Hello Dear Friends,
It has been too long since we have posted an update and we appreciate the folks who have reached out to us to ask how things are going or how you can help Haiti right now.
For many years our mission would bring teams down to Haiti and take a day while they were there to feed the community. It was always a fun time to connect with our neighbors as well as an opportunity to bless their families with a hot meal. Since teams have been unable to go down to Haiti for quite some time, this has not happened very often over the last 5 years.
Last week we were so happy to have Zacharie’s mom (known as Mama or Madam Vide to many of you) join us here in the states for a visit. We were sitting down talking with her and she expressed her sadness to see the level of suffering that is going on in our community. With the continued gang violence and lack of government intervention affecting every aspect of life in Haiti, many are struggling to find at least one meal on a daily basis. Yes, this has always been a problem in Haiti, but we feel that Haiti has reached an all new level of suffering.
**Here is a YouTube video that gives a fairly good job of giving an update on the current situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7imyUw1z6s. Please note that it is difficult to pick a perfect video that encompasses all the issues**
So how can we best help our community right now?
We believe that providing meals to our community would be the greatest way to provide aid and hope during this current crisis.
We are calling it the “Loaves & Fishes Feeding Program.”
Our current fundraising goal is to raise $8,100 to be able to feed about 300 people a week for 3 months. Would you consider giving toward this program?
You can give online here:
https://engage.suran.com/newlifemissionhaiti/s/give/new-gift
*Click the bottom green button New Life Mission – Haiti to see the Loaves and Fishes Feeding Program option.
Or through the mail: New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. , 420 E. Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 (please attach a note stating it is for the “Loaves & Fishes Feeding Program.”)
All funds raised will go toward this program. We plan to purchase as much food and supplies from local vendors as we can to support our community through the program. We also want to state that because of insecurity and issues with supplies there may be weeks that we are unable to have the meal and we will continue as the Lord allows.
Thankfully we serve a God who still performs miracles. Would you join us in praying for this program that it would inspire hope and the food would be miraculously multiplied each week.
Thank you all for your continued support,
Zacharie & Stevana Estime
New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. Directors
This year’s fundraiser for New Life Children’s Home was once again a humbling success!
The event brought in nearly $26,000 for the home and will make a huge dent in the next years budget. We are always able to take a sigh of relief after this event as each year God and his people show up for Haiti and for us! Your continual support of this event is such an encouragement to us. With all the difficult things going on in Haiti, this ministry continues and we are honored to be a part of it. Thank you for being apart of it too!
We want to take a moment to thank EVERYONE who gave their time to help whether on our committee, with the silent auction or the meal. Without you, this event could not happen!
THANK YOU to our event sponsors!
Zartman Erosion Control Products
Rocky Ridge Auto Sales – Ephrata, PA
Lifeflow Plumbing – Lititz, PA
PA Quality Painting – Phone (484)999-4118
We would also like to thank these friends & businesses who donated to our silent auction!!
AB Martin , Aimee Weaver Designs, Artist Amanda Bedeaux, Berks Lanes, Bomberger’s Store, Cedar Fox Farm, Choo Choo Barn, Cocalico Coffee Crafters, Doterra Products from Deb Koch, Eve’s Photography, Farmhouse Market, Flower Arrangements from Anne Nolt, Fox Meadows, Gift Card bundles from Mike & Rachel Slick (and Friends), Hidden Hill Sweets, Haven of Grace Beach House, Home Cooked meals from Eddie Rios, Horning’s Hut,Janae Rose Photography, Jon Friest, Lancaster Sweet Shop, Laserdome, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Longwood Gardens, Macrame by Laura, Mama Pizza & Grill, Mary Kay Beauty Products from Caitlyn Artz, Muddy Creek Studio, New Holland Family Restaurant, Painting with a Twist – Lancaster PA, Penn Cinema, Reflections Restaurant, Serenity Day Spa, Sight & Sounds , Shady Maple, Succulents by Lauren Zimmerman, Sweet Goodness by Gail, Tin Roof Cafe, Twin Valley Coffee, Usborne Books from Katelyn Martin, Vitality Athletics, Weavers Boutique Jewelry, Whistlin’ Cup Coffee, Woodcrest Retreat, Grace & Clydge Wenger, Yoder’s Country Market, & Youphoria Salon & Spa
We had another wonderful meal at the Hoedown! Thank you JR’s Brisket & BBQ in Ephrata, PA for making the pork for the ! Our sides and desserts were prepared and donated by family and friends! Also thank you to these grocery stores for helping to make the meal possible – Weavers Market,(Adamstown), Sharp Shopper (Ephrata), Giant (Reading, West Lawn, Shillington), & Weis (Ephrata & West Lawn)!
Thank you to DJ Mike Michener and his wife Karen for donating their time DJing and leading line dancing every year for this event!
Thank you to Jordan High for creating our invitation!
and last, but certainly not least, a BIG HUGE Thank you to Leon & Elsie Eby for letting us use their beautiful barn, The Copper Horse Barn (Ephrata, PA), for the 6th time for this event.
We are so blessed to have such an amazing support system that gives us the ability to raise these beautiful kids! Words can not express our full gratitude!
The 2022 Hoedown for Haiti, our annual fundraiser for New Life Children’s Home, is coming up and YOU ARE INVITED!
Here are the details!
Silent Auction = The auction will be held online from Monday, October 10 until Thursday, October 13, 2022. It will be accessible through our website, but we will also send a direct link in the days before the event. We had some AWESOME items available last year and we cannot wait to share what this year’s will be!
Check out some of the great products we had last year!
Pork BBQ Dinner & Line Dancing = We are so excited to have the Hoedown dinner and line dancing event at the beautiful Copper Horse Barn (Ephrata, PA). We will have a Pork BBQ (made by the famous local JR’s Brisket & BBQ) meal with some delicious sides! After dinner there will be a chance to hear from our missionaries living in Haiti, Zacharie & Stevie Estime for an update on all things Haiti! THEN we will end our evening with line dancing with DJ Mike Michener! Tickets are a suggested minimum donation of $35 per person.
Here’s how to get your tickets…
OR
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out by phone or email us at newlifemissionshaiti@gmail.com!
ALL funds raised through the event will go towards New Life Children’s Home!
We hope to see you there! Thank you for your support!
New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.
420 E. Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522
717-847-5164
Stop by and see us on July 9th at 10am for a drive thru chicken BBQ fundraiser. Meals or leg only available! See the flyer for all the details!
Pre-sales available! Reserve your meal by calling/texting/emailing!
Thanks in advance for your support!
A Note from our Directors – Greetings from PA. That’s right, we’re still in Pennsylvania. When we came stateside in September of 2021 we had planned to stay for 10 weeks. During those 10 weeks the safety situation in Haiti worsened and our ability to travel back to Haiti with our 3 small children seemed impossible. We were tormented by the decision between risking the safety of our children here versus continuing to be away from our precious children in Haiti, including our oldest daughter Katheline whose adoption is still in process. Then, to our surprise, in January we found out we were expecting a baby (due in late September 2022). Though it was a surprise, it was the confirmation we needed. We knew that because we live so remotely and traveling is so risky in Haiti, we would be unable to travel back until after the baby is born. So at this time, we plan to re-evaluate our ability to travel in January of 2023.
From the beginning, we have been crying out to God and asking “why?” If we feel so led to be in Haiti then why are we experiencing this road block? Slowly but surely, as he often does, the Lord has revealed to us his purpose and goodness in this unexpected season. We have been blessed by dear friends who have welcomed us into their home like family and loved our children like their own. We found an amazing Christian school for Abraham to continue his schooling. Zacharie was able to find work with a Haitian friend who allows him to travel whenever he needs (he has been back to Haiti twice by himself to take care of things). We have also found opportunities to grow in our marriage, as missionaries, as a mission alongside our board, and as individuals – in many ways that we didn’t even know we needed. Though we continue to have this unsettled feeling of “this isn’t our home,” God has begun to give us a peace that surpasses the understanding that we felt we so desperately needed.
Microfinancing
The microfinancing loan program continues to flourish, and we are happy to report that we recently added a new loan recipient to the program. His name is Roberto and he has a filtered drinking water business in our community. This was a great need for our small town as before people in Charrier had to travel several miles away to purchase clean drinking water. Roberto sells 5-gallon jugs of filtered water as well as refills them. We were happy to provide him a loan and are excited to see how he grows his business with this financial assistance.
Medical Clinic – Due to the Estime’s absence, the construction of the medical clinic has been delayed. We continue to be in the final stages and currently have a contractor working on laying ceramic throughout the facilities. After this step, we will apply the final coats of paint and finish the electrical work. We are thankful to be almost done with this construction project and are very excited as we look forward to opening the doors to the clinic. This is such a great need for our community. Please join us in prayer as we finish construction and prepare to move forward.
Child Sponsorship Program – It has been 10 years since the school sponsorship’s inception, and we are so excited for another chance to support the children in our community. It has been an incredible blessing to not only watch so many children have the chance to receive an education, but also to witness the joy and relief of the parents whose children are in the program. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who sponsors a child. We would also like to share that we always have a wait list of children in need of sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring a child to go to school for $380 per year, please reach out to us through phone or email for more information.
New Life Children’s Home – We have gone through a tough couple months at New Life Children’s Home. The children at the home have greatly missed the presence of the Estime family. Our amazing staff have taken great care of our kids, but you all know that there is no one like Mom and Dad. Also, we believe that being transparent is important to be able to maintain the integrity of our mission. That being said, we need to share with you that we had to transition one of our kids, Bruno, back to living with extended family members. Unfortunately, Bruno made poor decisions and his actions made it impossible for him to continue to live at the Children’s Home. It was a very difficult decision to make, and we appreciate your prayers moving forward. We have been praying and asking God to give us clarity on how to best support and mentor Bruno even from afar and we would greatly appreciate it if you would join us in lifting this up in prayer.
We would like to also share that our other children have almost completed the school year and are looking forward to summer vacation. We are thankful for their continued good health and we have been so impressed by their patience and kindness in this season of changes and transition. Zacharie hopes to make a trip to Haiti sometime this summer. Please join us in prayer over all the children.
A Note from our Board President–
Thank you for your support of the work in Haiti through your generosity to New Life Mission. Ministry in Haiti has been complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the current instability of the government. Because of concern for their safety, the Estime’s have extended their stay in the States and lead the mission from here. Unexpected travel expenses and Covid testing for travel along with the expense of living in the States has increased demand on their finances. Our goal is to work with the Estime’s to raise an annual income that covers living expenses, provides for their medical and dental needs, and enables them to save for the unexpected as well as retirement. We would ask you to prayerfully consider making a contribution to the Estime’s support. One-time gifts are greatly appreciated, and regular monthly support would be helpful to establish a working budget. When you send your financial gifts, indicate if it is a recurring monthly contribution or a one-time gift. Checks can be made out to New Life Mission and sent to 420 E Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 or donations be made through our website newlifemissionhaiti.com/home/we-need-your-help. Make sure to designate your gift for “Estime’s support”. Thank you for your prayers and generosity.
Another way to support the Estime family – Our dear friend and owner of Cocalico Coffee Crafters, Rachel Elliot, has designed these beautiful shirts to benefit our family’s mission work in Haiti. The shirts say “Si Bondye Vle” which is a common saying in Haitian Creole that means “if God wants.” By using this phase, Haitians daily dedicate their every action and intentions to the Lord. If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please visit cocalicocoffeecrafters.com/coffee
SAVE THESE DATES for our upcoming fundraisers :
July 9 @ 10AM – Chicken BBQ fundraiser to benefit the children’s home at Cocalico Coffee Crafters – 11 Long Ave, Ephrata. (Along 272, beside Four Seasons Produce)
September 9 @ 7:30PM – Penn Cinema Drive-In Fundraiser
October 15 – The 2022 Hoedown for Haiti will be held at the Copper Horse Barn in Ephrata.
Thank you all so much…for reading this, for praying for us, for giving financially…your support means probably more than you know.
Happy Summer! Blessings to you and your families!
Zacharie & Stevie Estime
New Life Mission Haiti – Inc. Haitian Directors
420 E Fulton Street, Ephrata PA 17522
717-847-5164
NewLifeMissionsHaiti@gmail.com
I think it’s safe to say that these last two years have been almost unbelievable in many ways. From the pandemic starting in January 2020 to Haiti’s president’s assassination in July 2021, life feels almost like a blur of hard times and difficult circumstances.
Yet intertwined with those hardships we’ve created some beautiful memories and have had several exciting plans and dreams come to fruition – and we hope that you and your family can find the beauty and growth from these past 2 years as well. Learning to appreciate the small accomplishments or blips of happiness during hard times is not an easy feat, but when I’m struggling I almost always look to John 16:33 that says
“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. BUT TAKE HEART! I have overcome the world.”
We at New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. want to express out deepest gratitude to our Heavenly Father. If you speak any Haitian Creole than you have probably know the phrase “Si Bondye vle” which means “If God wants.” It is a phrase you will hear said in Haiti a hundred times a day if not more. When you say “I’ll see you tomorrow” to someone you would not say it without adding “If God wants” to the end of the phrase. It has always been something that has stuck out to me. For a long time I found it to be silly, almost dramatic, until I lived there long enough to understand its significance. The amount of credit and glory our Haitian family and friends give to God for every single aspect of their lives is incredible. And we want it to be known that though we have so much appreciation for our supporters , we give all the glory to our God for the work that he has had us help carry out in Haiti.
Some highlights from our year that we would love to share with you…
This video shows a brief recap of photos and videos from our last year.
We are so excited to see what God has in store for us and for Haiti this upcoming year. Here are some ways you can pray for us:
Other ways you can help…
There is always a financial need and we ask you to consider giving to New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.
You can give online here : https://secure.egsnetwork.com/donate/81C05670E42A4CB
or donations can be made through the mail. Please include a note for what you would like to have your donation go towards.
Thank you all so much…for reading this, for praying for us, for giving financially…your support means probably more than you know.
Blessings to you are your families and Bon Ane! Happy New Year!
420 E. Fulton Street, Ephrata, PA 17522
717-847-5164
newlifemissionshaiti@gmail.com
What a year it’s been. Especially for Haiti. I’m sitting here trying to find the words to describe Haiti’s current state, how it got to this place, and what all has caused it and I’m honestly left speechless every time I try to do this. It feels like way too much to try to sum up into a couple of sentences. And to be honest, I don’t feel qualified. But what I can comment on is that through an incredibly tough year (or years, if I’m being honest) the ministries of New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. have been able to continue and flourish. It’s an honor to be a part of and we give all the Glory to our good, good Father.
Today is #GivingTuesday. A “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” We wanted to let you know of a couple ways you could bless our ministry today.
Follow this link donation link and choose “Christmas Feeding Program” as your designation.
OR Mail in your donation to the address listed in the photo
2. For the third year in a row we have created an amazon Christmas Wish List for the kids in the Children’s Home. We have been incredibly blessed these past couple of years to have the gifts for the kids provided for. This year we have provided some wants and needs for the kids.
You can access the wish list here: https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/47N6R9OONL9Q/guest-view
3. Zacharie & Stevana Estime and their 4 children are our full-time missionaries living in Haiti working as
Directors of the mission. With the cost of living getting higher every day in Haiti, they are in need of support.
If you feel led to give to their family you can follow this donation link and choose “Estime family personal support” as your designation.
4. Solar Panel Fundraiser – Our electricity in Haiti is very unreliable (we have electric about 50% of the time), unsafe to use (we had several people in our village die from electrical shocks this past year) , and the current fluctuates constantly (which is killing our appliances!). We would love to get enough solar panels and batteries to run our whole property. We *estimate* this to cost around $20,000. We are about 1/4 of the way to meeting that goal and need your help to raise the remainder of these funds!
Follow this link donation https://secure.egsnetwork.com/donate/9A9ABBE1B61A48D to donate online or send donations by mail with a note attached “for solar panels”
5. Maybe you are unable to give financially at this time and we get that! We also know that many people are strapped because it’s tough enough just to get all your gifts purchased. One way you can bless our ministry is using Amazon Smile. By using the URL www.smile.amazon.com and choosing “New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.” as your designated mission , a small portion of your purchases will go to us. Every little bit helps!
Thank You for considering choosing New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc. to give towards this #GivingTuesday!
Many Blessings to you and yours this Holiday Season!
New Life Mission – Haiti, Inc.
420 E. Fulton Street,
Ephrata, PA 17522
Our online silent auction is now live!!!
We have over 100 great items to choose from including vacation homes, photography sessions, massages, gift baskets, children’s toys, and more! Get your Christmas gifts now and support New Life Children’s Home at the same time!
https://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/index.cfm?auctionID=22920
https://www.biddingowl.com/Auction/home.cfm?auctionID=22920
It will run today until this Friday, Oct. 22 at 8 pm. So set your alarms!
Thank you all for your support!
Our virtual silent auction is almost live!! All proceeds will go toward New Life Children’s Home to take care of all the needs of our wonderful kiddos.
It will take place on Tuesday, October 19th at 8:00 AM until Friday, October 22nd at 8:00 PM.
Take a sneak peek through the link and set your alarms for Tuesday (and then again for Friday night before it ends!)
We have everything from vacation homes, photography sessions, restaurant gift cards, gift baskets, art, several made in Haiti products, tools, and so much more! We have over 90 items to choose from and more are being added! Check out the link below!
https://www.biddingowl.com/NewLifeMissionHaitiInc
Thank you all for your support !!