Creole Bibles

We wanted to give you a quick update on the money raised for Bibles for our tent camp classes. To our amazement and all because of people like you who support the ministry and spread of the Gospel in Haiti, and of course only by the incredible grace of God,

we received $700.00 in donations for Creole Bibles.

On top of that, when we went to purchase the Bibles, we managed to get them much cheaper [it's so exciting to see how God provides] than we thought. We were able to buy 48 bibles for $200.00. This means we will be able to buy around 170 Bibles to give to our Bible study students and to have on hand to give when people accept Christ during prayer walks or door to door evangelism in the community.

We are blown away by your generosity and God's favor, and we are beyond excited to see how God will use these books to further the Kingdom. The things you are doing today hold eternal value.. thank you for partnering with us to bring the Hope of Christ to a nation who is desperate for Someone to hope in.

Love & Prayers from Haiti!

how you can share the Gospel with Haiti

Every Tuesday and every Thursday, they walk down dusty hills and across gravel roads with kids in tow and babies in arms and pencils and notebooks they've found here or there. They are freshly bathed and dressed in their finest and despite the fact that many of them have abusive husbands or absent husbands or no husbands at all and nearly all of them have at least one mouth to feed and body to clothe besides their own, they are smiling. And despite the fact that they have walked to the water pump a half a mile away in the incredible and relentless heat of the Caribbean sun at least 3 times that day most of them with too-small shoes or broken shoes or no shoes at all, they are smiling. They are sick and they are poor and they are tired.. they are the victims of the third world and all it entails, yet they are smiling.

And they come, always.

They excitedly greet us and they climb aboard the school bus where we meet them. The once-school bus turned classroom, where they sit on shelves because their chairs were stolen, and we write on a chalkboard that is difficult to erase. And we meet them their to teach them. Although, we have learned, what usually happens is they teach us.

We initially began these classes to teach English because the ability to speak English is a doorway for Haitians into a "better life." That is what they want, so that is what we offered. And then we used the English classes as a gateway for Bible studies. We teach them verbs and nouns and sentence structure and pronunciation, and then we transition and we say if anyone wants to go, that is fine, really. And we are almost surprised when they don't move and they sit and they wait expectantly for the Word of God to be discussed and dissected and explained and lived.

When we began the classes, the ladies came as individuals. It is the Haitian way to keep to yourself, to get your own, to take care of your needs and there is rarely any time or energy or means left over to even think about your neighbor. And who can blame them, when it's all they know? For almost a year we have been meeting them in the bus. And we are unashamedly amazed at how God has transformed these women.

They care about each other. They lift each other up in prayer. They share their lives with each other. They protect each other. They look out for each other and cry with each other and rejoice with each other. They love each other. And it is a miracle of only God's kind.

They come to study English, so someone donated money for English books. They were beyond thankful. They come to study the Bible, and some of them bring their tattered and torn and water logged copies of the Word [it's hard to keep anything in good condition in a tent, you see]. Most of them don't have a copy of Scripture. They take notes and they drink it in as we read it out loud, because that is the only time they hear it, and when we write verses on the blackboard, thats the only time they see it. And they love it.

Sometimes we will get a Bible in Creole donated from someone, and we will give the ladies a passage of scripture [sometimes up to 10 verses] to memorize as a competition for who gets the new Bible. They scramble and scurry and ladies who have never been to school a day in their lives and may not even be able to read or write do everything in their power to memorize these verses so they can own a copy of the Word. If only we in America had this kind of hunger for the Love Letter Christ wrote to us.

So what can you do? How can we help? We have a need for Bibles in Creole, and as you can imagine they are hard to come by in America. So what we need is for people to donate money. One Bible costs $10 [American money] in Haiti. We have over 100 students [including the men and children's class as well]. We have a lady traveling to Haiti on September 30th to visit Chadasha. She is willing to take down any money that anyone would like to donate toward this cause. $10 could be the chance someone needs to hear the Gospel, or to share it with their family. Thats like one trip to Jason's Deli on American soil. Will you be willing today to step out and step up and donate $10 to further the Gospel? Today could be the day you change a life forever.

The best and easiest way to donate is to mail a check [made out to Cheyenne Summers] or cash to the following address:

Cheyenne Summers

520 Summers Road

Camden, TN 38320

 

You can also drop any donations by Calvary Baptist Church in Knoxville or mail them to

 

Calvary Baptist Church c/o Cheyenne Summers

3200 Kingston Pk

Knoxville, TN 37919

 

And finally, if you have a paypal account, you can enter the email address: kendracheyennesummers@gmail.com, specify that it's for Bibles, and send funds that way.

 

 

Any way works.. whatever is easiest for you. September 30th is when she's flying out! We will report back with how God uses this to further the Kingdom! Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

 

And as always... love and prayers from Haiti!

Until next time....

 

1/1-2/4

"REJOICE always, PRAY continually, GIVE THANKS in all circumstances, for this is God's Will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

As a ministry and as individuals with Chadasha, we are all striving to remember this verse and focus our lives around it daily. If we believe that these words are true, and we do because we believe that the Bible is Truth, we have a lot of changes to be making! Rejoicing ALWAYS is hard. Praying CONTINUALLY is hard. And giving thanks in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES? This seems outrageous! But the Word tell us that it is the Will of God for us! That makes us excited!

All of our American staff is back on the ground here in Port au Prince. Everyone got nice and rested up over the holiday in America, and we are back to serving in Haiti with renewed minds and open hearts, anxiously waiting to see what God has for us as Chadasha this year.

We have a few announcements to make... I will try to be as to-the-point as possible. :)

12/4-12/11

This week we have been winding things down in Haiti for the year. On this coming Thursday, the last of our American staff will be returning to the States for the holiday season. Chadasha in Haiti will be left under the care of our Haitian staff, who we are confident are more than capable of doing a fabulous job.

Our English classes are continuing to grow at both tent camp locations! On Monday and Wednesday we went to Carade where we teach English and do a Bible study in make-shift classrooms that are actually old school buses. Our class sizes have grown so much that we had to start a third class. So now we have a mens, womens, and advanced class at that location twice a week. These people are very consistent and hungry to learn.

On Saturday we went to Corial to do our weekly class and Bible study. There were many obstacles including horrendous traffic, a community event, and forgotten chalk to use the blackboard, but God provided and we were able to have a short but great English class and Bible study.

Solomon, Kelly, and Kelly

This week we had to say a few sad goodbyes. Our most recent intern, Carley, returned to her home in North Carolina. She was such a joy to have serving here with us for the past month. We know that God has huge plans for her, and we are so excited to see how God continues to work in her life in America. Also we had to say goodbye to two sweet ladies who were staying with us for a few days. Kelly is adopting Solomon who is one of our kids at Little Hands and Feet, and her friend, Kelly, came along with her to visit. These ladies were such a huge help with getting us organized and ready to leave for a few weeks. We and Solomon miss them so much!

We have two huge praise stories to share with you this week as well. Really, words are great and all but pictures tell these stories so much better. Many of you remember KenKen. Last week we shared that he had been discharged from the hospital back to his tent camp, and appeared to be getting better. Well, he has proven to all of us that our God is BIGGER and STRONGER than anything in this world... including AIDS, tuberculosis, and malnutrition.

KenKen 3 months ago

KenKen last week

Our second praise story is about the burned baby that we got a call about from a different tent camp. He had fallen into a pot of hot oil and his mother took him out of the hospital thinking she could take care of him in their tarp tent. Nothing could have prepared us for what we found in that tent, and we were unsure there was anything that could be done. But after a week or so in the hospital and constant checking on and loving on, Baby Bulin is healing amazingly.

The first day we saw him

This week!

Praise God that miracles still exist! He is faithful, and He really does love these kids WAY more than we ever thought we could. KenKen turns a year old tomorrow, and the burned babies mother will deliver another baby at the end of December! Pray for them both please!

A few days ago, one of our Haitian staff went in the bathroom after someone had just taken a shower. He said "Oh!! What happened to the mirror?!" We ran into the bathroom, thinking it was probably shattered or something, only to discover it was still fogged up from the hot shower. He had never seen a mirror fogged before because people in Haiti don't take hot showers in closed in bathrooms. A fogged up mirror after a hot shower is something that we as Americans don't even notice because we are so used to it.

We are learning that the Gospel of Christ is much like this. We grow up in or around churches, hearing about Jesus and hearing the Gospel every way possible. It becomes so common place that we don't even notice it sometimes. But God has been faithfully bringing us people who, upon hearing our presentation of Christ's Love and the way that He changes lives, look right at us and say "I've never heard that before." We stand in amazement that these people literally have never heard the story of Jesus before, but we are so thankful that God has chosen us to share with them this amazing truth. There are people right in front of you today, people you think have heard the Gospel as many times and as many ways as you have. But maybe, they haven't heard the whole truth. Or maybe, they haven't heard it at all. Keep your eyes wide open, and embrace chances to share the life-saving story of Christ. You never know when someone's face may light up and they may exclaim "Oh!! This is awesome news! Why haven't I heard this before?!" We invite you to be bold for our Savior with us!

11/13-11/27

First and foremost, we must apologize sincerely for missing last weeks post! Our blog writer was in transition between countries last weekend and she's not very good at delegation [hey.. everybody's got weaknesses, right?] We will do our best not to let that happen again!

These past 2 weeks we have been graced with the presence of some very happy adoptive parents who got to spend some time with their kids and take a few steps to advance their adoptions on the Haiti side. Check out the pictures below:

Jon Luke [formerly Jonathan] and his Mom, Shannon!

Wanelson and his Mom, Leslie!

Mathieu and his parents, Elizabeth and Peyton!

Rowan and his parents, Heather and Payton!

As you can see, the Guest House has been busy busy and full of life! We LOVE that God has allowed us to play a part in letting these families spend time together. As the holidays near, we ask for special prayers for our adoptive parents in the States.. we can't begin to imagine what it's like to not have all your children home for the holidays. But, we all know that Our God is greater!

In other news with Chadasha, we have welcomed a new intern, Carley! We are so excited to have her serving with us for about 4 weeks. She has absolutely fallen in love with baby KenKen, who to our amazement and only by the miraculous power of God is doing better and better, smiling and laughing again, and is set to discharge from the hospital later this week!

Carley and KenKen!

Oh, and the other huge news! God has graciously brought 4 out of 5 of our heart patients back to Haiti good as new! The other one, Pricile, had some minor complications and should be back this week sometime. Praise be to God for healing these children! When we picked them up at the bus station, Ysnadaire who is 11 was all decked out in new clothes his brother had bought him as a reward for being so brave. Prior to surgery, he couldn't even go up one flight of stairs without getting short of breath and having to rest. I hugged him and I said "How do you feel? You're not sick anymore!" He looked at me with bright, excited eyes and he said "Chelsey, I can walk! I can walk!" It brought tears to my eyes... the absolutely joy that this child is going to be able to LIVE now without the limitations of a heart defect. This is such a perfect picture, friends, of what Christ does for us when we become believers. He enters our lives, changes us on the inside, and allows us to do things we couldn't do before, and LIVE like we never could before!

Zaikel!

Naika!

Ysnaidaire and his brother, Guerson!

One more quick thing.. you know we have been teaching English and doing a Bible Study on Saturday mornings at Koriah [to about 150-200 people]. Well, this past week we began English classes and doing a Bible Study at a second tent camp! It's closer to our house, so we are able to go there twice a week [on Mondays and Wednesdays]! There we teach about 50 kids and adults, with the hopes of growing if God allows! We are being continually amazed at what God can do if we just say "yes" when we hear Him calling us to do something new.

With this past week being Thanksgiving, we feel it only appropriate to say Thank You. Thank you to you who are reading this blog. Thank you to you who are committed to praying for Chadasha. Thank you to you who are supporting Chadasha financially. Thank you to you who have physically come and served with Chadasha. And Thank you Jesus for leading, guiding, and working this ministry for Your fame and for Your glory on a daily basis. We are truly blessed as Children of the King!

Mesi Jezi! Mesi Seyneur! Mesi Jezi!

10/23-10/30

Hello from Haiti! We hope that you had a great week, but whether your week was at the top or the bottom of weeks for you, we hope above all that You felt the presence of God. We are definitely seeing His Hands at work here in this country!

First of all, we are so blessed this week to have Mrs. Peggy and Mrs. Marie visiting us from Church of the Cove in Tennessee. These beautiful, Christ-like women have put on their hardhats and walking boots and jumped right into the craziness of Haiti, loving and serving like it's going out of style. Their compassion and brokeness for these people has given us all a little bit of perspective and we are so thankful for them!

The UN has a very evident presence here in Haiti, but their employees are mainly here to keep physical peace and control the violence and crime... not for humanitarian work. However, we have been blessed to come across at least 2 officers who are going above and beyond their job descriptions. [Please pray for them!] Earlier this week we got a call from a UN officer who stepped out in boldness to speak up for a baby boy in desperate need of medical care. The boy, 2 years old, had been severely burned, spent a month in a hospital, and was now back in the tent camp. We went to check out the situation, and this is what we found:

His mother [who is 7 months pregnant with her 9th child] agreed to go to a hospital with us, so we took them both to Medishare. The baby is getting excellent care and will be staying at the hospital until he is ready to go home. His mother is hanging in there and we are doing our best to show them the love of Christ. We will keep you updated on the progress of this little guy!

After we got this child the care he needed, the same UN officer introduced us to another little boy who had a sort of staph infection on his back. We were able to meet his father and give him some antibiotics. When we checked back after a few days, he was already healing. We were able to bring some shoes and hygiene products, and the UN officer bought him some clean clothes. He and his father both were so thankful... their faces lit up the room. We are so thankful God chose to put us in their path.

Odini and his daddy!

From working with the UN and the people of this particular tent camp, God has brought to us the opportunity to possibly contribute to beginning a school for the more than 200 kids living in this camp who can't afford to go to school. We are praying and seeking God's direction as far as what our role should be in this task. This is a picture of a portion of the camp that these kids are living in:

Our final medical emergency care that we were able to provide this week was with Baby KenKen. He was taken to the hospital 2 days ago because he has taken a turn for the worse. This morning he stopped breathing but the doctors did CPR and brought him back. He currently has a feeding tube because he isn't eating, a fever, high blood sugar, and short rapid breaths. It seems that it won't be much longer until He steps from here to Heaven. Prayers for his sweet mom are so important.. that she may feel the comfort of our Heavenly Father!

On a higher note, the kids at Little Hands & Feet have started school and are loving it! We were finally able to get all their books, uniforms, shoes, belts, etc. etc. etc. We had no idea the extent of getting stuff for school in Haiti until we had to do it! It's a lot of stuff. They are also thoroughly enjoying their twice a week Bible Study with Kessy and Joshua. This week they learned 1.) God made me special, and that makes me BEAUTIFUL. and 2.)God made others, so when I hurt them I hurt God. After the lesson, they do an art project. Below you can see them coloring and painting.

This Saturday God brought about 25 kids and over 50 adults to learn English in Koriay, the tent camp. After an hour of English, some members of Chadasha were able to give their testimonies as a witness for Jesus and a complete explanation of why we are wanting to serve the people of Koriay. Next week our goal is to do an hour English class and then an hour of Bible Study. Prayers for direction, open doors, and open hearts are most appreciated!

Oh... and we have an extra special guest staying with us at the Guest House this week as well! Meet Rutherchy:

He is 8 years old and in need of heart surgery to fix his less-than-perfect heart. We are planning to take him to the Dominican Republic next week when we go to take 5 other Haitian children to have heart surgery, and beg that they do Rutherchy too. We know that if it is God's Will, it will be done. Right now we are all just taking this opportunity to love him to pieces! We'll let you know next week what ends up happening with this sweet boy.

God is moving in mighty ways here. As a family and ministry, we are meeting to pray daily that this ministry be about our God and not about us... not about the name Chadasha, but about making the name of Jesus FAMOUS here. Because thats what we're about. And we would love for you to join us :)

Until next Sunday... love & prayers from Haiti!