How I Spent My Summer Vacation

In the United States kids have a multitude of options for how they will spend their summer months. But in Haiti the options are limited. For the second summer, NVM is giving students in this area a great alternative. We are conducting a 4-week English camp!

No matter where you are in the world, it is always good to see kids learning. For most, a good education will expand their horizons and open the doors of opportunity.  NVM is committed to educating young people. In fact, education is one of our four main ministry pillars. This pillar supports a school of over 300 students as well as additional learning opportunities during the summer months. For the second year during the month of July, NVM has invited students to enroll in an English camp. Learning to speak English conversationally is one of the important steps in helping students cross cultural and economic barriers. This ability will most certainly provide them with opportunities for further education and employment.

This year 115 students, ranging in age from 10 to 16, have enrolled in the camp. The camp runs for four consecutive weeks, Monday through Friday. Starting at 8:30 am and ending at 2:00 pm each day, the students sing together, do crafts, learning English, learn from God’s Word, have fun playing games and are given a good meal. The English camp is having a big impact on these kids. Here are some of the sights!

Starting out the day together

Heidi cheering the kids on

Getting ready for the morning activity - soccer!

Kids are cute no matter where you are

There is a lot of singing and dancing going on

Instructions for the day

Grace lovin' on the kids

Sorting out the badges

English class is about to begin

Answer a question in English and get your badge

Sometimes you need a bull horn!!

Soccer team getting ready to play

Let the game begin!

A treat (and yes, that is Fifi!!)

Watching a kid's movie in English with Creole subtitles - a fun way to learn

The game is well under way

Basketball is a new sport in Haiti - but they are learning quickly

The NVM English camp goes well beyond learning in the classroom. It also provides an opportunity for the students to be engaged in healthy and supervised summer activities. They are learning English but are also learning from God’s Word. And the wonderful young people coming from the United States to help run the camp are providing the kids with love and attention and are serving as great role models!

Pray for these young people. Most of them are very smart and capable. Some of them will be the future leaders in Haiti. But for now pray that God gets a hold of their hearts and their lives.

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,

Jim & Cheryl Warner

Cheryl's New NVM Craft Workshop!!

My passion is to see the ladies in Chambrun and Onaville earn an income to provide for their families and deepen their love for the Lord.  Right now this is happening for over 60 ladies.

There are 20 ladies in Chambrun and 10 ladies in Onaville who are are earning an income by hand rolling paper beads.  A number of these ladies are using their beads to make jewelry. They are also learning to combine glass beads and their rolled beads to design necklaces and bracelets.  Their work is being sold in the NVM Project Hope Gift Shop here on the NVM Compound to teams who come to minister here in Haiti. And by using God's Word during our devotions, their personal relationship with Christ is being transformed and their love for the Lord is deepening!

We also have 33 ladies in Onaville hand rolling fabric onto rope to create beautiful baskets that are also sold in the NVM Project Hope Gift Shop.  These baskets have also helped to provide an income for their families. The Basket Class will be graduating on July 25th and the ladies will be starting their own businesses here in Haiti.  The basket class is held at the Worship Chapel of Nehemiah in Onaville which is a NVM church plant.  A new class will start on August 8th for another 30 ladies who will start to learn how to create beautiful handmade baskets. The goal again is for them to earn an income and deepen their relationship with the Lord.  What a blessing it is to build into the lives of these ladies.  Both of these classes are now being run by Haitian women (seen below), which has been one of my high priority goals. I now have the privilege of being their support system.

Madame Pastor Julie

Regine Orange

It has been such a blessing for me to see these ladies grow by learning a skill that can help improve their living conditions and see them grow in their love for the Lord.  They are now sharing openly about their struggles and they each have a prayer partner.

One story in particular is about a young mother with 7 children!  Because of her skill in making the jewelry and and the sales of her items to teams coming to the NVM Compound, she has been able to build her own brick home and has been able to buy the products to make and sell food near her home.

She now has her own small business!  She sees this all as a blessing from the Lord through her work at NVM.  She is a faithful church attender here at the Worship Chapel in Chambrun and a very good mother to her 7 children.  We are constantly seeing lives like hers being changed here at NVM - moving them from darkness to light from hopelessness to eternal life.

The jewelry work at the NVM Compound is now being done in a new NVM Workshop - where the ladies can sit in the comfort of air conditioning on our 98 degree days.  Pastor Pierre has built a workshop out of one of the containers connected to the NVM school kitchen. Some of you have helped to contribute to the funds that were needed for this!  Thanks!  As you can see from the pictures....the ladies have lots of beads and work space in their new NVM WORKSHOP.  They are so blessed at the love and care that is shown to them.

Workshop is the container on the right

Over 800 team members each year visit NVM to be involved in mission projects. Many of them shop in the NVM Project Hope Gift Shop. This is a tremendous blessing to the ladies making the jewelry and baskets.

Most of the ladies have become very dear friends here in Haiti.  It is a blessing to work along side them and see their lives transformed.

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,
Jim & Cheryl Warner

Kindergarten Graduation - Haitian Style

In Haiti, they take graduation from kindergarten very seriously. Let me put it this way, the kids wear cap and gowns and the service lasts for 4 hours. Everyone comes in their Sunday best and they really celebrate their young students. It is a lot of fun albeit somewhat long. This all took place at Nehemiah Chapel at NVM in Haiti on Saturday morning, July 6. In any case, here are the sights and sounds.

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,
Jim & Cheryl Warner

The 4th in Haiti

Hello everyone. We have returned to Haiti after a month in Dallas. It is good to be back. But we had a wonderful time reconnecting with family and friends. And we were involved in raising our financial support for the next year in Haiti.

But back to the subject at hand, the 4th of July in Haiti. We currently have a number of summer interns at NVM helping us with summer activities. And we met with them all last night to celebrate. Chris Bosma was our coordinator and MC. We had fun. We started with a time of worship with the staff and team that is here. We then moved to the Ortiz home to play games and eat patriotic cookies and homemade ice cream. Even without fireworks we had a great time.

In a few days I will blog about the month-long English camp that is currently underway at NVM almost 100 kids gathering everyday to learn English, have fun and learn about the Lord. Great fun.

Supper!

Worship

Fun

Our team (Jim, Cheryl and two other women!!)

Home-made ice cream

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,

Jim & Cheryl Warner

The NVM Hope Project Gift Shop

The NVM Hope Project Gift Shop features jewelry and baskets made by ladies in Haiti. Cheryl has been working with this group of women for 2 years and their craft skills are amazing. They produce baskets made of cloth wrapped around rope which is then sewn together. The results are wonderful. The jewelry is made by cutting card stock and paper and then rolling the cut out pieces with glue to make the beads. They are then strung together to create beautiful bracelets and necklaces. Here are some photos of the process and results!

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,
Jim & Cheryl Warner

Flag Day 2013

Back a few days we blogged some photos of Flag Day in Haiti. At that time I promised a video. Well, here it is. The students of Chambrun did a great job and we think you will enjoy their marching ability and style.

We will be in Dallas for the month of June. If you are there, we would love to see you.

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,
Jim & Cheryl Warner

Flag Day in Haiti

The Haitian flag is a source of pride to all Haitian and on May 18 each year they honor their flag. It is a national holiday. All across the country parades take place where teams do precision marches with small bands. Most of the teams are students.

This year, the students attending the school on the compound of Nehemiah Vision Ministries got in on the act. For two months this group of students have been practicing for this special day. They left the grounds of NVM at 9 this morning and marched through the nearby communities of Chambrun and Meyer. Their march stretched on for more than 6 miles. During this time they stopped frequently to perform their precision march routine. Below are photos of the day. I will be posting a video soon. They did a great job and we are proud of them!

This was a special day for us. It was great to see our friends celebrating and showing pride in their country.

Serving on your behalf in Haiti,
Jim & Cheryl Warner