We want to start by saying a BIG thank you to all who responded to our need of donations to help a former sponsor child, Ismerique, attend secondary school. Several people reached out and donated! We were even able to use extra funds to help another young woman who graduated from our program that is in nursing school. If you would be interested in helping others in their post high school education you can give online or through the mail and state that the funds are to go towards “continuing education.”

School Sponsorship Program

We want to thank our sponsors for their dedication to our school sponsorship program. We believe that education can be very valuable in rising up the next generation of leaders in Haiti, which can be so valuable to their country during such a time as this! Glory to God, most of the children have been able to go to school regularly since the beginning of this year. We are so thankful! If you have not yet received a letter and photo from your child, you should be soon! We thank you for your patience these last couple years as we do our best to connect with each child and get your letters to you!

Loaves & Fishes Food Program – We recently sent out an email that explains our current fundraiser to feed our local community once a week for the next three months. With the ongoing struggles in Haiti, this is a tangible way that we can be there to support Charrier. It is with hearts FULL of gratitude we share that we met our initial goal to run the program for 3 months!! We hope to continue this program for as long as possible, so if you feel led to give you can do so online or through the mail with a note stating it is for the “loaves and fishes feeding program”

Plant sale – Our annual plant sale fundraiser to benefit New Life Children’s Home is HERE!  We will be sending out order forms along with this newsletter. There is a wide variety of flowers, vegetable plants and herbs that are supplied by Stauffer’s.  Orders are due by April 25^th and pickup will be in Ephrata the morning of May 6^th. We want to thank St. Paul Lutheran Church for putting on this fundraiser every year!

Children’s Home – Glory to God, our kids are doing well! We all miss each other dearly but we have been able to talk to them on the phone weekly. We thank each of you for the ways you support our kids in Haiti – either through prayer, financial support, or just asking how they are doing. It means so much to us and them! We have missed lots of birthdays and other holidays since we have been stateside and I recently had the kids create a wish list of items that they would like. If you are interested you can click this link New Life Children’s Home Wish List.

Agricultural projects – New Life Mission owns several acres of land that we farm for fresh produce for the children’s home as well as a source of income for the home when there is a surplus. We are blessed to own a water pump to be able to continue to water our grounds during the dry season. So many people in our community depend on their gardens for not only food for their families but for income as well. We would love to purchase 1 or 2 water pumps and hosing so that we can help our local farmers. We would charge a small rental fee just to cover maintenance and operation costs. If you may be interested in giving toward this project feel free to reach out with questions or donate online or through the mail with a note stating it is for the “water pump project.”

Microfinancing – This has been a difficult season for many of the folks in our microfinancing program. Many of their businesses have suffered because of the ongoing unrest throughout the country and have been unable to make their payments. We continue to walk alongside of them to figure out how to move forward.  We ask for your prayers as we try to encourage these individuals during such a difficult time. That being said, some of our participants have been able to continue their payments and their businesses continue to grow. We love the way this program has been able to bless so many people and we’re excited to see where God leads the program as Haiti’s conditions improve.

Estime Family – With a heavy heart we share that we are still stateside. Zacharie has taken several trips back to Haiti, but unfortunately the ongoing turmoil in the country places too much of a risk on our family for us all to travel back. We continue to serve as directors here in the states and run all of our programs alongside our staff in Haiti. We will continue to await a safe time that we can return to Haiti, but we do not anticipate that to be this year.

We like to be transparent in our struggles as a mission so that you all can know how to best pray for us. We thank you for standing alongside us and continuing to support Haiti! Contrary to popular belief, Haiti is NOT hopeless and they need our help now more than ever! .It’s difficult to summarize all that Haiti is going through l and I would encourage you to reach out with questions.

Here is a prayer list that we have right now:

1. For safety for our kids, staff, family and friends in Haiti. As well as for Zacharie when he makes trips back and forth.
2. For the prime minister to make plans for an election so that a (worthy) president can be put in power.
3. For God’s love and mercy to be felt and seen by the Haitians throughout the country.
4. For our mission to continue to be able to function and that all that we do will honor and glorify God!

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support!