From Sherry's Journal

A Glance at 2013

January 7-18, 2014

 

A Creole Proverb…
“Sa ou pa konnen, se pi gwo pase ou men.”
“What you don’t know is greater than you.”

 

Moses and a chick.

(You may be helping to raise up the next president of Haiti.)

The seeds you are planting in Haiti are bearing fruit, and we want to share some of what we are doing together for the poorest of the poor. Here is a glance at Love A Child’s 2013 highlights.

Feeding Programs…

Food is a crisis throughout Haiti. In 2013 we fed hungry men, women and children throughout the country.

Line of people in Le Tant One with food cards.

We received donated food from Feed My Starving Children. Our Love A Child Partners sponsored the costs associated with getting this food from the States, across the ocean to Haiti and released from Customs. Each 40-foot container held 270,000 meals and cost Love A Child $10,000 per container of food.

Lady in Le Tant with hope

We fed over 6,000 children daily in our schools through our Child Sponsorship Program.

Girl eating

We shared over 19 million meals during 2013.

Men eating on the side of mountain

We thank Pastor Jentezen Franklin for sponsoring 540,000 meals per month last year. We also thank Joyce Meyer Ministries – Hand of Hope for sponsoring 270,000 meals every month and we thank all of our Love A Child partners for sponsoring many thousands of meals for the poor.

New Miracle Village Church…

The Miracle Village Church was finished and dedicated to the Lord! We want to thank Bob Tiberio for his first “faith gift” of $25,000 to start the church, and we thank Pastor Gregory Dickow and Life Changers International Church for the generous gift toward this project. We also thank the Luzerne Foundation for helping to build this church. Also, a huge thanks goes to the partners who gave the “Widow’s Mite” to help with this project. Every penny counts and makes a difference. Now, the Miracle Village residents have a safe place to worship.

This church holds 1,000 people and often the crowd spills out of the building.

Pastor Gregory Dickow attended the Dedication Service and helped cut the ribbon. Again, we thank Pastor Dickow and his Life Changers International Church for helping to complete this project.

Fire Station in Miracle Village…

fire_station_with_name

Thanks to Pastor Randy Landis/LifeChurch and his partners, Miracle Village now has a Fire Station…

Finished firehouse

and two donated fire trucks.

Fire trucks

We also have a team of trained firefighters.

Firemen Having Fun

Special thanks goes to James and Big John for training the firefighters.

Jonathan & James

Playgrounds for the Children…

Pastor Randy Landis/Lifechurch helped to brighten the lives of many children throughout Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He and his partners installed two playgrounds in the Dominican Republic…

Playground

and three playgrounds in Haiti.

Playground dedication

New Churches and Schools in Remote Villages…

We want to thank David George and his partners for sponsoring three new schools and churches in remote villages. Look at what this man and his partners have done “in the middle of nowhere.”

David_George_at_church

Madanm Bauje

Madamn Bauje

Cotin Church

Cotin Church and people

Cotin School

School children

La Roche

La Roche dedication

In December, we began rebuilding our church and school in the mountains of Greffin, because it was nearly destroyed by the earthquake and storms. God bless our “special donor” for supporting this project, which will be finished in the first part of this year.

New Food Distribution Center…

This huge building was completed to have a secure and dry place to store large supplies of Feed My Starving Children food until it is distributed to the poor villages.

kingdom_connection_building

We thank Pastor Jentezen Franklin and his partners for building this Food Distribution Center that is as long as a football field. Pastor Franklin and his wife were able to be here for the Dedication of the new Kingdom Connection Food Distribution Center.

FDC dedication

Dedication of the new Kingdom Connection Food Distribution Center.

Medical Clinics to the Regions Beyond…

We took volunteers to remote areas in Haiti to heal the sick and share the love of Christ.

https://loveachild.com/uploads/pagesfiles/2936.jpg

Mothers like the one above came to our clinics to receive medical care for their babies.

Clinic overview

Parents and children received medicine for everything from Malaria, to wound sores and infections. This medicine is life-saving for these poor people living high in the mountains.

Wound care packet

Mothers left the clinics with hope in their hearts.

Bobby with family pack

These are “Family Packs” of medicines that our partners sponsored for $20 for each family.

Jesus Healing Center…

This clinic was built by our Love A Child Partners and it is sponsored monthly by Joyce Meyer Ministries – Hand of Hope…What a blessing!

Jesus Healing Staff

This is Carol Stufflebeam, our Medical Administrator.

Carole feeding baby

We have well qualified Haitian doctors to attend to the greatest of any urgent medical needs. Our Jesus Healing Center has ministered to thousands this past year…every morning, they hear the “Word of God” while they wait to see the doctor.

Dr. Mardy and Carole

Jesus Healing Center Numbers for 2013

Number of patients treated – 30,482
Pregnant women – 4,990

Vaccinated women 15-49 – 2,246
Vaccinated children – 1,601

Malnutrition – 5,073
HIV test – 1,594

HIV positive – 58
Ministered to – 35,773

Dominican Republic Outreach…

Love A Child sponsored a huge Gospel Tent Crusade in the Dominican Republic.

Bobby with bibles

Thousands attended the crusade.

Crowd at the crusade

God bless our Love A Child Dominican Republic team host, Carlos Sylvestre.

Carlos visiting

This past year, in addition to the huge crusade, we ministered to the poor Haitians and Dominicans who live in the “sugarcane camps” by distributing food, new clothing, shoes, toys and Bibles…

dominican_girls_with_gifts

Special thanks to Pastor Randy Landis/LifeChurch and David George for sponsoring Christian Gospel Films, Youth Rallies, Prison Outreaches, and much more. Also, God bless Jesse Ostrander and his group of “fathers and sons” who came to incorporate “baseball games with the youth,” and also distributed food and Gospel tracts!

Baseball

Gospel Tent Crusade in Haiti…

This Gospel Tent was also a blessing in Haiti where thousands were in attendance each night. The people wanted to have a crusade here to win souls and also to “dedicate the new Marketplace land to the Lord.” Joyce Meyer Ministries – Hand of Hope conducted huge mobile medical clinics in both the Dominican Republic…

DR medical clinic

and in Haiti.

Crowd at Lastik

Sustainability Projects…

We are working to teach Haitians to help themselves with many sustainability initiatives that are also continuing next year.

2013-04-10_Girl_with_Vegetables

A man once said, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day… but teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

2013-04-10_Bobby_fishing_Tilapia.jpg

The Haitians are learning a variety of skills.

2013-04-10_Sewing_School_Uniforms.jpg

These skills can be used to make products to sell.

2013-04-10_Haitian_Fishing_Nets

We are building a Chicken Co-op and Haitians can start a small chicken business.

2013-04-10_Chicken-Selling.jpg

Special Thanks to Mike Welch for sponsoring a huge chicken co-op that is under construction in the new Miracle Village Marketplace. This will help provide jobs for hundreds of poor Haitians.

These sustainability initiatives will empower Haitians to help themselves. The photo below shows a typical Haitian marketplace where men and women go to try and sell so they can make a little money to help feed their families.

2013-04-10_Old_Marketplace.jpg

We called in John Bolt and his Engineering Ministries International team to help come up with a plan for the Miracle Village Marketplace.

 

EMI Team

 

There is not another marketplace like this in all of Haiti and it will help provide jobs for hundreds of poor Haitians.

Marketplace rendering

We cleared the land.

2013-04-16_Marketplace_clearing.png

The project is under construction now.

Men working to lay blocks

When we hire one Haitian, he feeds an average of ten people.

Robert with Haitian

Robert de Vries is one of our missionaries. He does a great job with the construction crew and much more.

Mark, Jesse and crew

We thank Mark and Ostrander for all they have done on the new Marketplace project.

Marketplace from above

This new Marketplace will help put Haitians to work in our area and beyond.

2013-04-16_New_Marketplace_Plan.jpg

The people will have a place to start small businesses and make a little money to help feed their families. We are trusting in the Lord to finish this project in 2014 and bring prosperity to this very poor area. We thank Pastor Jentezen Franklin and his partners for helping to build this enormous facility. We call this our “Food for Life” project.

This is only an overview and some highlights of the many blessings that came to Haiti during 2013. There are so many organizations, people, partners and friends that help us to do what we do in Haiti, and all of you are not mentioned, but please be assured that your gifts, prayers and support are very important and we thank you all! Please stand with us as we continue doing the Lord’s work in Haiti in 2014. We realize that we need partnerships to reach big goals. Together, we accomplish more!

Love A Child is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which requires the highest standards of accountability for non-profits. Love A Child has earned the Independent Charities of America “Best in America” Seal of Approval. In addition, Love A Child has also received its ninth consecutive Four-Star rating, the highest rating possible, from America’s largest evaluator of independent charities. Only one percent of charities have received this rating. Our last audit showed 94% of our resources went to program services. We feel this lets our donors know how important they are to us and we are proud of our accountability to God and you.

May God bless you.

Love,
Sherry

Posted in Sherry's Journal