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.

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

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

Haiti thoughts

As we have entered the month of December, I wanted to pause and think of the things of the past year.  A year ago, The thought of a nonprofit was only that.  I wanted to do something but what.  Fast forward to a July trip in Haiti.  At that point I just knew that there was something I was going to do for the people in Haiti.  After prayerful days & nights, You Have a Choice Ministries was becoming more than a dream.  Unsure what way to go, I just decided to move forward, knowing that God was leading me on this.  Many people asked why, and the only answer I can come up with is following what God was leading me to do.  If I listened to everyone around me, this would never have happened.  Instead, I chose to follow God.  What is amazing is that I did not have any worry or hesitations, even though my support network of friends was not that supportive.

Even Today, with the great things that we are doing in Haiti, there is still negativity from people.  Some people do not want to help because its outside of our country.  How someones heart can be so hardened to a child suffering from malnutrition is something I will never understand.  To see a family that has not had anything to eat in days & be able to turn your back on that is so saddening to me.  The bible is filled with versus that talk about how we are to help the poor. "He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed" Prov 19:17  I believe our God will hold people accountable for this.

I have not yet figured out numbers for the year, but guessing that about 600 plus individuals meals have been served to the kids in D'Ourvey Haiti.  This does not count December.  We have another medical clinic scheduled just before Christmas.  I am guessing about 30 people will be seen at this clinic.  Last months clinic saw 31 people who would not have seen a doctor had it not been for this clinic.

Truly exciting times for me by being involved in this ministry.  To be a part of it from the start and see the doors that God has opened.  In closing, just need to thank everyone for their prayers & support that have made this happen.  Our work is just beginning, as we do not know what the next adventure that God will involve us in. I do know that He deserves all the credit & I thank Him for choosing me to be a part of this.    www.youhaveachoiceministries.org

Haiti Miracle

As I sit in my living room on this Thanksgiving eve, I think about all the many blessing that God has given me.  I thought I would share this letter I received this evening from the missionary we work with in Haiti. Julienne is such a blessing to our ministry.  She is always ready for any challenge & has a heart for Jesus & the work she does in Northern Haiti.  The following is the letter in its entirety.



Let me start with this phrase in from Nehemiah 2:8 ...... And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.God's gracious hand is so upon this boy. 

I went with a fellow Christian in Haiti t

o the Haitian Hospital to share the Gospel. 
This hospital is very poor. No food is provide, no medication, no sheets on the beds, no cleaning of the hospital. If you are poor you go to lay in a bed and suffer and if a Doctor has a stirring in his heart to help you, he stops and assists with the little means they have. This hospital has no specialist just general practitioners.

That day I share the gospel with many people, and 5 of them gave their lives to the Lord. Landy was the last person that I shared the gospel with that day. He accepted Christ as his savior and within moments of praying the head nurse came to me and said, "Please help Landy. Give me something so we can get him some food today. " A Heart for Haiti Mission is small and has a very small budget but we do all through the Lord and our Lord is grand indeed!"

At that time I had no funds nor care packets nor anything available for the people in the hospital. I had gone to bring God's word. I explained to the nurse that I came prepared to share the gospel and pray with the patient that day, and could not give anything. 

She shared Landy's situation: He has to beg everyday for food while he is hospitalized, she shared that as a child with the burns, people give to him, but as an adult he will end up in a very difficult life and he would need experts to treat him and help him. I told her I would do my best for Landy and would be back in touch with her. She was fearful of this as she said many groups have promised this but none follow through.

And this is where God is permitting us to see His amazing love for Landy . She shared of the circumstances that led to his burns. He was in a “Mardi Gras” parade a year and a half ago, “Mardi Gras” is a satanist event in Haiti. Landy was wearing a costume representing an evil spirit. Two young boys were afraid of Landy and did not realize that a person was in the costume and they threw gasoline on the costume and set it on fire. 

Upon hearing the story I turned to Landy who is 12 and asked him if he knew what the parade he was in was about? I explained to him that it was to worship evil and that he was hurt in this evil event but that today he had accepted Christ as his savior and that he now had Victory in Jesus.
I instructed Landy to pray and pray fervently to God for his future life because God listen's to his children, which he now is. 

And from here forth A Heart for Haiti Missions has been witnessing God's good hand upon Landy. God's gracious love. God's fulfillment of His promises to His child! Shriner's accepted to help him. We did not have the funds available to send him to the United States but we asked churches for prayer and we prayed also that we may find the means by which to do so. After one week a friends name came to mind to share this story with and within 10 minutes, he answered back saying that they had all the funds we needed for Landy's trip to and for his stay in the United States as well as fees for proper documentation.

The most challenging part has been to find a host family to accept to care for Landy while he was in the U.S. receiving surgery. Deb (co-founder of A Heart for Haiti Mission) and I, diligently worked at finding a family for him. Deb got in touch with the organization Love a Child who recommended us to contact a particular family in Maine. This is what the family wrote to us. “I always work with a trustworthy liaison, and Love-A-Child's say- so is good enough to make you, Julienne my new liaison! 

All things being in God’s most excellent timing, he provided us with this Christian host family, that has not only accepted to care for Landy, but they also have previously worked with 8 other children from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They know the in’s and outs of us getting the documentation for Landy to go to Shriners as well as to care for him during his stay in the United States. This is an excerpt of the letter they sent us: 

“I will be at bedside at the hospital always 24/7 with this child, and will act as liaison to get needs met in the most expedient and fiscally responsible manner without sacrificing quality. There are local physicians + friends who also donate help/supplies for unforeseen circumstances and I will utilize what I can as needed. In addition, I will actively teach this child English and I want you to let him know he is expected to be cooperative. We will reinforce that God has a plan for his life and even at this young age he should seek God to find out what that is. We let the kids know how rare it is to get these operations and how God's hand had to be in the arrangements. We always provide a holy bible, when available in their language to return with. We believe the children sent to us will lead in some manner in their homeland...some way. We want to do our part to prepare all of them.” 

God moved the nurse to approach us to help Landy and God moved our hearts to help. On the same day that Landy accepted Christ and he said, "yes". 

We still need prayer for all documents to be sent and received speedily and for ease of getting plane tickets and for travel. 

God Bless! The Lord is so beautiful and faithful and amazing.

Weekend Haiti Feeding Project

Thinking about all the kids that had a meal Today, thanks to the Saturday Feeding Program. Looking to expand this next month to Sunday as well. This will be after church, anyone is welcome, not just the kids. This is a great opportunity to feed them spiritually & physically. We need to raise about $200 to get this program started. Unsure what the average monthly cost will be as there will be more fed than the kids program on Saturday. We will have to be flexible and adjust as needed. Food will be same type as on Saturday with a rice & bean base, and extra as it is available. Won't you consider hoping on board with this program?  It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of this project.  100 percent of all funds go directly to our projects.  We have been so fortunate to have Julienne help us with these projects.  She has many connections in this village & visits it often.  It is so reassuring to know that the funds go directly to the cause.  Many large organizations do a lot of great work, but you just never are 100 percent sure if your donation is making it where it is intended to go.

I am amazed at the doors that our God has opened for us.  How many young nonprofits have so many projects in place so early.  It is God, nothing or no one else, who has made this happen.  For that I am forever thankful. I am so happy to be a part of this ministry.

We are always looking for people or corporations to partner with us on projects.  We need prayer partners that will keep our ministry in prayer. We love talking about Haiti, so if there is something on your mind, let us know.   You Have A Choice Ministries