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| Child Hope International |
May 2013
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Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
People who visit Haiti and experience a little piece of our lives here often ask the same question - "Is it always this busy and crazy here?"
And the oft repeated answer is "yes." Life here is constant and constantly changing. Whether it be radical weather, an unstable political situation, people with personal crisis showing up at our doors with a situation that demands immediate attention or just the day-to-day challenges of dealing with young lives that are perpetually "in transition," we never know what each day brings. And on one hand, the positive aspect is you never get bored; on the other hand, there is no time to slack off -- you must always be alert - ready for whatever comes your way.
We find ourselves often using military terms to describe life here - "It's like being on the front lines," "the battle is very real," and "You must always be ready - always on guard!" And that is true! We are in the midst of a very real spiritual battle. By coming to the mission field, we consciously chose to go toe-to-toe with a very real enemy. You accept that this realty will be your life as long as you are here.
But as the years progress, we see that our Lord always seems to provide a very special place for us. A place where total peace exists in the midst of crisis. It's His special abiding place. And as long as we are there, with Him, not relying on ourselves and only fully submitted to His will and direction, then we can know that place.
Please don't misunderstand me, we are not always floating around in this place of His perfect peace - I wish! We battle our own flesh, our own will, all the time. In fact, we battle our own will just as much as, or even more so, than we do the enemy. We try to do things in our own strength all the time. And, believe me, we suffer for it with things like fatigue, exhaustion, depression and frustration. But that's the wonderful thing about our Savior! When we are in the midst of the insanity - when we are weak - He is strong (2 Cor 12:9). He rescues us from that not-so-fun place and reminds us that He is God and we are not!
Thank you beautiful Lord Jesus! You are our amazing redeemer and friend, Whom makes beauty of ashes and restores, rebuilds and strengthens us.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
In Christ in Haiti,
The Manasseros
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Tent City Recovery Effort Meets/Surpasses Goal!
 A special thank you to all who donated and prayed so that we could rebuild tents for our neighbors in Cineas who lost their homes in the recent heavy rains. We not only met our goal to rebuild 15 tents, but we generated additional funds that will allow us to expand our efforts to other tent city residents who were impacted but not part of our original 15 families. Any additional funds will be used to assist tent city victims in future storms.
We have already begun the rebuild effort. Two visiting church teams this week from  Times Square Church (NY) and Reality LA (CA) joined our rebuild efforts as well. Although these tent homes are notably fragile, we seek to build a much stronger structure that will better endure the upcoming storms and hopefully protect and help these families through the hurricane season.
Again, thanks to all of you who came to the rescue. Child Hope, because of you, was able help ease the already difficult lives of struggling Haitian families in the name of Christ. Praise the Lord!
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New Child Hope Video Series
At this year's Haiti Celebration Events, a series of new videos were introduced that profile Child Hope's work in Haiti, as well as introducing some of the young people whose lives were impacted by the ministry.
Over the next few months, you will have exclusive access to these special videos through this newsletter. To view the videos you will need to type in the password: Haiti. You also have an advanced opportunity to share these videos with your friends.
Produced by award winning Filmmaker, W. Ashley Maddox of Missionary Films, the videos take you inside "The Lighthouse," sharing an exclusive view of the ministry from the inside out. Maddox, who spent 6 days in Haiti capturing his own unique perspective of God's work in Haiti through Child Hope, was allowed free access to film the children and activities of the mission.
"These stories are incredible" said Maddox, "they really show the heart of Child Hope and the impact they are making in the lives of kids."
The first video, featured in this article, is an overview of the Lighthouse and the various ministries within the mission.
We hope you will be blessed by these videos and feel free to post them on your Facebook page or other social media to share with your friends.
God bless you.
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 School Fund
Matching Fund Campaign
The School Fund has been an active Child Hope partner in helping fund education for a number of our Lighthouse students. The School Fund has recently joined with Chegg, Inc., a discount textbook and student resource company, to provide 50% matching funds to anyone who signs up to sponsor a child's education through the School Fund on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, after 12pm ET. For example, a $10 donation will earn students a $5 bonus. The challenge will last until 11:59pm or until funds run out. |
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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Photo of the Month
This photo was taken at our recent Haiti Flag Day celebration at MDL School. Holding the flag was Gipson Absolu.
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Port-au-Prince Fellowship Seeking Lead Pastor
 For those who have visited Child Hope in Haiti, you are likely familiar with Port-au-Prince Fellowship Church, the church the Manasseros attend and help lead worship. Bill Manassero is also an elder at the church. The pastor, John Meadth (Rod Meadth's father) has been serving as senior pastor for almost two years. He replaced John McHoul who was the "interim" pastor for over 12 years. John Meadth's term is expiring soon and he and his wife, Jocie Meadth, are returning to Australia, in June 2014. The church is now in the midst of a search for a new pastor and we are asking your help. If you are a pastor or know a pastor who may be interested and/or has a calling to the mission field, specifically Haiti, please forward your contact info to Bill Manassero at bill@childhope.org. |
 Here's an easy way to raise money for Child Hope without doing much of anything. Just start using Yahoo!-powered Goodsearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate about a penny to Child Hope every time you do a search! In addition, if you do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, Goodshop.com, where you can shop at more than 2,600 top online retailers, a percentage of your purchases will go to Child Hope as well. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to help the children in Haiti every time! You can also enroll in the Gooddining program, also available through Goodsearch.com. Eat at over 10,000 participating restaurants nationwide and you can earn up to 6% of every dollar spent on the meal and feed children in Haiti at the same time! Here's the web site - http://www.goodsearch.com/. Sign-up and add Child Hope International as your designated charity and everything's automatic after that. You can also read about Goodsearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal. |
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| Upcoming Events
May 24-31 - Times Square Church - New York, NY
May 24-31 - Reality Church - Los Angeles, CA
June 7-14 - King's Harbor Church - Redondo Beach, CA
June 14-21 - DREAM TEAM MISSIONS WEEK - Haiti -- EVENT SOLD OUT!
Aug 3-10 - Camp-in-a-Box - Haiti
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