You Hace A Choice Ministries Sept Newsletter

Presidents Corner As summer ends & school starts, it is always a good time to reflect and adjust schedules. Be sure to spend some quality time with our Lord. September starts the school year in Haiti. This year we are excited to be funding a new lunch program in Cabaret section of Haiti. We have additional projects planned for this area as well. Some additional facts & logistics still need to be worked out. Please keep us in prayer as we move forward with these programs. I would like to personally thank each & everyone of you for the prayers & support you have given us the past year. Without you, none of this could happen. We are proud to say we have some the most loyal & generous supporters of any organization. In Christ, Steven P Sager President Mark 16:15  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.                                                                               Goat Time In July, Grace Point Church in Vestal NY had a vacation bible school. We had the privilege of speaking every day at this, sharing about life in Haiti. The children brought in their loose change in a friendly competition between the boys & girls this money was  for buying goats for needy families. Jason & Ginger Lovan were able to purchase a group of goats to be handed out to needy families. Once all these were brought back, Jason had these preg checked and every single goat was pregnant. What a surprise blessing this was from our Lord. In the coming weeks these goats will be distributed to families in need. Pictures will soon follow. James 1:17 " Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes, as a shifting shadow " iPad Raffle Our big fall fundraiser is a raffle for a Apple iPad 16GB wifi. Tickets are $5 each. These can be purchased from any board member, the Coin Shop in Johnson City or online through our website. Project Changes As exciting as adding programs to our ministry is, we must also examine other projects that may not be the best use of our resources. After a couple months of discussion & prayer, we will be ending our monthly medical clinic. We strongly believe in the value of a medical clinic in a village where many people had prior to this, never seen a medical doctor. However, medical clinics are not well suited for our ministry. The cost of the clinic cost us around $8 per person per Dr. visit. As a board, we felt the cost of this program would be better used at a project that is more suited for us. Perhaps in the future if funding allowed, we would entertain the thought of restarting a medical clinic.In the meantime, we are moving forward with our other programs and are searching for another organization that might be interested in taking this over. Proverbs 3:5-6 " Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take"      There was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, ”Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.” The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

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NEW BOARD MEMBER

 We are proud to welcome Logan Miller as our newest board member.  Logan is joining us as a 3 year Director.  Logan is employed by the Tioga County Sheriff Department.  In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, home remodeling and traveling.  One of Logan's first duties he volunteered for, is increasing our fan base on our social network sites.  We are honored to have him join us.

The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

Haiti School Feeding Program

At our last board meeting, we had a great discussion as to what our goals were as a nonprofit.  It did boil down as our core focus was on feeding programs & sustainability through our goats,pig & rabbit programs.  We are continuing our programs, however we do want to emphasize our core goals.

With that said, we have expanded our feeding program to Galgal Haiti and are helping the King's Cross School.  Currently attendance is around 153 children.  The school does have a feeding program, when funds are available.  Missionaries, Jason & Ginger have done a wonderful job at keeping cost down while providing a nutritious meal.  We are committed to helping support this meal, so that the children get a meal everyday.  For many of the children, this is the only meal they will eat that day.

I would like everyone to think about that for a moment.  Can you imagine not having the money to feed your children.  What does that do for a child's development?  All of us  in first world countries eat out.  Could we skip one meal a month & put this money towards helping these children?  Are we faithful servants of the blessing we have received?

I am asking if at all possible, would you partner along with us and make this feeding program a success by feeding every child a meal on each school day of the year.  If we all skipped one meal or did not eat one meal out a month, we could easily pay for this program.

As a way to jump start this program, we are offering this great, You Have A Choice Ministries t-shirt to anyone who donates $100 or more to this.  Donations can be made at www.youhaveachoiceministries.org

You Have A Choice Ministries - VBS Video

Grace Point Church Vacation Bible School  Vestal NY  One of the videos we shared.  Just kind of some fun pics on this video

www.youhaveachoiceministries.org

VBS Video = Grace Point Church Vestal NY

Another video that we share at vacation bible school.  Was a fun time looking at the kids faces as they watched video.

We had the opportunity to share our ministry with the vacation bible school of Grace Point Church in Vestal NY.  We shared each day a little part about Haiti & the various projects we have.  After that we shared a short picture video.  The children shared their change everyday & by the end of the week, had collected enough money to purchase 23 goats for some poor families in Haiti.

Haiti June 2013 Trip

We have just returned from our trip to Northern Haiti.  It was good chance to get to see all of our programs in action.  Our trip was 2 weeks long but it felt as if it was only a few days.  One of our first days, we had the opportunity to share the Gospel at the hospital in Cap Hatien, Haiti.  I do not believe that there is anything anyone can tell you to prepare you for a third world hospital.  We did have several professions of faith.  It was a privilege to hand out the hospital packs that many of our supporters had made.  To help someone in need is the greatest thing.

We participated in our monthly medical clinic in Dourvey Haiti.  Over 50 people were seen by the doctor.  Most patients were also given medications.  After Dourvey, the medical clinic was held at the Living Christ Orphanage where all the children & workers had a medical examination.  In the afternoon, children from the community were also see at the medical clinic.  At both clinics, Pastor's were present and sharing the Gospel.
The feeding program is seeing some great results in people coming to church for the meal.  They are now being fed spiritually as well as physically.  Around 700 meals are being served every month.   At our next board meeting, we will be talking about expanding this program to another village.  Committing to a program is something we encourage all our supporters to do.  This helps us plan a strategy as implementing these feeding programs takes a lot of planning & prayer.

The pig & goat program is a ongoing endeavor of ours to make a sustainable environment in Haiti.  All future animal recipients are required to have a training session.  This training is based on building a stronger & better animal than that is currently in Haiti.

One of my favorite programs is getting Gods word in to the hands of people that do not own a bible.  There are many people that can read, but do not own a bible. It was a great joy to hand out bibles to each orphan from a sponsor here in the states.  We were also able to hand out some bibles after the church service as well.  It is wonderful to see God's hand in all that we do,

We have a few new programs that we will be introducing very soon.  I promise to tell you about one of these right after our board meeting.  I think you will all like this program.

You Have A Choice Ministries, Inc

June 2013 Newsletter

  

As June is quickly approaching, Nicole & I are busy preparing for our Haiti trip. We will be in Haiti, June 11-25. Many exciting things are planned on this trip. We will be helping out at several medical clinics, feeding programs & our beloved pig & goat adoption program. A special day is planned for Dourvey Haiti, with a guest speaker all the way from Conklin, NY, presenting a Gospel message.
We will also be spending time at the Living Christ Orphanage. We have some great activities planned for the children. Also some repair work will be done & an assessment of future projects that will need to be done. We have some plans of perhaps bringing a team of a few construction minded individuals next year to do some larger projects.
Mark 16:15 says "And then he told them go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone"
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel, that God will be glorified by our work in Northern Haiti
Steven P. Sager
President
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UPDATE ON MIGURLIN
Migurlin is a young child who was badly burned in a household cooking accident. Julienne was able to get him transported to a burn unit in the Dominican Republic. Some great healing has already taken place. Over the course of the next year, he will be wearing a clear medicated mask that helps with the healing to prevent deep scaring.  He will continue treatment on a outpatient basis at the burn unit.
Proverbs 19:17 says "If you help the poor you are lending to the Lord and he will repay you"
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DOURVEY HAITI FEEDING PROGRAM
On any given Sunday, around 125 people receive a meal through our feeding program. This meal is fed after the church service. With the opportunity of receiving some food, church attendance has risen. We are excited to report that last month, 5 people who had not previously been attending church, had accepted Christ as their Savior at the church/feeding program. These 5 people are now being discipled to through the pastor. What a joyous time in being a part of this ministry. I am in awe, the way that our Lord can use each & everyone of us.
Deuteronomy 15:4 says "There should be no poor among you for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession"
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A SERVING HEART
Many of you know Julienne, who is a full time missionary in Haiti, who you may not know is Deb Eklund. Deb is co-founder of A Serving Heart ministries, the mission that we work alongside of. Deb was instrumental in helping us get our ministry off the ground. Deb is always the one I run to with a crazy idea or question. She always knows how to encourage us & has the experience we need when it comes to making things happen. Deb works behind the scenes, providing Julienne the support & prayers that she needs.
You Have A Choice Ministries is forever thankful to Deb & Julienne for the support needed to keep our ministry running full steam ahead.
Deb & Julienne, thank you for all the dedicated efforts you do in Northern Haiti.
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes for them"

You Have A Choice Minitries

This is our new logo.  It was decided that we needed a logo that reflected our ministry.  The meaning of this logo is, The waves of compassion washing over Haiti.  Check out our website to see how we have incorporated our new logo with parts from our old website logo.

You Have A Choice Ministries, Inc

YHACM video - Haiti Christian Mission

A short video we created that tells a little bit about our ministry.  Check out our website to see more in depth about our ministries & the programs we have in Northern Haiti.  You Have A Choice Ministries website

Burned Boy in Northern Haiti

This is a recap of everything with regarded to young boy in burn unit.  God's Hand was surely in this one. What a range of emotions for me.  I feel so bad for this boy & his mom, but feel so blessed that we were able to help out in prayer & financially.  This is a remarkable story and really touches my heart.  I think part of it for me was that from early on, I was involved in some of the logistics & decision making on what to do.  Julienne is a real tough cookie & can be super aggressive when needed.  She has such a servants heart.  She has been sharing the Gospel with the Mom this week.  I am so looking forward to working alongside her on our trip in June.  Please keep everyone in prayer.....  Steve

Little Miguerlin 5 year old Burn Victim, Update from Julienne

I'm currently in the Dominican Republic. I have attached two pictures of the 5 year old burn victim. He fell head first into a big pot of beans cooking over a charcoal oven. He was left unattended and the mother found him with the pot spilled over and he was covered in beans on his face and chest. She washed him (Haiti unsanitary water) and then applied tomato paste over him and 
brought him to the Justinien hospital in Cap Haitian.

I went to the hospital to check up on a young 7 year old girl that was there in January and was a burn victim also. I did not find the girl. However I saw this boy with flies walking on his face laying in bed. This was on a Tuesday, the boy was injured on Sunday. The hospital is not an adequate hospital for any treatment let a lone a burn victim. The beds are close to one another, side by side and its a dorm style room. Patients with tuberculosis are next to patients with broken legs or arms who are also in the same room as someone with typhoid or a burn victim. There are windows but no glass or screen on them. Patients urinate in plastic bowls that are then left on the floor next to the bed for a few hours. The moms mop the floor once in a while around the bed. Patients have to bring their own sheets, food and meds. No meds are administered unless the family has money. They do have a program for free I.V.'s for children up to 5 years old. The care is rudimentary and archaic. They have no ressources to work with.

The next day I checked on the boy who now had a cough. I traveled to 3 different hospitals to seek help for the boy. The United Nations Doctor saw pictures of the boy. He helped my by writing a letter stating that there was no adequate care in the North East of Haiti and that the boy needed an ICU unit and a burn unit to treat him. He recommended Port Aux Prince. I do know of a top of the line burn unit at the Children's hospital in Santiago,Dominican Republic, which is easier to get to from that area. 

I then traveled with the letter back to the border one hour and 20 minutes one way, on a hired motorcycle as I have no vehicle and public transport would take up to much time. I went to speak to the Director at customs to see if we could get the boy to the Santiago burn unit with the mother. I also showed him a picture of the boy. He said, "this boy is already dead". And almost turned me away at that point. I believe had the boy stayed in Haiti, his verdict would of been accurate. He asked me if the mother and boy had a passport. I said no and he asked me then how did I think they would get there. My response was a small smile with eyes filled with pleading that one human would show compassion to a small child. He granted permission for mom and child to the Dajabon hospital at the border in the Dominican and said IF they were to refer the patient to the burn unit then he would also grant that permission.

That is all I could do that day as the border between the two countries (Haiti and D.R.) closes at 5 p.m. The next day I went back to the hospital and mom chose to have him treated in the Dominican. In this part of Haiti there are no adequate ambulances. After 3 hours of running from one office to the other to get a bottle of I.V. and a stamp on a paper, the head nurse prepared him for the move. I hired a taxi to bring to the border (how crazy is that!) I am not a nurse, I have no medical knowledge. I was given instruction from the head nurse as to what to do should we get stuck at the border and need the other I.V. set up. I don't ever remember being so scared of doing something. I had to travel one hour and 20 minutes with a very ill child (mom was with us) in the Cap Haitian traffic and I was still not sure if the Director at the Dominican Republic border would still agree to him going through. 

When we got to the border at 2:20 in the afternoon the Director had stepped out of the office. The mother had to stay in the cab with the child in the hot Caribbean sun (no air conditioning in this cab). She fanned him with an envelope we had. I waited perhaps 40 minutes. One of the customs workers (Balith) told me that I should just talk to the secretary and see if somehow we could just move to the hospital without the Director's approval  The secretary had heard the conversation the previous day. I asked her to come and see the boy. By then a crowd was around the taxi so people could take a look at the disfigured child. She glanced at the 5 year old and went to see another official and began to try to explain to him the situation. I interrupted and took the stern looking man by the hand and gently pulled him to the car. One glance at the child and he waved us to the gate where the military were and motioned to them to let us through. We drove in a Haitian car in the Dominican Republic with the Haitian driver (no passport) accompanied by the customs worker (Balith)to direct us. We did not know where the hospital was. Once at the hospital I carried the boy in my arms into the emergency room and the gasps of the stunned people as they saw him just borke my heart. Everyone cleared a path in the crowded emergency room for us to get treatment for him.

The doctor was not present but a nurse called her over immediately. When the Doctor saw the boy she stopped stunned in her track and let out a spanish exclamation. She then had the nurse administer sivlerdeen cream (FINALLY) to the boys wounds. Meanwhile other people where trying to get a glimpse of the boy (which made me angry). The Doctor arranged for the ambulance to bring us to Santiago to the Arturo Grullon children's hospital where there is the best burn unit in the Caribbean.  Within 30 minutes we were on our way on this 3 hour ride.

Once at the hospital the child was in the burn unit within minutes and I was crisply stopped by the security guard who told me only the mother and child could go into the burn unit because of fear of contamination. I nearly hugged him! Finally adequate care. None the less I barged in (followed by security) because the mother does not speak the language or has never even set eyes on a Dominican person. She is from a fishing village (island) and is illiterate and has no education. 

While they were cleaning the wounds they discovered that his skull was burned also as his hair was washing off. The hospital in Haiti was not even treating his head. Hi entire face is burnt, his head, the back of his ears, parts of his little neck and his chest. 

I am now traveling daily into the city of Santiago (1:30 one way) to take care of mom (public transport). She shares a room with another Dominican mom and her son. She has no support system in this country. I am her only help for now. So I get her food, give her a break and check up on her personal needs. Today is Tuesday. I have not seen the child since his admittance last Thursday. He is now playing and he can open his eyes a little his mom tells me. I am not allowed into the room as visiting time is 11 A.M. only, Monday to Friday. I also have a cold and do not want to contaminate the child. 

Only by God's amazing grace could I get a child through the border and 8 military check points as well as his mother with no I.D. Only by God's grace is this child still alive and the Doctors say he will be fine. 

(Due to the graphic nature of the photos, We are not sharing them. Please continue to pray for this entire situation. Thanks everyone..Steve)

You Have A Choice Ministries.org

Bois De Lance Haiti

As we move forward in the new year, We are getting ready to help an additional community in Northern Haiti.  This community is Bois De Lance Haiti.  This is a very poor area where people farm & do what they can to survive.  There is building that is being built that is the church as well as the school.  The pastor of this Baptist Church is Pastor Cadet.  A very loving & caring man.  The church/school is building in progress, when they have the funds, they buy a few more blocks.  The building does not yet have a roof or a floor.  One of our fellow ministries has donated some tarps that are currently being used as their roof.  Around 80 children are attending the school.  There currently is not any type of lunch provided.  Many of these children are going days without any form of nourishment.    Most of the teachers are all volunteers, not receiving any money for the teaching of these children.

As you can see, there are many needs in Bois De Lance.  There are many logistical things that need to be worked out.  We are asking for prayer as we decide where to begin. Please pray for wisdom for our board in making decisions that glorify God & do his will in this community.

As 2012 is behind us, I thought I would reflect & share on this past year. We became incorporated at the end of August. Immediately we started working with missionary Julienne, who is our eyes & ears in Haiti, directly overseeing all of our projects. We have unofficially adopted the poor farming village of D'Ourvey Haiti to be our starting village. Since August, We have started 2 different feeding programs. The Saturday program was the first project we started. This fed the school children a weekend meal as we found out that many kids were not eating on the weekend. Later in the year, We started a Sunday program that anyone was welcome to attend. This was done at the church, feeding the villagers both spiritually & physically. Through these 2 feeding programs, We have been able to provide approximately 750 individual meals since we started.

In November, we were able to start a medical clinic using Dr Reginald Kreolle, who travels to Haiti once a month for 2 separate medical clinics. Through this clinic, 65 people have been seen & treated for various ailments. Many of these people had never seen a medical doctor in their life. Many of the patients are being treated with medicine that we were able to purchase from a catholic medical agency in the Dominican Republic at deep discounted prices. The clinic & the medicine is provided free of charge to these people.

In December, We were blessed by a anonymous sponsor who agreed to a matching contribution for each pig that someone sponsored in our pig program. We had a great response to that with 15 pigs donated by sponsors & the additional matching pigs. What a great blessing this is for this very poor village.

We have sought God's Guidance with our ministry & let him open and close the doors. At times, some things do not seem to make sense, but we have learned to trust him. I can bring myself to tears thinking how he has blessed our ministry. I do not know what direction 2013 will lead us, But I am sure it will continue to be a blessing as much for us as it is to those that we serve.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for your support this past year. Your financial support, prayers, thoughts, ideas, conversation & friendship is what made this all happen. From all of us at You Have A Choice Ministries, Thank you & We wish you a Blessed New Year!!

You Have A Choice Ministries, Inc