New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.
Learn more about our mission
In Memory of our Dear Founder & Director…
In Loving Memory of our founder and American director,
Cynthia “Cindy” Ann Zimmerman
January 17, 1956 – September 20, 2019
Cindy was the kind of person you meet once and never forget. She was also the kind of person that would meet you once and never forget you. She was a compassionate, sharp, hardworking, spunky, and short lady who devoted her life to being God’s hands and feet on this earth. She loved everyone and she loved them deeply. She spent her days running elderly to their appointments or sitting with friends who were experiencing difficult times or taking care of the many stateside duties for the mission. She did all this while being an amazing wife, mother, and grandmother.
Cindy was an LPN and first came to Haiti after being invited to join a medical missions team. She always joked that it took her friends a while to convince her because she couldn’t imagine spending a week without her curling iron or makeup. But she did end up giving in and came to Haiti which lead to other trips which eventually turned into her leading teams to come. With a leap of faith, she eventually left her job as an LPN to work in missions fulltime. Her first couple of years in Haiti were spent serving at Life Connection Mission in Montrious, Haiti and even served on their board for some time.
Cindy was introduced to Elage Estime through Life Connection Mission and he invited Cindy to come to his hometown of Charrier. Again, Cindy always said she was nervous to travel to such a remote and primitive area, but after much persuasion she went. After just one visit she fell in love with the people of Charrier and eventually began leading medical clinics and work teams to the area. Cindy, our American director, and Elage, our former Haitian director, worked together for many years and together created New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. which became a 501(c)(3) in 2015.
Just to list a few of the things that Cindy did for Haiti…
She had a heart for helping the children. She spent hours singing and playing with them, cleaning up their boo-boos, making them feel loved, and teaching them about Jesus. Many of the teams that she led down would spend an evening with the children and would provide meals to over 200+ kids at a time. She and Zacharie Estime, our now Haitian Director, shared a passion to help the orphans of Haiti. After several years of fundraising together, construction for New Life Children’s home began in 2016 and opened their doors in 2019. It is now home to 4 children who have a safe place to sleep, 3 meals a day, a family focused atmosphere, and a place to learn about their Heavenly Father.
She helped to create a school sponsorship program for the mission that now sends 60+ children to school every year. The program provides tuition, uniform, and school supplies. We’ve seen many children graduate and pass their final exams, which is a rare and wonderful blessing for children in Haiti.
Cindy had a heart for prison ministry and visited several different prisons with teams – praying & singing with them, handing out hygiene supplies & food/drinks, and once helped to build a water reservoir in the Mirbalais prison. Prisons in Haiti are extremely overcrowded with very poor conditions so these visits are such a blessing to the prisoners
She loved to lead construction teams that helped to build a water reservoir in the remote mountain village of Tivye, benches for churches, and a school in Charrier. These are just a few of the projects she assisted in.
She was always collecting clothing donations and packed HUNDREDS of barrels to be shipped down to Haiti. This was only one of the many, many duties she had in the states to keep our mission running. She was also an amazing networker and could make connections with anyone. She was determined to fill any need that arose and almost always could find a solution. She arranged every team and would fundraise or gather supplies for whatever project these teams would work on while here. She truly devoted her life to this mission.
In Haiti, even basic first aid is hard to come by and people simply cannot afford routine care or preventative medications. Cindy loved to lead medical teams to Haiti and these teams would see hundreds of patients and provide medications. It was always her dream to have a medical clinic of our own. She even began fundraising for this project in 2018 and construction will begin in 2020.
With that being said, we as a mission would like to make everyone aware that though Cindy is no longer with us, we are continuing the work she started in Haiti. Recently someone had asked Cindy, “Now that the Children’s Home is up and running, do you think your work in Haiti is done?” And I remember her laughing and saying, “it’s only just begun!” And we couldn’t agree more. So with that we continue onward and strive to make her proud. Because we know she’s sitting up there in Heaven alongside Jesus being our biggest fans, our #1 supporters.
The Hoedown for Haiti 2019
It’s that time again!!!
The 5th annual Hoedown for Haiti is two months away and we are so excited!!
Here are the details:
All funds raised will go towards New Life Children’s Home. A home for orphans in Charrier, LaChapelle, Haiti. There will be a BBQ meal, silent auction, and line dancing to cap off the evening! Our full time missionaries, The Estime Family, will be in town for the event and share an update about the home with everyone. We hope to see you there!!
How to get tickets:
- Purchase online through this link -> Purchase Hoedown Tickets Online
- Purchase tickets through the mail -> Download this pdf (HoedownforHaiti_2019) and return it with payment to New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. at 420 East Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 by October 5th.
If you cannot attend but would like to donate to New Life Children’s Home you can follow this link -> Donate to New Life Children’s Home
We have sold out of tickets almost every year so don’t delay in getting your spot! Thank you for your support!
Finally sharing an update!
Hello All!
Let me first share our apologies for the lack of recent updates! Our computer crashed back in May. And then our iPad froze up. And then my (stevie) cell phone went on the fritz as well! It was a very discouraging & frustrating week! Therefore we weren’t able to send an update! Luckily the computer & phone have been replaced, and the iPad has been unfrozen! Praise Jesus! Also, I want to say sorry to those who sent me their email back in January to add you to our contact list. I only realized today that I updated the contacts to the wrong email!
We are happy to share that we added another member to the family at the end of June. Bruno is 14 years old and such a sweet young man. His father and mother both died several years ago and he was living with an uncle that was struggling to care for him on top of providing for his own children. Bruno is a very smart and mature for his age and was the top of his class in school this past year. He loves to lend a helping hand in any task. He even planted his own little garden, one of his favorite pastimes. He is getting along well with Claudelson but they of course already bicker like brothers. Claudelson continues to learn and grow but still requires extra attention to help him focus on improving his behavioral issues. We appreciate your prayers as we work with him on this. He really is a great kid with a big heart, and it breaks my heart that he was neglected for so long before he came to us. Zacharie and I frequently remind each other of this to get through the tough days!
Zacharie was recently nominated as a deacon at our church. He is very proud, as it is the church that his father started before his passing when Zacharie was 7 years old. He has taken a special interest in the youth of our church. He has youth group with them every other Sunday. Antas, Zacharie’s oldest sister, has also recently started a chorus group with the youth that meets every Wednesday & Saturday. These activities are not only encouraging the students in their walk with Christ but also keeping them off the streets, where so many kids fall into temptation in Haiti. We are honored to be apart of such a great congregation of believers. On Sunday, July 21 we were finally able to move into our house! Our entire church came over after the service and spent time in prayer and singing over our house and family. It was a very special time. Church has become a very big part of our lives and we go to services every Wednesday, Friday & Sunday. I am always blown away by how I leave each service feeling lighter and at peace. It is such a blessing to watch my children dance with the other kids and sing solos (yes Solos!) In front of the church! Abe marched to the front of the church last Sunday and took the microphone from the pastor and sang an entire song in creole. It was a very proud parent moment! As for Moses, when it was his turn he sang “We will, we will, ROCK you!” Which was a moment we’ll never forget, that’s for sure!
We recently hired two more staff for the children’s home. Elude is 23 years old and she is from Montrious. She serves as our female house parent. We are anticipating 2-3 more children to be joining us in the near future so the extra hands will be very helpful! She has a quiet soul but takes her job very seriously and leads the kids well. We are excited to continue to get to know her and watch her grow in her role with us. We also hired Madamn Vide, Zacharie’s mother, on part time. She serves as a support staff in helping in the kitchen and with the children, but her biggest role is being “Gran” to all the kids. Our goal is to make these children feel apart of a family and Madamn Vide is amazing at showing & sharing Christ’s love to each of the kids. One way she does this is spending time in prayer & singing with the children every day at noon. I, love to sit outside the door and listen to them each take turns praying aloud and choosing songs to sing. As parents, Zacharie and I have always talked about how we would strive to turn our children, biological and not, into passionate Jesus followers. So we are so grateful for Madamn Vide’s special interest in each child’s relationship with God.
Prayer & Singing time with Gran!
Microfinancing is a term used to describe financial services, like loans, to small business owners or individuals who lack traditional banking services. It was always a dream of the New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. to be able to begin providing micro financing loans here in Charrier but had to wait till we had someone here full time to carry it out. We are elated to share that we have begun this program and have already provided two loans to small business owners in our community. One to a young mother down the street who has a successful snack shop and another to a trustworthy man that has a charcoal making business. They have been committed so far and we are excited to see this program grow and build up our community.
We are looking forward to having two teams come to serve in August. They will focus their time on the school sponsorship program which sends 60+ children to school each year – including tuition, uniform, and books. Last year 4 children from our program graduated which is a huge deal in Haiti. There is a large percentage of children in Haiti who do not find the opportunity to go to school AND finish so it is very exciting to watch these kids persevere to the end!
Baby Girl Estime is due to arrive TODAY, July 24! Please join us in prayer as we await her arrival and hope for a smooth delivery without complications. We will be delivering at a local hospital called Albert Shweitzer in DeChapelle which is about 35-45 minutes away. Fun Fact, the person who founded the hospital is originally from Pittsburgh!
Thank you for your continuous prayers and support of our family. We are planning to come home for 4-6 weeks in the beginning of October. We would love to come and share our journey with your church or small group so please contact us! The 5th annual Hoedown for Haiti will be held on October 19, 2019 in Ephrata to raise money for New Life Chidlren’s Home! We will send more information out soon on how to purchase tickets! This event has sold out almost every year so be sure to get your tickets ahead! We love you all and thank you for taking the time to read this update and
Click here to watch a recent video update!
Click here to support New Life Children’s Home, the Estime Family or another one of New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.’s other ministries.
OR donations can be made/sent to “New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.” at 420 East Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522.
Many Blessings to you all,
Zacharie, Stevie, Katheline, Abe & Moses
Happy Spring!
Hello friends and family! Happy Spring!
We’re excited to be emailing you from Charrier because we have WiFi! Crazy, right?! Especially for those that have been down here with us before this seems impossible, I’m sure. But God had his hand in it all and as always, what seems impossible is possible with him! In the past, to send an email update I’d have to wait till we were spending time at a resort to utilize their WiFi. I’d always spend my time worrying about getting it done instead of truly relaxing with the family. But not any more! J Our town had never had public power before. Every politician running office dangled it in front of citizens in order to get votes, but no one ever made it happen before now. Currently, they are not charging people to use the power. They mostly give it during the day and it does go on and off frequently. We, among maybe 10 other people in our community, paid to have a meter installed, so we anticipate to have to start paying in the near future – probably once the next election starts if you catch my drift! We also installed 3 solar panels in order to supplement the power in the evenings. This is saving us a ton of money on gas and allows this pregnant Mama to run fans all night! We plan to add additional solar panels in the future as the 3 panels is only enough power to run our house and a refridgerator for a couple of hours. So we are now able to better stay connected with y’all! Thank YOU Jesus!
Zacharie, along with wonderful friends from our community, have spent many hours in the mission garden this spring. Last year we planted lime and grapefruit trees and it’s been exciting to watch them come up this spring. They recently planted additional citrus trees along with hot peppers and yucca root. This winter the garden provided us with endless amounts of plantains, something we eat quite often here. Rainy season is upon us and we’re excited for what that means for the gardens!
LOTS of plantain and banana trees!
Grapefruit Tree
Speaking of water… please pray we can find someone soon to dig a well for us. You may remember that we had a well hand dug 2 years ago. Unfortuanetly, we had to fill that well in as we hit salt water and the location of the well proved to be unsafe location for a property with so many children running around. With the process of hand dug wells being so dangerous and taking so much time, we have decided to seek out a business or organization to dig one for us. Please pray we can make this happen soon! We are all pretty tired of carrying buckets!
It’s mango season in Haiti! Which means eating mangoes and drinking mango juice 24/7. But we’re not complaining!
Thank you all for your prayers over Claudelson, the first child to join us at New Life Children’s Home. It has been so fun to watch him experiencing new things – like eating cupcakes and doing Easter egg hunts J A prayer request we have for him is that school/learning will come easier to him. After years of no formal education, it’s very difficult for him to sit and focus. He will not pass this year, and we have discussed hiring a tutor for him over the summer. We ask that you join us in prayer as we consider our options. We anticipate 2-4 more boys to join us this summer after the school year ends, depending on how a couple things work out. We are also still searching for a full time female house parent. Please pray over the children’s home with us as we strive to carry out God’s will for these kids and fill our staff needs with people that wish to do the same.
We will be adding 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on top of the cafeteria.
With plans of several children joining us being boys, we are realizing the need for separate living quarters if a girl were to come to us. Haitian social services require certain distance between male and female sleeping areas therefore we will be constructing 2 rooms and a bathroom above our cafeteria. The iron has already been laid and we are now waiting on cements blocks to be delivered to begin the walls. Then we will finish with a tin roof.
I, Stevie, was in the states for a short trip on April 14-18. I was on a mission to bring our family dog, Miley, to Haiti! It was always a dream to have her here with us, but I never knew how I would make it possible. After several failed attempts and outrageous quotes provided by professional shippers, I began to lose hope. However, when friends of ours recommended Missionary Flights International, we found a way! This is the organization we use to have a mailing/shipping address. So I got in late on Sunday night and was en route to MFI’s headquarters in Fort Pierce, FL by Tuesday afternoon. I then flew out to Haiti with Miley early on Thursday morning. It was too quick of a trip home but I’m very thankful that it went just as planned. The whole family has enjoyed having her here with us, and for me, she makes Haiti feel a little more like home.
We are excited to have a team of 5 people coming next week with Cindy. They will help us do some painting and maintainence projects on the children’s home property. Please pray for safe travels and that we can honor and glorify God together in Haiti during their time here with us.
Our family on Easter Sunday
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and support for our family! We do not take for granted how much the Lord has blessed us on this journey. Everyone has been healthy and happy. And we are all anxious to meet baby GIRL Estime at the end of July!
With every passing day, Haiti feels more and more like “home.”
Declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 1 Chronicles 16:24
Click here to support our family.
Click here to support New Life Children’s Home.
An update from the Estime’s!
click New Life Children’s Home as your designation, AND Add a note to your donation stating for children’s home child #1 :
The Time is HERE!
To our wonderful family and friends,
Mission Update
We just wanted to add a video that had some recent photos and information about our work in Haiti! Enjoy!
And
Merry Christmas
from all of us at New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.
Another successful Hoedown for Haiti !
We had another awesome time at the 2018 Hoedown for Haiti! We had a sold out crowd and over $20,000 was raised for New Life Children’s Home! We give ALL the GLORY to GOD! Like each year before, I’m left speechless from gratitude for those who donated their time and efforts, attended and danced, and helped make the night such a success! All funds raised will go directly toward New Life Children’s Home which will be opening their doors to more children this coming year as Zacharie & Stevie Estime will be moving down to Haiti permanently in January of 2019.
First off, we’d like to say show our appreciation to Leon & Elsie Eby for allowing us to use their barn for the 4th year in a row! The Copper Horse Barn is a beautiful venue that can seat more than 250 people. There is a kitchen, bathroom, elevator, and bridal suite! Contact them at 7173363328 or 7176299845 with any questions!
We had 9 awesome local business donors who blessed our ministry through this event!
A BIG THANK YOU TO
MN Zimmerman Co. ,
Lichty Brothers Collision Repair,
Zartman Erosion Control Products
We had another silent auction and it was a great success thanks to the different local businesses and friends who donated over 100 items for the event!
Thank You to Sight & Sounds, Janae Rose Photography, Eve’s Photography, Pottery by Gary Eberly, Pottery by Pots by DePerot, Bee Still Crochet, Stoner Decorating Center, Redners , Reflections Restaurant , Goods store, Mary Kay Basket from Crystal Weaver, Attraction’s Studio, Fox Meadows Creamery & Country Market , Manheim Pike Vet Hospital, Asher’s Chocolate, Shady Maple, Muddy Creek Studio, Quentin Tavern, DOVE Westgate sewing group, Premier Jewelry from Joyce Mast, Hand Crafted woodworkings by Ken Buckwalter, Doterra Essential oils from Jen Laughlin , Creekside Dental, , Giant Food Stores, Sharp Shopper, Weaver Markets, Weis Markets, Yoder’s Country Market, and MANY others friends to New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc… Words can not express our full gratitude!
We would also like to give a special shout out to J.R.’s Brisket & BBQ for donating the delicious chicken BBQ! Also, And lastly, thank you Jill Zimmerman for your scrumptious cupcakes and to Delvin Huber for the yummy ice cream! Every year we’ve been blessed to have almost ALL our food donated!
We would also like to show our appreciation for DJ Mike Michener and his wife Karen for donating their time to teach Line Dancing at the event! They are always such a pleasure to work with and make for a great night of dancing!
(And here’s a cute little video of our son Abraham breaking it down!! Ha!!)
More thank you’s go out to Jordan High for our super cool Hoedown for Haiti design!
I used this verse in last years’ hoedown blog post, but I’ll say it again!
“To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen”
Galations 1:5
The Hoedown for Haiti 2018
It’s that time again! Save the date for this years’ Hoedown for Haiti to raise money for New Life Children’s Home! We will be mailing & emailing invitations out soon so if you’re not our mailing list please email us at newlifemissionshaiti@gmail.com! With Zacharie recently becoming a US citizen we are now able to make the BIG & FINAL move to Haiti this January to officially open our doors to children!
We will have some good ole Lancaster county cooking including BBQ Chicken !
You’ll have a chance to participate in a silent auction !
And we’ll finish off the evening as we always do with instructed Line Dancing!
*You can also click on this link to download this form and mail it to us to purchase tickets! >>>>>HoedownforHaiti_2018
OR you can purchase tickets online HERE !
All funds raised will go directly toward New Life Children’s Home!
We hope to see YOU there!
Zeiset Bike Trip to Benefit Medical Clinic
Dwayne and Kristine Zeiset will be starting a bike trip on July 15, 2018 starting at the northwestern-most point of WA (Cape Flattery in Neah Bay area). They will travel a total of 1,600 miles. They plan to average 80 miles/day as they travel down the scenic coast lines of Washington, Oregon, and California. By August 6, they anticipate to finish the ride in Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the southwestern-most point of CA shoreline (a few miles south of San Diego). They have chosen to complete this trip without a support vehicle. They will be carrying roughly 40 pounds of gear.
If you are interested in following their journey you can their facebook page of visit their website which will include their itinerary, blog and pictures.
Facebook page: Zeiset West Coast Bike Trip 2018
Website: Zeiset West Coast Bike Trip ’18
Through their journey they hope to raise funds for New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.’s planned medical clinic in Charrier. They would like to have each and every mile that they pedal to accumulate funds for the construction of the clinic.
How the “mile pledge” works:
Every penny counts! Really! No gift is too small.
They anticipate biking about 1,600 miles total along the west coast.
So, a pledge of $0.01/mile would equal an approximate donation of $16.
A pledge of $0.10/mile would equal an approximate donation of $160.
Of course, you may also give a flat donation
How to make your pledge:
You can donate online by visiting this link: Donate online to the Zeiset Bike Trip
OR you can make checks payable to “New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.” and mailed to 420 E. Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522. Please attach a note stating it is for the “Medical clinic — Zeiset Bike Trip.”
For all their “mile pledges” they will keep a running total of miles for you at the end of their trip and tax receipts will be sent after donations are made.
We at New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. want to say thank you to Dwayne and Kristine for choosing to bless the Medical Clinic through their adventure. May the Lord protect you on your journey!
