This lovely little girl is Lourchinda Pierre.

She was born on December 29, 2005,

making her seven years old. She is the

youngest child of five sisters, three of

which live in the orphanage with her.

She has a smile that lights up a room

and joy that overflows in her. She

loves playing with her friends, going to

church to sing and pray, going to

school and learning math. Lour-

chinda’s favorite meal is when we

have “moumli”, a cornmeal mush

type of food.

M Y N A M E I S L O U R C H I N D A P I E R R E

S P R I N G 2 0 1 3

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2

Serving Christ through the Children of the Loyal Oaks Community Chapel Children’s Home, Despinos, Haiti

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

C H R I T M A S I N

J U L Y 2

W A L T & C O N N I E ’ S

C O R N E R

3

M E L I S S A ’ S

M E M O R A N D U M 4

E S S E N T I A L S C L U B

4

H A I T I S U M M I T R E G I S T R A T I O N

5

G R A N D M A J U D Y 6

J O H N S O N

U N I V E R S I T Y T R I P 7

We would like to introduce you to Jean

Hubens, who is known by the name Bob at the orphanage. Bob is one of our teachers.

He teaches sixth grade and is responsible for preparing his class to

pass the government test to advance to Secondary School. Bob has been work-

ing at the orphanage since 2005. He has grown up in our area in

the small village of Meyer. Both of his par-ents are still living and

he has six sisters and one brother.

Bob attended uni-versity to become a teacher, but he has many skills. He is a

skilled electrician and plumber and has even attended school to be-

come a structural engi-neer. Whenever we need advice on a building project Bob is

always willing to share his knowledge. He also fixes many plumb-

ing and electrical issues as they arise. Bob has met a lovely

young lady named Oc-tavius Mirlanta and will

be getting married on July 13th of this year. He has worked very hard building a small home for

himself and his future wife. Bob enjoys playing soccer and hopes in the

future to go to school to be a pastor. Bob would like to thank you for all you do for the children

and for providing him with a job so he can sup-port his family. He en-

courages everyone to come to Haiti to serve because it is very helpful.

O U R S T A F F M E M B E R O F T H E Q U A R T E R - J E A N H U B E N S

Summer in Amer-ica means it’s time to start

planning for Christmas down in Haiti. In order to get all the gifts to Haiti, it’s necessary for people to

carry them down person-ally, and that needs to happen in the Fall.

Again in 2013, Judy Sharpe-Kosmatka is coordinating this for all of us. Judy will be contact-

ing each sponsor in June to see if you are able and willing to supply a Christ-

mas gift this year for your sponsored child(ren). If you are not able, she’ll reach out to other

churches and individuals who have expressed to Imagine Missions their will-

ingness to help. Each person pro-viding a child’s gift is asked to spend around

$50 on the gift items. At Melissa’s request, the gift should include: 1) a book bag/backpack suitable

for the child’s size, 2) one complete SUNDAY outfit, including shoes. For boys,

Sunday outfits are long pants (jeans are ok), a shirt with a collar and nice shoes. For boys older

than 12, the shirt should be long sleeve, and the preferred shoes are slip-

ons. Belts and ties are also worn by the older boys. For girls, Sunday outfits are dresses or skirts.

All girls’ tops must have sleeves. A sleeveless top

is fine if it has a little cover-up to go over the

shoulders. Girls prefer stretchy, form-fitting tops. Judy has clothing and shoe sizes for all the chil-

dren. All gifts need to fit inside the book bag and

will need to be sent to Judy by July 31st. The gifts will be distributed to Imagine Missions teams

who will be going to Haiti between July and De-cember. To cover the

costs of baggage charges, each gift-giver will be asked to send $10 (cash or check made out

to Imagine Missions) with the gift. In addition to the

kids, it’s customary to give each staff member a cash bonus equal to one month’s wages. A total of

$3,100 will be needed. As we all know, the orphan-age could not exist with-out its staff, so we’re ask-

ing all who are able to please send a check ($50-$60 would be won-

derful) to Imagine Missions to help with this cash bo-nus. The check should be made out to Imagine

Missions, and should have a footnote on it indicating that it’s to be used for

Christmas bonus for the orphanage staff. After the clothing and book bag is pro-

vided, additional gift items can include:

C H R I S T M A S I N H A I T I - I M A G I N E M I S S I O N S S T Y L E

Page 2 I M A G I N E M I S S I O N S

Girls:

• hair ribbons for younger girls, hair combs for older girls

• nail polish

• pedicure sets • perfume • makeup

• face scrub • baby dolls (for the younger girls) • bracelets, necklaces and earrings

(pierced earrings OK)

• beads to put on hair braids Boys:

• cologne

• razors • soccer balls (need to be deflated for

shipment) Both/either:

• journals (small, spiral bound) • pens, markers • stationery sets (13+ year old kids) • watches

• radio’s with headsets • sunglasses • sheets

• candy • beef jerky • small toys • card games like UNO, Old Maid

• deodorant and other toiletries • small, hand-held games (no large elec-

tronics like Gameboys, etc.)

• kids/teen magazines (English is OK) • picture dictionaries (English is good) for

the smaller kids • DVDs (those could be used and will be

given as a gift to the entire orphan-age)

• Creole or French Bibles

Any Fundraising ideas, please email

Beth and Chris Hostetler:

bethandchrishostetler @yahoo.com

W A L T & C O N N I E ’ S C O R N E R

Page 3 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2

We spent the month of March

on furlough in Ohio rejuvenating

with our church family, our family,

and our friends. It was a great

time of fellowship. We are very

blessed to have those who pray

every day for us and give of them-

selves in so many ways.

We were fortunate to be able

to spend time with most of our chil-

dren and grandchildren. Unfortu-

nately, we didn’t get to see the

ones who live in Texas. We both

expanded our waistline while we

were there. As we were preparing

to return Connie found out that

her gallbladder had to be re-

moved. Surgery was scheduled

for April second and we were to

board the plane on April fourth to

return to Haiti. The surgery went

well but she had to remain in the

U.S. for about ten days to recover

before the physician would clear

her to travel. Walt returned on the

fourth as originally planned and

Connie returned on the thirteenth.

It is good to be home.

Apartment: We moved into the

apartment above the transition

house on April 17th as we contin-

ued to work on getting things

done. We had to start over on a

septic system. None of the buried

ones seem to work here. The sep-

tic that seems to work the best is a

concrete holding tank built just

above the water table that will

need pumped out periodically.

We now have a fully functional

bathroom. That is a true blessing

that we take for granted in the U.S.

The kitchen is functional but we

need a more consistent power

source than public power to be

able to purchase a refrigerator or

freezer so we are using a large ice

chest and re-filling it with ice a few

times a week. Cooking is a little

difficult because space for keeping

food is limited. No worries, Melissa

has been taking good care of us by

having us come to the team house

for lunch and even sending home

leftovers for dinner! Most of you

know that cooking is not my favor-

ite thing to do anyway. Walt has

been stretched as a carpenter and

a plumber. He finished the bath-

room sink and kitchen sink plumb-

ing. He has built two screen doors,

two end tables, a coffee table, and

a TV stand. Moving into the apart-

ment has made our interaction with

the children more consistent and

we are getting to know all of the

children better.

Transition House: The above

ground septic will be completed on

May sixth. Plans are being made to

get the boys moved in.

Ministry: The ministry here has

changed a lot. Our new pastor,

Pastor Angelo, is excited about

ministering to the youth. He is

preaching on Sunday mornings to

all of the children. On Wednesday

evenings he is teaching the young

adult class. Walt and I are teach-

ing a Bible study for the young

adults on Sunday evenings. They

are starting to open up and are in-

terested in the teachings on the

Word of God. They eagerly take

part in choosing what type of wor-

ship music we use. The younger

children have a Sunday and

Wednesday afternoon session with

Pascal and Maudlene. Melissa is

teaching the young adults on Thurs-

day evening on the book “Not A

Fan”. We walked the neighbor-

hood with Louinege yesterday intro-

ducing ourselves and praying with

a few people. The Lancaster Vine-

yard team is coming May 8th to the

15th. We are going to do prison

ministry on the 10th and plan to

walk the neighborhood to do

more ministry.

Clinic: We recently had a cou-

ple of the masons do some work

on the clinic. They repaired some

of the walls and doorways and

smooth coated them. We hope to

get it painted next week. Addi-

tional medications are continuing

to be brought down with teams

and we are very thankful for that!

We are waiting on the officials to

come and inspect the orphanage

so many of the things that we

have are not in the cabinets yet.

Once the inspection has taken

place I hope to get some plastic

storage bins and get better organ-

ized. We have had a few boys

that required stitches. Thankfully

we have had no serious injuries or

illnesses.

Well, it appears that we are

going to get an education as to

how hot it can get in Haiti as we

go through the next four months.

Please continue to keep us in

prayer. We appreciate each and

every one of you.

Love in Christ,

Walt & Connie

Any Fundraising ideas, please email

Page 4 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2

Essentially…..well, it’s

Essential

…the Essentials Club, that is. The Essentials Club is comprised of

persons who want to help the Kingdom of God in Haiti by giving

$20 per month for two years to Imagine Mis-sions. The money goes to provide the Essentials

for the 120 kids living at the Imagine Missions or-phanage. Did you

know that it costs $2,500 per week for the food

and fuel used at the or-phanage? And while

this food we’re talking about is better than many have in Haiti, it’s still only the basics: 7:00

am breakfast of spa-ghetti (common in Haiti), 2:00 pm lunch of

rice and beans, and a 7:00 pm snack of cereal. In addition to providing meals, Melissa must use

her funds to pay $3,600 each month to the forty

staff members

that take care of “our kids”. Before Imag-ine Missions

took over the orphanage, the prior direc-

tor was oper-ating on a $10,000/month budget. When

Melissa Young and Imagine Missions be-

Greetings from Haiti

Well, it has been hot, hot, hot here in Haiti but

we have been blessed with many visitors over the past few months that have been working

so hard. We have moved the boys into the transition house and they are very happy.

We have had teams here moving dirt, fixing the clinic, painting and

putting ceilings in the boys and girls dorms. Many of the teams have been doing Vaca-

tion Bible School and Bible studies with the children also.

We have some excit-ing news that “Grandma” Judy will be coming to join our team

in August. She is going to be living with the children whose ages

are five through nine. We are so excited for the love and guidance that she will give to our

children. There are some areas that I need you to be in

prayer about: 1. The Essentials Club.

I need everyone to please be promot-

ing this idea to help us provide food for the children and pay for our staff who

work very hard to help take care of the children.

2. Prayer and help for

came the director,

much of the previous support ceased, and Imagine Missions began with a dedicated com-

mitment of only $1,000/month. Since that time (October of 2011), God

has blessed Imagine Missions’ efforts and has provided many things. The monthly support of

$30 that many have pledged was initially in-tended to enhance the

basic menu with meats/proteins and vegeta-bles, but it has had to be used to provide the

basic menu. Miracle donations have been made to help Melissa meet payroll. Many

teams have gone down to the orphanage to make living improve-

ments – what a blessing to everyone there – and yet the daily concerns of how to pay the staff

and provide the next meal still exist. Think of it….$20 per

month….that’s about 66 cents per day. Don’t YOU have an extra 66 cents laying around that

you could put to good use in Haiti? God bless you if take the step to

give it to 120 kids in Haiti. Please contact April Linard at linard4@yahoo.com

if you’d like to …well…help Essentially!

E S S E N T I A L S C L U B

B Y J U D Y S H A R P E - K O S M A T K A

Pastor Nene. Pastor Nene has been un-

justly imprisoned and we have been trying to help his family and the orphanage

with food on a weekly basis. We have just learned

that they will be los-ing the home that they rent. We have three weeks to get

the small home they own livable for them. If you are able

to help please let me know. It will cost about $5,000 to get the house habitable.

I would like to invite everyone to the Haiti

Summit. It will be held at Park Christian Church in Dennison, Ohio on Sep-tember 6, 7 & 8. Look

for the registration in this newsletter on page eight. Please continue to lift

the orphanage and staff in prayer daily.

M E L I S S A ’ S M E M O R A N D U M

Page 5 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2

236 Miller Avenue 330236 Miller Avenue 330236 Miller Avenue 330236 Miller Avenue 330----340340340340----4921 (U.S.) 4921 (U.S.) 4921 (U.S.) 4921 (U.S.)

Dennison, OH 44621 509Dennison, OH 44621 509Dennison, OH 44621 509Dennison, OH 44621 509----3170317031703170----7667 7667 7667 7667 (Haiti)(Haiti)(Haiti)(Haiti)

We plan to attend the Haiti Summit September 6, 7 & 8, 2013.

Cost is $30 per person to cover food expenses.

Name (s):

____________________________________________________________________________

Address:

____________________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip:

____________________________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________________ E-Mail: _____________________________________

Total Number Attending: _______________________

Would you like information on local hotel accommodations? Yes

Would you like to stay with a host family? Yes

Have you been to the Imagine Missions Children’s Home? Yes

Please mail this registration form to Imagine Missions, 236 Miller Ave, Denni-

son, OH 44621 or email it to melissa9222424@yahoo.com by August 1, 2013. by August 1, 2013. by August 1, 2013. by August 1, 2013.

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2 Page 6

Imagine no snow, sleet nor ice

in the middle of winter; imagine

serving a meal to 120 children

and not a bite of it wasted.

That’s exactly what this gal from

Northern Wisconsin experienced

at Imagine Missions in February

and March. I love to travel on

mission trips and with a daughter

living in Australia, traveling

abroad isn’t a new thing to me.

However, this trip was different. I

was not a tourist, nor a two-week

assistant. I went to fill a need in

the orphanage kitchen. Working

in the cafeteria provided an op-

portunity to meet everyone in

the orphanage. It was labor in-

tensive, but fulfilling. It was

Something great is happening with our newsletter! Our mailing list is becoming too large to send

the newsletters via email. We are asking everyone visit www.ImagineMissions.com and become a

member. There is no cost, but this will be how you receive your newsletters or any updates in the

future. Thank you for your help. The less money we spend on mail, paper, copies, etc, the more we

are able to directly help the children.

probably, physically, the hardest

work I’ve ever done, but it’s

been a long time since I was as

happy as I was there.

As a respite caregiver for the

Barron County Foster Care Sys-

tem, I was pleased to see the

orphanage filling the role of fam-

ily and providing a safe and car-

ing place for Haitian children

whose families are unable to

care for them or have no family

of their own. Imagine Missions

totally changed my perspective

of an orphanage.

I left something behind in Haiti

– my heart – I will be returning.

JUN 7JUN 7JUN 7JUN 7 ---- JUN 17 JUN 17 JUN 17 JUN 17:::: Bolivar Wesleyan Youth Team

JUN 1JUN 1JUN 1JUN 1–––– JUN 24 JUN 24 JUN 24 JUN 24: : : : Bre Sholtz Team

JUN 25JUN 25JUN 25JUN 25 ---- JUL 3 JUL 3 JUL 3 JUL 3:::: Katie Saho Group

OCT 5 OCT 5 OCT 5 OCT 5 ---- OCT 12: OCT 12: OCT 12: OCT 12: Lincoln Trail

Christian Church

Melissa Young:

melissa9222424@yahoo.com

Cell: 330.340.4921

Haiti phone: 001.509.3170.7667

Park Christian Church:

740.922.4118

236 Miller Ave.,

Dennison, OH 44621

U P C O M I N G M I S S I O N T R I P S

F R O M W I S C O N S I N T O H A I T I B Y G R A N DM A J U D Y E S P E S E T H

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 2 Page 7

740.922.4118

236 Miller Ave.,

I am

constantly

amazed

by the

lessons

God can

teach

me, and the wonderful ways in

which He chooses to show me his

power. This past March I was

given the opportunity to travel to

Haiti and spend some time being

a part of the incredible work of

Imagine Missions. I had been

praying for an opportunity to go

on a mission trip and I knew that I

couldn't let this one pass me by.

I traveled with a group from

Johnson University Knoxville, TN,

where my brother is a student.

Leading up to the trip, I was very

intimidated. I had never been

out of the country without my

parents, and had never been to

a third world country. My sister

and I were also the only high

school aged kids in a group of

college students that we didn’t

really know! However, God had

a plan, and He had lessons for

me to learn through the children

and workers of Imagine Missions.

The minute we arrived at the

orphanage we were befriended

by the children. They showed us

around, held our hands, and

took a lot of delightful pictures of

each other with our cameras. I

was able to become good

friends with some of the older

girls. They showed me so many

interesting things! They taught

me how to play their games, sing

their songs, and even did my hair

to look like theirs. The younger

kids were loving and adorable!

We were able to put on a VBS for

them which taught us a lot

about teaching and working

with kids, and was a lot of fun for

all concerned. We also helped

put the finishing touches on the

Transition House for the older

teenage boys. We helped paint,

stain benches and tables, and

clean the floors. It was exciting

to see the great facility that the

boys will be able to live in.

We spent a day touring the

city of Croix de Bouquets which

was a fascinating experi-

ence! The sights and

sounds of Haiti are quite

enchanting and there

were so many new things

to see. The team house

is also a delightful place

to be. Melissa, Makeela,

Yppolene, and the other

team house workers

made us feel fully at home. The

food was delicious, and the

sleeping quarters on the roof

were refreshing and by far the

best and most fun place to

spend the night. We also had

the privilege of meeting Jude, a

former voodoo priest who now

works toward spreading the gos-

pel in his country. His story was a

blessing to hear, and is one I will

never forget.

I am so very thankful for my

experiences in Haiti. It was

made clear to me that people

are the same world wide, that

we are all children of God, and

that our love for Him can cross

any barrier that language or lo-

cation might create. I will miss all

of the friends I made in Haiti, but

because of Jesus I will see them

again, and I’m so very thankful

for that!

J O H N S O N U N I V E R S I T Y M I S S I O N T R I P B Y E L I Z A B E T H M C G U I R E