better than the original." Also, Giles states that the name of the orphanage garners a great deal of respect among the locals. On one trip Giles and another missionary were stopped by local police. They had only to mention MDL and Mr. Bill and were respectfully allowed to go on their way. In July of 2012, Giles led a group that hosted a retreat for the children of MDL at a beach resort. Asked if there was anything memorable about that trip that he would like to share, Giles said that the children loved the beach and the pool. Relaying an unexpected reaction by the children, Giles said, "The huts we stayed in had air conditioning. The adults were comfortable, but the kids were freezing! They kept putting on more clothes." One thing that Giles would like potential donors and sponsors to know is that the impact of the ministry goes far beyond the 52 children in the orphanage. MDL coordinates a school, a feeding program for street children, a medical clinic, and a transition/vocational training program. The transition program helps children aging out of the orphanage to learn skills that will help them live independently. "MDL truly is the beacon of light in Port au Prince," states Giles. His journey started with a love for ministry, but has grown into a love for Haiti. As of the writing of this article, Giles is in Haiti with a team from his church to host a Passover Seder for the staff and kids at MDL.
A missions team experience in Haiti is something you will never forget. If you are interested in hosting a team to Haiti, contact us at info@childhope.org or, if you would just like to experience a trip without having to organize a team, see the Dream Team article below.
There are still a few open weeks, for teams of up to 24 people, to schedule in 2013. Open weeks Include:
- May 11-18 (group with 10 or less people)
- July 5-12 (group with 10 or less people)
- Aug 30-Sep 6
- Sep 13-20
- Oct 4-11
- Oct 11-19
- Nov 8-15
- Nov 29-Dec 6
- Dec 13-20
If you are interested in booking a week for your team, send an inquiry to info@childgope.org.
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Manassero Kids Update
Ariana h  as been busy assisting Susette Manassero's as she has been helping manage the boys and girls homes. During the course of the day, she may be running paperwork around, meeting with families in need, or organizing various activities at the homes. She also has many outside activities she does on her own with her Friday girls discipleship group, Preachers4Christ music group, assisting new missionary families, caring for children, singing with the Port-au-Prince Fellowship worship team and ministering to children and local families in the community. Ariana is praying about continuing her education in the states and would like prayer for wisdom regarding the decision. Vienna is graduating from Quisqueya Christian School in June and  will be moving to California to attend Santa Barbara City College. This is a big move for her and she's a bit nervous. She'll be looking for a place to stay, a vehicle and a job. Because of her experience caring for children here in Haiti, she thinks a job as an Au Pair or Nanny would be her best bet but is open to whatever she can find. Contact Bill Manassero at bill@childhope.org if you have any leads for jobs, vehicles or housing for Vienna. Thanks. Vienna would like prayer for peace and the Lord's wisdom, direction and favor in this new transition in her life. Elijah has been adapting to his first year in Quisqueya Christian  School Middle School and really enjoys his friends and sports at the school. His favorite class is Ancient History. He loves getting into deep discussions on the Mongolians and ancient tribal wars. He has also developed a true passion (borderline obsession) for football (soccer) and has become one of the top scorers on his team. He also loves following his favorite teams which includes the Barcelona club team and Brazil as his favorite international team. And when there are no games on, he loves playing FIFA soccer on his PS3. Elijah would like prayer for school as the work gets more difficult. 
Francesca has been very busy with school activities, dancing class, helping out with the feeding program and playing with friends. In her free time, she likes to make jewelry, sew and assist with other activities at the MDL transition program where she is seen on weekends with her good friends Katrina and Oline working on new creative jewelry and purse designs and ideas. She has been working very hard in school and would like prayer so she doesn't get so stressed.
 Kenson is, as usual, very active. His new thing is collecting various sports injuries as a sort of badge of honor. He loves sports, especially soccer, and he plays hard. Recently, he had a sprained finger splint on one hand, wrapped wrist on the other and bandaged knee. He loves soccer and plays every chance he can, whether in school, with his brother or with the MDL boys. His favorite school subjects are math and social studies. Please pray for Kenny's physical protection, especially in the sports world.
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Photo of the Month
Six MDL boys recently professed their faith through water baptism at a recent ceremony at Quisqueya Chapel. It was a joyous day for not only the MDL kids but for three other boys we all know through our feeding program and ministry in the local neighborhood who wanted to join them. Please keep all these boys in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith.
 | | From left to right - Unknown person, Edley (neighborhood kid), Evans, Gipson, Daniel, Diene, Davidson, Clermond, Jeff and Dupren (neighborhood kids) |
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Third Annual Haiti Celebration Events - April 19 & 27
 The Third Annual Child Hope Haiti Celebration Events will be held Friday, April 19th in Redondo Beach at King's Harbor Church and Saturday, April 27, in Santa Barbara at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara.
These special events are a celebration of what God has done and continues to do in Haiti through Child Hope International. Bill and Susette Manassero and other speakers will share stories, videos and updates on how God is working through the mission in Haiti.
To make reservations click here.
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Dream Team Missions Trip June 14-21, 2013
 A special missions trip, hosted by Bill & Susette Manassero, will take place June 14-21, 2013. This event is for people who have always wanted to visit Child Hope in Haiti but were not part of a formal church or other missions group. Individuals, couples, families and other interested people will comprise this special "Dream Team" to experience a week at The Lighthouse, Child Hope's mission in Haiti.
The cost of the week will be $800, excluding airfare and will include all on-ground expenses such as room and board (three great meals a day), health travel insurance, transportation, and all activities. Space is limited, so to insure your place, register online with a $400 deposit per person. Interested people need to complete a brief application online. There are only a few spaces open as of the date of this newsletter. If you have any questions, please feel free to write us at info@childhope.org.
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Camp-in-a-Box 2013
 Camp-in-a-Box 2013 is coming up August 3 through 10th. and will be held at the Global Outreach facilities in Titanyen, about fifteen miles north of Port-au-Prince.
The original idea was to capture a typical Christian summer camp experience, box-it-up and bring it to share with the children of Haiti.
Utilizing a diverse, multi-church, 25-plus person planning team, that includes counselors, activity directors, worship band members, planners, coordinators and a host of others, the camp team prepares months in advance for this amazing event.
If you are interested in participating, supporting or helping sponsor this event, please contact us at info@childhope.org.
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 2013 Calendars - Only $20
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| Upcoming Events
Mar 23-27 - Revolution Church Missions Team - Annapolis, MD
Apr 19 - Celebration Event - King's Harbor Church - Redondo Beach, CA
Apr 27 - Celebration Event - Calvary Chapel - Santa Barbara, CA
June 14-21 - DREAM TEAM MISSIONS WEEK - Haiti
Aug 3-10 - Camp-in-a-Box - Haiti
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