While I am writing this letter from nearly 5732 km from home, my hope is that you will feel the words as if they are coming straight from the heart.
You helped create quite the impact in 2022.
Thank you for making this past year a great one. Trust me when I say this: we truly could not have accomplished what we did over the past several months without YOU, the body of Christ working together. Some highlights:
- Community Centre including kitchen and bathrooms. This time last year we just had a big empty field. The dream was to build a multi purpose community centre where we could host, sports outreach, camp days, Bible club, trainings, special church services, baptism services etc. The dream came true! We have hosted so many events since the completion of the community centre in the first quarter of 2022 and with the addition of the kitchen and bathrooms the length and size of our events have grown!
- Garbage Dump Ministry What started as looking for a place to drop off our garbage has turned into a full fledged weekly ministry for over 60 kids and many of their moms. The core families we serve are those of the children that work in the garbage dump but upon moving out of the garbage dump and into a small church property nearby the ministry attendees have doubled. Every week over 60 kids hear the gospel, learn about Jesus, receive a meal, mentorship and discipleship. This is where our Shine sponsorship program was born.
- Bible Study for youth and young men Our biggest goal at the beginning of this year was to build relationships. A group of teens and young men have been coming 2-3 evenings a week to play soccer at the community centre. From that a weekly Bible study has developed and right now the youth are learning all about “Who is Jesus” as G walks them through a 7 book discipleship curriculum.
- Girls Club – A very at risk age here are young girls from 8-12. Sexual abuse is very common in the communities we work in. Girls club was created to give a weekly outlet for these girls to learn more about Christ and mentor them in these crucial years.
- English Classes – K works at the trafficking rescue centre teaching the women and children English. We also do VBS type activities and just play and love on the kids there, allowing them to experience a more normal childhood.
- Teen Mom Program – There are many young teen moms here and we have developed a program to assist these moms in providing for their children. Please pray with us as this expands in 2023
- Ministry Truck – we had quite the rainy season our second year here and did not know the value of a 4×4 truck until we got stuck in the mud and terrible road conditions several times. Praise God for his provision so our ministry in these rural areas could continue.
I feel like I finally understand John 21:25 – “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
I really could go on and on in this note with all God has done in 2022– the stories, testimonies, miracles are endless. We’ll have the gift of recounting all the Lord’s deeds one day in heaven, but for now I must tell you:
You are an answer to prayer. Thank you.
We realize that your financial gift comes at a price – not just monetarily, but in what it represents: skill, talent, time, energy, and that much less that you could be spending on your own pursuits and loved ones. For that, we thank you.
We also realize that your prayers come at a price – we want to let you know that your prayers – however long, short, loud, or soft – are powerful and effective. For that, we thank you.
How can we help you?
We may not be able to be in contact as much as we would like but we can pray!!! You’ve blessed us so incredibly with your sacrifice and thoughtfulness that we wanted to setup a way to “give back” to you, small as it may be.
Please mail us directly at havenheartministry@gmail.com— and please let us know how things are going at work, with your family, and if there’s anything we can pray for you about. (It is an honor to pray for you in what God has called you to in your life, so please email us, we really mean it!!)
A quick peek at what’s next:
You can imagine how encouraged we were as we reflected on what God has done with our yes from moving from Canada to Central America. It isn’t about us but we certainly feel honored in the role he has given us to play. The victories, miracles, and breakthroughs we saw as a result of your generosity this year is really quite mind blowing. It’s hard to believe all this has happened in just 365 days. There has also been a lot of warfare to battle and we know there is more to come. We know the road ahead won’t be easy, but we’ve got some God-sized plans:
- Social Enterprise – Ministry has to be creative in our country due to all the regulations and restrictions against NGO’s. Opportunity is one of the biggest gifts we can pass on to the young people we work with. Please pray with us as we develop a small business with the teen moms and women coming out of trafficking. The dream is big but many if you know my background is in the beauty industry and we would love to see a small salon/shop/cafe open up here in country with hand made goods being able to be exported to North America. Not only would this help to support parts of our ministry being self sustaining but it would also provide a break out of the deep cycle of poverty so many teen moms face. We are turning one of the storage sheds here on the property into a small salon to train some of these young women.
- Shine Sponsorship Program – Off to a great start we have almost half of the children sponsored who are in need of a sponsor. We pray that the other half will receive a sponsor soon. Being able to partner someone from North America with a child in need here can change lives in dramatic ways.
- Team Trips – We have our first 2 team trips planned for 2023. This last year we had family and some friends come on some trial team trips but we will be officially launching our team program, starting with pre field training and ending in advocacy meetings. We want to approach mission teams a little differently to ensure we do no harm, but only help and see the lives of those who come be impacted.
It’s often said that God can use anybody. So often we feel just amazed that God has called us to this beautiful life ministering to the most vulnerable children and their families. It really is a blessing to be able to bless others and we may be the ones here on the ground but your generous hearts and obedience to the Lord prompting you to give is why Haven Heart can even exist!
“Life is hard. God is good. Try not to confuse the two.”
I hope that quote encourages you! While Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden is light, there also remains work to be done – both in our part of the world and yours.
Please know that we are praying for you. As we mentioned earlier, please keep us posted with prayer requests or anything else we may be able to help with. Just email us, or we’ll be online at https://havenheartministry.org We really mean it.
We can’t wait to see what the Lord does this next year in your life, and hope this report serves as a small reminder of how much of an impact your life has on others. You made a difference in 2022. Great blessings on you!
