New Missions: The Next Generation

July 6, 2021July 6, 2021 / edebock / Leave a comment

In 1983, the late George DeTellis, his wife, Jeanne, and their children left the United States for Haiti with nothing more than what they could carry on the plane. They lived in tents pitched under a grove of coconut trees and started a church the first Sunday they were there. Now, 38 years later, New Missions, which also branched into the Dominican Republic in 2000, has over 30 churches as well as elementary schools, high schools, medical clinics, a Bible college, and a professional trade school.

For just $35 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

Khetsia

We started sponsoring Marie Kethsia in 2004 when she was a 10-year-old student in third grade. In a country where only 2% of the children finish high school, she went on to graduate! Knowing that she didn’t want her education to end there, we were able to arrange to provide a scholarship that enabled her to pursue training as a laboratory technician. It was a proud moment for us when she graduated last December. Now a beautiful young woman in her 20s, she has completed her practicums and is actively seeking employment in her chosen field. Though our financial commitment to her has come to an end, we have been Facebook friends for the past few years and will continue to keep in touch.

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Four and a half years ago, when Khetsia was nearing the end of high school, we decided that Rodolson 2019 it was time to begin sponsoring another child. Rodolson, who lives with his family in a different Haitian village, was 7 years old when he joined our New Missions family. Now 11, he has just completed grade 6. We look forward to receiving his letters just as we did Khetsia’s.

Since we are no longer supporting Khetsia, a new era began today when we chose yet another child to sponsor. At 7 years old, Dayanah is just a few weeks older than our youngest grandchild. Isn’t she adorable? She just finished first grade. We’re anxiously waiting for her introductory packet to arrive to learn more about her and her family.

Our relationship with New Missions truly entered a new generation a few months ago, however, when our daughter and her family decided to sponsor a little boy named Wendy!

Wendy

If you are not already sponsoring a child or children through another organization, I strongly urge you to consider New Missions. For little more than $1 a day you can make a huge difference in the life of a child, a family, and a community.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

Graduation Day!

December 29, 2020July 6, 2021 / edebock / 7 Comments

Yesterday was a very exciting day for us, but the story began many years ago when we decided to sponsor a child through New Missions. For over 30 years, New Missions has been establishing churches, medical clinics, and Christian schools in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In addition, a Bible school and a professional trade school prepare graduates of New Missions schools to support their families and become leaders in their communities.

Marie Khetsia was a 10-year-old child in 3rd grade when we began sponsoring her. She had already lost her mother and a few years later her father also died. Khetsia and her brothers were taken in by her aunt, a woman I have come to admire greatly. Every day her aunt goes to the local market to sell her wares and provide for the needs of a household of eleven people.

Khetsia

About four years ago, our relationship took on a whole new dimension when I received a Facebook friend request from her! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect that to happen! At first, communicating was a challenge. Our letters had always been translated for us, but now we were on our own! Her English, learned at school, was weak and my Haitian Creole non-existent. We chatted frequently though and I’m amazed at how much her English has improved. She calls us Mom and Dad and her messages almost always begin with a question about how our family is doing.

We were so proud of Khetsia when she graduated from high school, but we knew that she didn’t want her education to end there. When we approached New Missions and learned that we would be able to provide a scholarship for her to continue her education, she entered a three year laboratory technician program.

Yesterday was graduation day! This is a monumental accomplishment in a country where the adult literacy rate is only about 61%. As Facebook messages flew back and forth between us, I could sense Khetsia’s excitement all the way from Haiti! I hope she knew how excited we were too.

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Prior to graduating, Khetsia completed a practicum at a hospital that was close enough to her village to allow her to commute each day, but at the beginning of February she begins an internship much further from home. Leaving home will be a new challenge, but one we believe she’s ready for.

Four years ago, we decided that it was time to begin sponsoring another child. Rodolson, who lives with his family in a different Haitian village, is now 11 years old and in 5th grade. We look forward to receiving his letters just as we did Khetsia’s. If you are not already sponsoring a child or children, I urge you to consider New Missions. For just $33 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child in Haiti or the Dominican Republic with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

Desperate to go to school

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018 / edebock / 2 Comments

I recognize that even in the most developed nations, schools aren’t perfect. After all, they are a reflection of the society that they’re a part of and are heavily influenced by the political ideologies and trends of the day, but imagine having to sneak your child into school to give them a chance at an education of any sort.

Started in 1983 by George and Jean DeTellis, New Missions has established 35 churches and schools in Haiti and the Dominican Republic that provide approximately 10 000 children with education, a wholesome meal each day, and medical care. Tim DeTellis, George and Jean’s son, grew up on the mission field in Haiti and now serves as president of New Missions. Yesterday Tim posted a video update on his Facebook page that touched my heart and today I want to share his plea with you.

In the video (which I was unfortunately unable to post here) Tim speaks of the fact that parents were going out and finding school uniforms and putting them on their children so that they could slip into class to receive the benefit of education as well as the gift of food and medical care. “Why? Because these children and their families are that desperate,” says Tim. When these unregistered children came to the attention of the school personnel, rather than turning them away, they welcomed them. “Now we’ve registered them and in the last six months, to our astonishment, we have increased our enrolment by 1000 children!” he goes on to say.

We all know that education is not free. Here in Canada and in many other developed countries, public schooling is paid for almost entirely by our taxes, but what of countries like Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere? Who will provide the resources to educate the 1000 new enrolees in New Mission schools? Perhaps you can help.

How? It’s simple. Go to newmissions.org, click on Donate, and give to the Life of a Child fund to help unsponsored children or if you’re willing to make a more long term investment, link up with an individual child through child sponsorship. For just $33 a month you can provide one of these desperate children with an education, a hot meal each day, and regular medical care.

We started sponsoring Marie Kethsia in 2004 when she was nine years old. This spring, in a country where only 2% of the children finish high school (Haitian schools have 13 grades), she graduated! Now she’s enrolled in a 3 year lab tech program which will equip her to be a self-supporting contributor to her family and her community. We couldn’t be prouder!

Kethsia - Version 2

Over the years, we enjoyed exchanging letters and watching Marie grow into the beautiful young woman that she is today. Imagine my delight about a year and a half ago when I received a Facebook friend request from her! Though her English is weak and my Haitian Creole is non-existent, we manage to communicate on a regular basis without the benefit of the New Missions staff who translated our many letters over the years.

We took on our second New Missions child early last year when I decided to give Richard a boy for his birthday!

Rodolson had his ninth birthday earlier this month and is in Grade 3. In his last letter to us, he wrote “I like school and I always study my lesson.”

For approximately $1 a day, you too could give the gift of school to one desperate child!

Facebook blessing

April 5, 2017 / edebock / Leave a comment

I’ve been known to rant about Facebook, but sometimes it’s a wonderful blessing! Yesterday was such a day.

I was sitting in the vehicle at a gas station while Richard filled the tank when I decided to check Facebook on my cell phone. I immediately noticed that I had a friend request. I’ve recently received (and deleted) a few of those from creepy men I’ve never met, so I assumed that this was just another one of those. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m sure my heart skipped a beat when I saw the name of one of our sponsored children in Haiti!

We have been sponsoring Marie through an organization called New Missions since she was nine years old. Today, she is a lovely young woman of 22 with one year of high school left to complete and a dream of pursuing nurse’s training. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed exchanging letters with her, but never in my wildest dreams did it cross my mind that we might become Facebook friends!

I immediately accepted her request and we began a conversation that continued on and off throughout the rest of the day and again this morning. Her English, learned at school, is weak and my Haitian Creole is non-existent, so communication is slow and sometimes confusing, but we’re talking without the aid of a translator! What joy!

Marie, who lost her own mother shortly before we started sponsoring her and her father a few years later, has been calling me ‘mother’ in our conversation. That and her Facebook profile picture of the latest letter and photo that she received from us melt my heart.

For the past few years, we’ve been hoping that when Marie finishes high school and begins her nurses training through the New Missions program, we’ll be able to continue sponsoring her, but even if we can’t, now that we’re Facebook friends we won’t lose touch with her. What a blessing!

For just $33 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child in Haiti or the Dominican Republic with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

A boy for his birthday!

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 / edebock / 5 Comments

Today is my husband Richard’s birthday. We quit buying birthday gifts for each other years ago, but this year I broke with that and ordered something really cute for his birthday.

rodolson

His name is Rodolson. He’s seven years old and he’s in first grade in his home country of Haiti.

No, we aren’t adopting a child in our old age! Instead, we will be sponsoring Rodolson through an organization called New Missions which, coincidentally, is celebrating it’s 34th birthday today.

In 1983, the late George DeTellis and his wife, Jeanne, left the United States for Haiti with nothing more than what they could carry on the plane. They lived in tents pitched under a grove of coconut trees and started a church the first Sunday they were there. Now, 34 years later, New Missions, which also branched into the Dominican Republic in 2000, has over 30 churches as well as elementary schools, high schools, medical clinics, a Bible college, and a professional trade school.

Following the devastating earthquake of 2010 the United States military made the main New Missions compound their primary base camp for relief work in Haiti’s southern plain. Though many churches and schools were destroyed by the 7.0 earthquake, New Missions has rebounded and continues to thrive.

For just $33 a month, child sponsorship through New Missions provides a child with quality education, a daily hot lunch which for some is their primary meal of the day, and medical care. New Missions also provides a number of community development initiatives including clean water, vocational training and local employment, all vital in this poorest part of the western hemisphere.

Rodolson is not our first New Missions child. We have been sponsoring Marie since she was nine. Today, she is a lovely young woman of 22 with one year of high school left to complete and a dream of pursuing nurse’s training. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed exchanging letters with her and watching her grow. Now we get to do the same with Rodolson.

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So, Happy Birthday to both Richard and New Missions and welcome to the family, Rodolson!

International Literacy Day 2014

September 8, 2014 / edebock / 2 Comments

Right now, you are doing something that one in five people on the face of this planet cannot do!

As one who values my ability to read above most other skills, I find that an appalling statistic! According to the World Literacy Foundation, an estimated 67 million children around the world do not have access to primary school education! Equally disturbing is the fact that almost two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. Given that statistic, it’s hardly surprising to learn that the majority of the world’s poor are also female.

Today is International Literacy Day, a day for shedding light on the desperate need to ensure that all people have the opportunity to learn to read and write. Education is a basic human right, but one that many people are denied, particularly in parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The problem is not restricted to underdeveloped parts of the world, however. Literacy rates in Canada are high, around 97 per cent, but what does that really mean? While they may have basic decoding skills, the most recent literacy study by Statistics Canada shows that millions of Canadians do not have the literacy skills they need to keep pace with the escalating demands of our society and economy. A whopping 48% of Canadian adults over the age of 16, many of them new immigrants, have low literacy skills that do not adequately equip them for the workforce. The situation is similar in the US.

But what can we do? How can you and I overcome such an enormous global issue? That’s where the Starfish Story comes in (adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley).

We cannot solve the world’s literacy problem, but we can make a difference for one or two.

This is Marie. My husband and I have been sponsoring her through New Missions, a small organization operating in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, since she was in primary school. She now attends high school and dreams of becoming a nurse. For approximately one dollar a day, we provide her with the opportunity to go to school in Haiti where only 2% of the children finish high school and about 40% of the adult population is illiterate. She also receives a hot meal at school each day as well as regular health check-ups and medical care when it’s needed. There are many similar organizations, including World Vision, that offer you the opportunity to provide a child with the chance to go to school. Perhaps that child could be your starfish!

I also choose to give Kiva loans to impoverished women in third world countries who are helping support their families and educate their children. By investing in women’s lives, society as a whole benefits because women typically reinvest 90% of their income back into their families. In so doing, they break the cycle of illiteracy and help lift their families out of poverty.

Closer to home, encouraging literacy is as simple as reading to a child! Fill your home with books and let the children in your life see you enjoying the gift of reading.