Thursday, September 25, 2014

Summer 2015 Schedule Now Available...

Here is the summer schedule for trips- HURRY if you are going to sign up since the list is long with people who have been waiting for the dates to be released.  We also have youth groups who may take an entire week so none are guaranteed until you register and get confirmation from our office.  :)

The price listed includes EVERYTHING once you arrive in Haiti.  You only have to pay for your flight and a $10 fee to enter the country- the rest is taken care of by our staff.  Ministry may include the following:  orphan ministry/outreach, VBS at a local church, street evangelism, sports evangelism, prayer walks, teaching English, etc.... We have plenty of testimonials from others who have come with us to Haiti.  God uses these trips to impact you as well as the Haitians.  Hope to hear from you soon.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Welcome little one...

A new member of the Hearts United family was born on Thursday afternoon, September 18th. Jesula (the new mother) is a former Son of God orphan living in Mirebalais and one of the young women creating our "Bracelets of Promise". This small business will help her care for her little one properly. Both mother and daughter are doing well and we were blessed to visit them today when picking up more bracelets--just in time for Christmas orders!! The amount she was paid today equals about $30 US and will go a long way toward needed items for the. Baby. Let us know if you would like to purchase a bracelet. After paying for more materials 100% of your donation goes to the young woman who made your bracelet to be used at her discretion. 

        (little baby Melantchy-2 days old)

Saturday, September 13, 2014

My birthday wish...

      Birthdays are difficult for some people but for me they have always been a time to reflect and thank God for the many blessings He has given me in the past year. Especially since I crossed the 48 year old mark.  Each year is a GIFT from Him and I realize and celebrate that.  I strive to honor Him with my life in general, but even more as I age.  You see, my own mother passed away at age 48 from a massive heart attack. It was totally unexpected and  I was 27 years old with my first baby (who was 8 weeks old to the day when my mom passed).  She was a strong Christian woman and I have no doubt she is with Jesus, but I still miss her every day of my life and think about her so often. 
     There is nothing like the love a mother has for her child which is why I can relate to the plight of the mothers in Haiti and the many economic orphans.  I can not even begin to imagine that feeling when you leave your child at an orphanage simply because you feel you can't give them what they need.  Unfortunately, what most mothers do not realize when they do this is that they are trading one need for another.  Yes, their child will now receive the food, clothing, and education they may not be able to provide.  BUT, their child will often become one of many others at the orphanage and, thus, will lose the nurturing, love, mentoring, etc. his/her own mother could give- not to mention a sense of belonging. 
     That is the case at the orphanage we work with in Haiti.  Some of the children are surrendered as mentioned above, some are rescued from being domestic servants, some ran away from abusive environments, and more.  But they all have one thing in common.  They need to know they are loved.  They are special.  They have a purpose.  And God has not forgotten them!  After 26 years I still pick up the phone from time to time to call and tell my mom something or think back upon the things she taught me growing up. (that was especially true when raising my own children) 
     We are in the process of hiring women to care for the children at the orphanage in Port au Prince and to serve as mommies to the children.  They will be trained in child care for emotionally scarred children and how to deal with victims of abuse as well as other things.  They will be responsible for doing the things a biological mommy would which are far too numerous to list.  Most importantly, they will be a constant in the lives of these children and will provide a person for the children to trust, confide in, and build relationships with. These women we hire will be pouring into much more than this generation they will directly work with as well.  How many times have you said, "Wow- I just sounded like my mother!"?  They will teach the girls at the orphanage things about how to parent in a healthy way and that will continue for generations to come.
    But,  we can not do this program alone.  We need people to partner with us as we move forward.  We need individuals and/or groups to sponsor the salaries of the women monthly.  Just like the women will be providing things for the children, YOU can provide financially for the women.  While we anticipate the monthly salary for our women to be around $150 US, we are asking for any regular financial commitment.  All donations will be put together into a fund from which salaries will be paid to the women.  

This brings me to my birthday wish.... My wish this year is that we will get the "mommy program" FULLY FUNDED by the end of September! (my birthday is the 15th) We have some who have committed already but are still quite far from our monthly goal of $1200.  

Will you pray about regularly supporting this program? I am also looking for groups to talk to and present this opportunity so if you know of a Bible Study, Sunday School, church, etc. that would benefit from this presentation, I would be more than happy to talk to them.  

Contact us at heartsunitedwithhaiti@gmail.com  for more information or to express your interest in a presentation. Thank you in advance for investing in the lives of these orphans!  God bless!  



Monday, September 1, 2014

Imagine....

 Imagine......  you are one of 66 children. You feel sick, yet you have no one to go to for comfort, a hug, a snuggle. You feel scared, yet no one is there to calm your fears.  You feel alone and confused wondering what your place is in this world.

Imagine.....   you have no one to teach you that you are VALUABLE to God and to others.  You have no one to help you with homework, encourage you when you do something well, or scold you (in a healthy way) when you do wrong.

Imagine.... your biological parent is too tired, poor, or feels unable to care for you so instead has taken you to an orphanage where you become one of many and have to figure a way to get what you need- attention, affection...

Imagine.... the adults around you are so busy caring for the physical (food, cleaning, washing clothes, etc.) that they have no time to play with you, to smile, to laugh.

Imagine.... having to hide your personal belongings from the bullies OR feeling you must become a bully yourself so your things are not taken by others.

Imagine... as you mature and your body/emotions begin to change that there is no one to explain that what you are experiencing is normal and so are you!

Unfortunately, this is reality for many of the children at the orphanage in Port au Prince that we partner with (and for many other children in Haiti that find themselves in orphanages) though the pastor and his family have tried their best to fill those needs. 


(one of our translators comforting a child at the orphanage)

As many of you know our organization is passionate about keeping nuclear families together and we feel this is God's calling for the ministry- to work with families and help them find ways to keep their children out of orphanages in Haiti.  However, He has also led us to walk alongside a Haitian orphanage in Port au Prince which we continue to do after 2.5 years.  During that time we have certainly had our share of frustrations and moments where we have felt (and actually been told by others) that pulling out of the orphanage and starting our own somewhere else would be so much easier.  Then we would have control over how things were run and could monitor the children more closely.  But then we think about this:  "When did God call us to EASY?"  He didn't!  In fact, much of what He calls us to is difficult if not impossible WITHOUT Him.  God needs to be directing our steps.  God needs to be leading our ministry- no matter if it is working with the orphanage or with families.  And, for now we firmly believe that He is calling us to remain in partnership with this Haitian orphanage and these children.  We believe that should we just move the existing children from the orphanage it solves the stress, frustration, etc. for these children and ourselves, but the orphanage would continue and other children would replace them.  The facility would remain as simply a housing location for children- just ones we do not know.  So, we asked God how to proceed and He has given us a vision.  That vision involves the following:

 -Together with the pastor of the orphanage we hire "Mommies" to care for the children daily, to teach them and to nurture them as a biological mommy would.
-These women would be trained through a variety of classes to work together and to minister to the children emotionally, spiritually and physically.
-The current staff would also be trained as would the pastor, his wife, and some others.
-Once trained, the women would begin work with regular schedules and duties, but basically to assume the role of mommies to the children.  The idea is to target some of the negative behaviors that have been identified by the pastor and the social worker we hired to do assessments at the orphanage.

We realize it will take specialized caregivers to assume these roles and will be soon conducting interviews.  The ideal plan is to hire eight women- three for the morning/day shift, three for the afternoon/evening shift and two at night.  This will be expensive but we have had to ask ourselves what is BEST for the children and what does God say?  We feel that this is His plan for us moving forward.  But, we can not do so until we have a financial commitment from people to support these women we will hire.  We anticipate that each will be paid approximately $150 per month and are asking that you (or your group/church/Bible Study/etc) will consider sponsoring a "Mommy" for the orphans.  You can also go together with others and share sponsorship (ie:  two groups commit to $75/month).

Hiring and training is set to begin in the next few weeks.  Once we know the name(s) of the women we can give you names and a biography about each woman so you can pray for her and the job she will have with the children.  We do anticipate that this will be difficult initially and the children will not like having rules, appropriate discipline, etc. so prayers will truly be needed as we transition to this new system.  BUT, we feel confident this will ultimately benefit the children in more ways than we can count here on earth.

More info. as we progress, but PLEASE consider helping fund this new program for the orphans in Haiti that God has called us to care for in James 1:27.

**contact us at heartsunitedwithhaiti@gmail.com if YOU or your group can sponsor a "mommy" at the orphanage monthly.  This is truly an investment in the future of many children (and provides a job for a woman in need as well).