Breaking ground on Dita's Home.

Digging for the foundation

You can see the back of the Children's village in the background

The view from Dita's Home

  Today we have a Special Announcement.  Today, New Generation Ministries is taking a huge leap of faith for some very special people, We will break ground on a new facility for our "Aging Out - Transitional Ministry." What is aging out - transitional ministry anyway? These are the fancy words used by the world wide orphan care organizations to describe "what to do with children that the Social Services say can no longer legally live in orphanages". They have reached an age that calls them predators of children, instead of just children. It is a very huge problem, because it has been proven to be correct more times than anyone cares to admit. It is a serious problem because these children are not yet ready to be put out onto the streets. But that is the way rules are, needed for some, and not fair to the rest. Fair or not, The Good Shepherd Children's Village must follow the rules dictated to us by the Haitian Government. So, to help these young girls, we will be building "Dita's Home" for girls, with a Godly, role model family, that will care for these girls transitioning out of the Children's Village. 

   Our son Jake and his wife Amber, along with their 3 children feel called to leave their home in Lynden, WA and move to Marose, Haiti. When Dita's Home is complete, they will shepherd these young girls, helping them to finish high school and obtain practical life skills including a higher level of maturity in Christian living, until they are ready for appropriate, productive community life in Haiti. Shinning as bright testimonies of God's great favor. 

   Social services says that they must go!  If I just kick them out, where will they go? What will they do? How will they survive? What will happen to them? Well, they won't keep going to school!  They might be upset enough to quit following God! Statistics have proven that they will probably end up living on the streets, resorting to lying, stealing, cheating and even prostitution, just to stay alive! Many of these homeless girls in Haiti are rounded up and put into sexual slavery or shipped out of the country for sexual purposes. Nobody knows them, nobody reports them missing, nobody cares!!!

WRONG....... GOD CARES, and WE CARE, and I know that YOU CARE TOO...... We don't have to sit by and let these horrific events just continue along like we are blind in one eye, and can't see out of the other. We can get together and do something with God's help that will really "Make a Difference" for these girls. Dita's Home will make that difference............ 

   Dita's Home for girls will keep them in school. Dita's Home for girls will provide a safe and secure place for them to live in a loving family environment. Dita's Home for girls will teach them "Godly life skills" that will transition them into capable young women, confident in their hearts, productive in their community, and powerful for the Kingdom of God.

    We need your prayers and financial support to build Dita's Home.  A new website page for specific details of how you can help is coming soon. It will not be possible to build and operate Dita's Home without you. 

If you are a church, This is your body in need!  

If you are a small business, this is the business you need to be in! 

If you are a family, this is what these girls need, Family!. 

If you are a single person or young adult, these are your sisters in great need of your help! 

Will you help them. Together we can do it!

Together we can "Make a Difference!"

 

--

Mike and Chris Leland

Laura and her daughters

Our littlest girls

Today the team visited our Pass Rein school. They prayed over the school and passed out shoes and candy to the children. In the afternoon they went swimming in the river. They also did crafts with the children. In the evening we celebrated the March birthday's including Nathan's. They helped to make the cake and frosting and put together gifts for each of the birthday children. In the evening they passed out glow sticks, which is one of the children's favorites. Tomorrow they fly out, please pray for safe and on time travel connections.  

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

We have had a small team from Canada here all week. I was in the US, so I have not been updating their trip. They have been really great. They have spent a lot of time with the children. They have had movie times, they have spent time making jewelry, coloring, they brought Nerf rockets, many of which we have rescued from the roof :) They also brought a game which is something like a zip line for a ball. The older boys have enjoyed looking at coffee table books of Canada that they brought. The boys have asked me about some the photos. Laura and her daughters even brought homemade treats for all of the children. 

This morning the team visited our school in Marotte. They prayed over them and passed out candy. Later they went into Gonavies, to the market and to the political square.

Tonight Mike will be teaching bible study in Marose. Please pray for opened hearts and minds. Last night Nathan had over 100 people attend the bible study in Pass Rein. 

Tomorrow the team will be visiting our school in Pass Rein.

Last Tuesday night, while I was gone, Nathan came upon a 18 year old girl being badly beaten in the road. He rescued her and brought her to the orphanage to make sure she was not seriously hurt. Nathan, Mike and the team spent time helping her and then prayed over her. We would appreciate your prayers for her as she heals. Nathan will check on her again and see how she is doing. 

We have been working with IBESR the children's protection service in Haiti for the past couple of month's. We have been licensed in Gonaives and are trying to receive our orphanage licence in Port-au-Prince also. Please be praying as we finish up the paperwork. We are very close. 

Also tomorrow we have a meeting with a company from the Dominican Republic. We are hoping they will be clearing the land for our new Trish's Playground of Hope. This will be a covered play area, that will be about 50 x 60 feet. It will have a concrete pad for basket ball, tether ball, 4 square, hopscotch and chess on a giant scale. It will also include concrete picnic tables. Please pray for a favorable response, as big machinery is hard to come by in Haiti.

Thank you so very much for your prayers before, during and after the birth of our grandson. God answered all of your prayers and hundreds more. We know of at least 6 churches putting him on their prayer chains. After many complications, he is finally able to be off medications and IV's. He has one test result left to come back, but he was finally able to go home with Mom and Dad. I was blessed to be back in Lynden for the birth. It was very hard to miss one of my granddaughters be born this past summer. Being around to love and support my children, as my grandchildren are born is very dear to my heart.  I am so glad I was able to be with them as they walked through this time in their lives. Sorry I did not see many of you on this trip as things became complicated and most of my focus was on Dustin, Melissa and Cameron. I am blessed to have a husband willing to stay in Haiti with some of my other children and continue to home school and keep the household going while doing ministry. My children were the only little ones at the 3 day youth camp that was the high school alternative to carnival. They are used to being with us during ministry though and did well. I always have such mixed emotions as I leave Haiti or leave Lynden. In either place it is so hard for me to leave the ones I love. It is always with tears, and even more so on this trip. It was hard to leave Dustin and Melissa with Cameron still in the hospital. It was also hard not having a lot of time to spend with others. We are so thankful for your prayer support through this time and we feel very blessed by you and God's mercy.

Blessings,

Chris

Playing soccer  

Family

Eileen with one of our nanny's and girls

The youth from our five churches

Listening to a message

The front of the t's that match the youth groups in the U.S.

The back says "We will rebuild the ruins and repair the villages. We will proclaim the favor of the Lord."

The youth worshiping

All the youth going forward to make a commitment 

Hello, 

I would like to share with you some of the updates Mike has shared with me, regarding the youth event. I have flown to Lynden to be with my son Dustin and his wife Melissa. Melissa is still having some complications in her pregnancy, but over all is doing better. Please keep praying for her and their baby. She has reached her due date and we are praying she will go into labor naturally in the next two days, so the doctors will not intervene. Because I am in Lynden now, Mike is letting me know what is going on in Haiti. He says....

"The youth event is going very well, with over 250 youth attending. Their hearts are worshiping and praising God. They are beginning to believe that "They can make a difference." Yesterday Pastor Wadnare spoke about sexual appropriateness for two hours, and then we had an hour of passionate questions and answers. Last night our son Jake spoke after an hour and a half of emotionally exuberant worship. Many came forward for prayer to"make a difference." Today more games and competition between groups, they love this. Tonight Pastor Nathan will lead worship and Mike will give a message again. We will also be sharing glow sticks and the difference the Holy Spirit can make in a follower of Jesus. The staff has decided to make this an annual event for the youth."

This morning Mike and our children took Jake to the airport to fly home, please pray for safe travel.

Mike continues......

"Worship was amazing tonight. God really moved. All youth were on their knees, calling, submitting, and praising. Then there was an alter call for filling of the Holy Spirit to really make a difference. All came forward. Ministry time lasted over an hour....It was amazing to see these youth crying out to God in Haiti, on one of the worst nights of evil..."

Two of the five youth groups from our churches have youth groups in the States that sponsor them. The youth here in the states have helped to buy the Haitian youth t-shirts that match theirs. They have been partnering with and praying for the youth group they sponsor during this youth camp. They have been such a blessing to the youth in Haiti. We are praying that the groups will be encouraging to each other. 

Please continue to lift the youth up in prayer. Pray they will have the strength to walk out the commitments they have made. And thank you for your faithfulness in prayer.

Blessings, Mike and Chris

Our February team

Rebeka and some of the children

Checking on sizes for pillowcase dresses

New dresses

Hello, 

Sending you an update on the team today. We went to the celebration at Poteou this morning. It lasted into the afternoon. 

Our son Jacob is traveling today through tomorrow to Haiti. Please pray for him as there is 6-8 inches of snow on the highway in Whatcom co. Also, once in Haiti, the traffic is terrible because of people traveling to Carnival in Gonaives.

This morning ended the revival in Poteou. Tonight is the start of a week long revival in Marose. Mike will be preaching in Marose tonight, please pray that the spirit of God moves. 

Also this coming Sunday is the first night of Carnival in Gonaives. As I have shared previously Carnival is similar to Mardi Gras, but with a heavy influence of voodoo. They actually advertise three areas just outside of Gonaives, that you can go to and participate in voodoo ceremony's and even stay in bungalows for full immersion experiences. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would reside over Gonaives and the surrounding area. Pray that those performing voodoo activities would be unsuccessful and that eyes would be opened to the truth. Also pray that the innocent would not become victims. Our ministry is trying to offer an alternative to Carnival for the youth ages 13 to early 20's. We are holding a 3 day and 3 night youth camp on the campus of our Marotte school, which is in the outskirts of Gonaives. We have all kinds of activities planned, along with security, so that once there, the youth are in a safe, fun environment. We are expecting around 300 youth. Please pray for wisdom, guidance and discernment as everyone plans and leads the youth. Please pray that the Holy Spirit heals, brings truth and salvation to the youth that do not know him. Please pray for strengthening, growth and commitment for the youth that do know Him. We believe that God's desire would be for the youth to truly be a New Generation in Haiti.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team is here and doing great. They went to the river with the children today. The children love swimming with the teams. The river is getting low though, and it is becoming harder to find places to swim in. The rainy season starts soon though. We had our first rain in months last Wednesday evening.

Walt and Bev spent time today making balloon animals for the children. Some of the children did their own balloon twisting. A few managed to get their balloons untied and filled with water and tied back up again. They all had a lot of fun. 

Right before the team and children went to the river I slipped in water and fell while carry one of the little girls. I held on to her, but she bonked her head on the ceramic tile as I went down. We are both fine, but as a result she did not want to go to the river. So we planted up 5 pots of flowers together and then shared a soda 'WITH A PIECE OF ICE" while sitting on the ceramic tile on the porch and watched all the activity going on. She is only 4 years old:)  We both enjoyed our little time together.

....And thanks to a very thoughtful loving friend I now have help with my laundry, sweeping and mopping. We have been asking for someone to help for months. And I have had a friend willing to support this. After much waiting Nathan has found someone to help me. I have had help for a little over a week and everything seems to be going well. It is much appreciated by my helper and I :) She is living in the room with our oldest girls, and acts bit like a mama for them. So it gives her a place to live and some income and it helps me. It is a win, win. 

 

Please remember to pray for Mike as he teaches at Poteou tomorrow and for Nathan as he teaches in Pass Rein. Pray the Holy Spirit moves. Thanks so much. 

Blessings,

Chris  

Today's team activity

Walt and Bev making balloon creations

All smiles

Fun balloon creations

One of the sisters and I in our office

The other sister in her new pillow case dress

 

Two happy guys

Hello,

I am pleased to be writing to you using half way installed satellite internet. It is hard wired at the moment. Tomorrow, we have been told it will be wireless :)

We have not had internet since I sent out the prayer request for Dustin and Melissa and their baby. So I am thrilled to be writing to let you know that God has answered your prayers. It was thought Melissa might have preeclampsia. She had some of the symptoms. But she reported.... "it worked!!!!!:) No preclampsia! And my blood pressure has continued to look good the last few days!!!Praise God!" ....Thank you so very much for your prayers. She has just short of two weeks to go before her due date. Please keep praying for her blood pressure. 

Today we also have a team of four traveling here. Prayer would greatly be appreciated. Nathan picked the team up and it has taken 3 hours to get as far as we usually get in 1 hour. They normally would have 2 hours of travel left. But at the rate they are able to drive it may be more like 6 hours.Traffic is extremely bad due to Carnival being in Gonaives in a week and two days. It is carnival for the whole country, which will make traffic, market, and working very difficult. We have been told it also brings in a higher level of crime. Carnival is similar to Mardi Gras, with a lot of voodoo mixed in. It starts around 4:00 each evening, with the intense parts starting at 9:00 pm and lasting to the early morning hours. Please pray for safety and protection. We will be having our son Jacob arriving Monday. Please pray for his safe travel also. 

On another note of praise, Nathan was asked to preach at a different church the other night and 70 people came forward for prayer. God is amazing. People were set free, healed and experienced salvation.

We are having a prayer revival at the Poteau church this week. Mike preached last night and tomorrow night Nathan will lead worship. Mike will also preach on Sunday and there will be a big celebration after church. Please pray for God to move and for hearts to be touched. 

Blessings and many thanks,

Chris

 

Little sisters playing mama :)

 

Two of our boys

Hello,

Hope most of you are enjoying your below freezing weather. Here in Haiti we are experiencing a warmer winter then normal. We have been having temperatures around 100 degrees. Today it is only 92, but last week we had one day at 108 degrees and a couple at 100 degrees. At any rate I have enjoyed seeing some of your photos of snow. 

We wanted to let you know about the achievements that 14 of our children in the children's village have made. After mid term exams, eight of our children are ranked first in their class. Another six are ranked second in their class. There are almost 400 children in the Marose school. So this is quite an accomplishment. We are so proud of them. In Haiti it takes quite a bit of work to be in the top of a class. As a society Haiti does not value education. The children need to be self motivated to succeed in school. The children that are first in their class from our children's village are DJensly, Wolvens, Belano, David, Jean Miller, Sunday, Wisdarline and Sandy Love. The children who achieved second in their class are TPeter, Clavinson, Jim, Makenson, Dieka and Rachel. 

So for the story.......

We asked a parent to come in and sign a form for one of the children's files. In broken Creole, Mike explained to the father what the form was for and showed him where to sign. The father replied in Creole "no sign". Mike assumed because of his poor Creole that the father did not understand him and explained again. The father replied "no sign". Then Mike saw one of the older boys coming in the gate from high school. Knowing that this boy understood a bit of English he asked him to explain to the father what the form was for. So the boy did, and the reply was the same "no sign". The boy looked at Mike and said he did not understand, but the father would not sign. So Mike thought for a minute. It then dawned on Mike that it was very probable that the Man was illiterate and could not sign. So he asked the man if "he would not sign or if he was not able to sign"? The father replied that he was "not able to sign". So Mike told him he could make a mark and that Mike could sign as a witness. The man asked "what kind of mark"? Mike not knowing if the father knew what an X was, told him any kind of mark. The father smiled and meticulously drew a little cross on the line where his signature was supposed to go. He might not of known how to write his own name, but he knew what was important to him in this life  :) That little cross represented much. It was a picture of so many lives in Haiti. It showed one of the major reasons why they struggle as a nation. It showed why as a people so many of them are taken advantage of. It shows a picture of what oppression looks like, oppression is not a word most of us are familiar with anymore in North America. It spoke to us about why we are here. Why we are trying to help. I hope it speaks to you and causes you to say not on my watch, I want to help the people of Haiti move forward. I want to see the yoke of oppression broken. I want them as a people group to be set free. 

Please pray for our family, our ministry and what we feel God has called us too. Please also lift up the other small ministries in Haiti. We have many very dedicated friends here in Haiti, trying to walk out what they have been called to. And in all honesty, sometimes it is extremely hard to be in the midst of so much oppression and keep our eyes focused on HIM. Thank you sooooooo very much for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

The team here for the 2nd half of January

Hello,

We wanted to let you know that our January team travels home tomorrow (Wednesday). They will be leaving about 6:00 AM. Please pray for safe travel. I have posted photos on the blog of some of the activities they have participated in. They have been a huge blessing. 

Chris

  Friends: We wanted to give you a quick up-date on our container loading for our Christmas Giving to the Good Shepherd Children's Village in Haiti. The loading has begun and several of you have responded generously with donations of items that you have collected or had around the house or work place. Some of you have contributed towards the purchase cost of items or the shipping cost to get these needed supplies to our Children s Village. We are so very thankful for your help. There are still a lot of items needed. We would like to fill this container by mid February in order to get it on the boat. 

   Please prayerfully consider this up-dated attached list of items. I'm sure that this list will have a way in which you can help us. Most of these supplies are very hard to get in Haiti. Some are just too expensive for us to buy. Some of these items are saving the lives of children daily. Please consider how you can help them. Please feel free to respond to us with your questions.

Mike