We would like to intro-

duce you to Benson

Renaty. Benson has

lived at the orphanage

about as long as it has

been in existence. Ben-

son comes from Mt.

Cabrit. When asked if

he remembers living on

the mountain he says

he only remembers liv-

ing in the yard. Bensons

mother comes to visit

him and he has one

older sister, Berthide,

that lives at the or-

phanage with him.

Benson is the youngest

of seven children. Ben-

son is in grade five and

enjoys learning math.

He looks forward to go-

ing to secondary

school and becoming

a mechanic. Benson is

a very hard worker in

the yard. Any job that

needs done he is the

first to volunteer. Ben-

son says he would be

so happy to have a

sponsor.

M Y N A M E I S B E N S O N R E N A T Y

W I N T E R 2 0 1 3

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1

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 :

T O H A I T I W I T H L O V E B Y T O R I

W H I D D O N

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

5

C H R I S T M A S I N H A I T I

6

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

7

S A Y C H E E S E ! 8

We would like you to

meet Telmond Joseph.

Those of you have vis-

ited know what an im-

portant role this man

plays in the safety and

comfort of teams at the

team house. Telmond

is 62 years old and

works harder than any-

one half his age. He

grew up in Shambre

which is just a few miles

from Despinos. He

moved to Despinos in

1996. In 1979 he was

married and he has six

children. All of his chil-

dren live here in

Despinos. Telmond has

always worked as a

house guard. He

started working for this

mission in 2002. Tel-

mond wears many hats

here at the house. He

takes care of watching

the gate, filling the wa-

ter tank, takes care of

the trash, keeps the

generator going, runs

any errand that is

asked of him, keeps the

yard clean, cleans and

checks the vehicles

every morning just to

name a few of his regu-

lar tasks. Three years

ago Telmond gave his

life to Christ. Words

Continued on page 7 . . .

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 - T E L M O N D J O S E P H

This Christmas was quite a different Christmas

as it took place in Haiti this time. It was an amazing trip. We went to the beach, on a tour, and got

to know more about the kids, and also have Christ-mas morning at orphan-

age (or as they say in Hai-tian Creole orphanina). Our trip to the beach was fun. The kids loved it.

The ride took forever. I sat in the back of a truck on a big lid in very hot

weather. It was worth it though. When we got there the kids were so ex-cited. This was part of

their Christmas present. They played for a while, while we made sand-

wiches and stuff. After lunch they played a little longer then we left. Pascal (asst. director)

took us on a tour of down-town Portaprince. It was cleaned up a lot since I saw the pictures. We took

a bunch of back roads so we didn't have to stay in traffic. Did you know you

can get almost anything on the road, such as drinks, sugar cane, and also phone chargers?

They have taken the whole palace down be-cause of the earthquake

damages. Also they are building lots of houses so they can move the peo-ple out of tents from tent

city. Plus I love the new airport - it has air condi-

tioning. Awesome! This trip was a better ex-

perience since we didn't really have a project to do. We got to spend time with them. We got to

know and have a better relationship with them. So everyday we just went to

the orphanage and hung out. It was fun and relax-ing. The greatest part of all,

Christmas Day. That morn-ing we woke up at like 3:30 to get ready to go

over to the orphanage. At the orphanage we got there at 4:00 am to get the presents set up before

the kids woke up. You know it is very hard to be quiet when you are walk-

ing on gravel making a crunch sound every step. Once we got everything set up we woke the kids

up. When we got the little kids awake they looked confused. Then we got the big kids up. Those

boys did not want to get up. Then we got the kids seated in the church their

faces lit up when they saw all the presents. After they were settled some-body walked through the

church doors, "Santa Claus"! They all had to take a picture with Santa

before they could get their bag and stocking, including the big kids who would not smile. The night

before they all kept say-ing they weren't getting

T O H A I T I W I T H L O V E B Y V I C T O R I A W H I D D O N ( A G E 1 2 )

Page 2

We’re on the Web!

www.imaginemissions.

com

Contributions may be

mailed to:

Imagine Missions

c/o Park Christian

236 Miller Ave.

Dennison, OH 44621

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

Any Fundraising ideas,

please email

Beth and Chris

Hostetler:

bethandchrishostetler

@yahoo.com

presents and Santa was not coming and that it

was us. They said, “monte monte” which means liar liar. So they were surprised to see Santa Claus. It was a great Christmas. My trip to Haiti was an amazing trip and a

awesome Christmas. It was a lot of fun and I

love going!

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 1

We have been here four

months now and everyday is a learning process. God is growing and stretching us as we adapt to this new culture and try not to

“be an American” but to be a child of God. We are processing things, learning acceptance and

flexibility and having some grow-ing pains along the way. We are transitioning from the new kids on the block to an integral

part of the team. We are con-tinuing to learn the Creole lan-guage but not as quickly as we

would like. An interpreter has been hired to assist us in the day-to-day activities on and off of the orphanage. Louinege

started with us the first of Janu-ary. Many of you will remember that name as he used to live on

the orphanage.

It has been great spending time with the teams. We have met many people from different

states and churches. Getting to know them, fellowshipping with them, praying, and worshipping with them has been an encour-

agement. Walt experienced an illness that was actually prophe-sized prior to our departure from

the U.S. He became very dis-couraged at that time. A team was here to lay hands on him and pray which was a tremen-

dous blessing. Discouragement does happen and that is where Satan tries to get a foothold.

Connie experienced that also and again, team members stepped in to pray. It is such a joy to share in the body of Christ

and lean on our brothers and

sisters.

Walt is finding his role in church

leadership at the orphanage. He has had the opportunity to preach on several occasions. He spoke to the young adults about

how men and women of God should conduct themselves and set a good example for the

younger children. Prison ministry is also on his heart and he has had one opportunity to visit and preach in Mirebalais. He hopes to

go again soon.

Clinic update: Early in Novem-ber Doctors Blair and Barbara

Main came from Canada to do medical outreach. Each child at Imagine Missions Orphanage had a complete physical with areas of

needed treatment identified. We also did mobile clinics in the mountain village of Marten and went to three smaller orphanages

to treat children.

Many medications and have been brought down with teams.

A team from Ohio purchased sup-plies and put a ceiling in the exist-ing two rooms of the clinic along with running new electrical lines.

Two metal cabinets with locks were purchased and money has been given by two different

teams to purchase four more of which we are picking up today. Thank you for your generous hearts. We are still in the process

of organization. We accompa-nied Staley to Double Harvest for his surgery in which we had a

wonderful outcome. Glory to God! Connie has experienced several LONG trips to the dentist at Double Harvest with four of the

children with more trips to come.

Transition House/Apartment

update: In our last newsletter we stated that the transition house was almost ready for occu-pancy. Little did we know how

much more needed to be done to complete the project. We want to thank each one of you

for your generous donations to make this a reality. Many have given time and money to see this happen. We believe that within

the next three to four weeks our apartment and the transition house will be completed and we

will all be able to move in. Please keep all of us in your prayers, as this will be a HUGE adjustment for everyone. We

thank you for your prayers and

support.

In His service,

Walt & Connie

Page 4 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1

Wow…what amazing and blessed few months

it has been here in Haiti. We have had many Imagine family mem-bers down to visit, some

for the first time and some returning to visit. December was very ex-

citing as the children anticipated the coming of Christmas morning. I am pretty sure every

day leading up to Christmas the children asked if they were get-

ting a present. They were overjoyed with all they received this year. They each were given

an individual gift, as well as two family gifts of a new television (donated

by Beth Jarvis) and a

trip to the beach.

They also had a special meal on Christmas pro-vided by the children of

Strasburg elementary.

Also in December the Heartland Vineyard

Church helped us move our Krache (an orphan-age for adoption) to a home in Despinos. We

have five children in the process of being adopted and they are

now close to home and back in school. A team from Ember Home care in Uhrichsville came and

brought Connie much need medical supplies, put a ceiling in the clinic

and provided snacks for the children. While they were here they also saw our need for a new gen-

erator at the orphan-

age and Jock and Lois Grandison blessed us by providing the funds to

purchase a new one.

One of the greatest

blessings taking place over the past few months is different teams have been here

together and sharing their experiences to-gether. From Decem-

ber 22 - January 17 we had visitors from Geor-gia (Galilee Church & Augusta Vineyard), Boli-

var, OH, Monnett, MO, Harlem Rd Methodist Church and Columbus,

OH. There was such joy in seeing them accept

M E L I S S A ’ S M E M O R A N D U M

each other and be-

come one team, help-ing each other with work to be done at the orphanage. They

sorted Christmas pre-sents, made snacks, or-ganized the clothing

depot, supervised a trip to the beach, made a new generator house, changed faucets and

outlets at the team house, did electrical work at the orphanage,

painted, taught Zumba and loved our children. God is truly making Imagine Missions one

body and family is HIS name. With all of this going on, work has still been continuing on the

transition house and other projects at the or-phanage. The boys

transition house is very close to completion. The kitchen is being in-stalled and tile has

been purchased and being set in the com-mons/kitchen area. All

the electrical and plumbing work has been completed. Walt and Connie are down

to the finishing touches on their apartment. We have also set a new

septic for the girls dorm

and built a new out-

house for the children.

There are not words enough to say how grateful we are for the Imagine family that

keeps this ministry mov-ing forward everyday. It is so overwhelming how

God continues to pro-vide our every need and more. There are a few areas I would ask

for you to be in prayer about. #1: The Essen-tials Club – we need 500

members as soon as possible to help with the everyday operations at the orphanage. Please

read about this pro-gram on page five of the newsletter. #2: The girls dorm of the transi-

tion house – we need to

raise $60,000 to build.

#3: Prayer for wisdom and direction with our church at the orphan-

age. We see a need to make some changes and as we all know change does not come

easily. We want our chil-dren to be followers of Jesus and building an intimate relationship

with Him.

Thank you for your con-

tinued prayers and sup-

port.

God Bless,

Melissa

Page 5 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1

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 Imagine Missions took over the orphan-age, the prior director was operating on a

$10,000/month budget. When Melissa Young and Imagine Missions

became 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

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

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!

V I T A M I N P R O G R A M

Connie Eck would like to initiate a daily vitamin

program for our children. This would take 120 vita-

mins per day. The problem is: she can’t buy

these in Haiti! If anyone is traveling to visit us and

you would like to support this could you please

put some in your suitcase (not the gummies, they

melt). Sam’s club sells Kirkland brand children’s

multivitamins that have everything necessary in-

cluding the iodine. For the

girls age 12 and older they

need a multivitamin plus

iron. The boys over 12 need

an adult vitamin. Thank

you in advance for your

help.

It’s time for our 2012 review. Kathy Barrett has

agreed to make a video again this year to show all

that took place over the past year. We would like

each team that came to visit in 2012 to choose

seven to ten pictures (one being a team picture)

that describe your time here and a short write up

about your trip. Please email them to Kathy @

kkathybarrett@gmail.com by February 23.

2 0 1 2 I N R E V I E W

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1 Page 6

My family and I along with a

young lady from our youth

group, Amelia McDonald had

the unique opportunity to spend

Christmas in Haiti this year. What

a gift! We met up with Amber

and Thomas in the airport and

our journey began. Our main

purpose for going was to help

Melissa with organizing gifts for

each of the kids on Christmas

morning. On previous trips to

Haiti we have had a "work" pro-

ject but this time we truly got to

just enjoy being with the kids.

We started the week with my

husband (along with Pascal)

building a temporary wall under

the carport for Telmond to be

able to have a "bedroom". For

two years he has slept on the

front porch picking up his mat-

tress and mosquito net every

day. After the wall was com-

pleted, Melissa purchased him a

real bed with frame and a nice

thick mattress. What a Christmas

gift. He no longer had to pick up

his bed off the porch every day.

He was beaming and every time

he passed by Kevin he would

call him "boss" and say "merci".

Then Kevin built a shoe rack on

the front porch. It was nice to

have a spot to put shoes on in-

stead of them being scattered

all over.

Christmas Eve we celebrated

with a very nice church service.

The girls’ choir group practiced

and sang a few songs. It was

such a nice service to honor the

real reason for the season. At

4:00 am Christmas morning we

snuck over to the orphanage in

the dark and placed all the gifts

under the tree in the church. My

family did really well in our fund-

raising efforts so we were able to

provide a stocking with lots of

goodies inside for each child.

The kids had never had a stock-

ing before so that was fun. We

actually found a Santa suit in the

storage room so we convinced

Kevin to put it on and walk into

the church. The kids didn’t really

know who Santa was but they

went crazy screaming

"rouge" (red). Each child had

their picture taken with him then

received their gift and stocking.

Their little faces lit up and there

were smiles all around. We then

were able to have lunch with lots

of staff, family, and friends at the

team house while the kids en-

joyed their own special lunch.

Melissa is a great cook. It was

much like Christmas at home.

New friends from our home state

of Georgia came in the next

day. As part of the kids Christ-

mas gift, we provided them with

a day at the beach. Now, if

you've ever been to the beach

with your little ones, imagine try-

ing to keep up with 120+ kids!!

Mama Melissa was a little

stressed to say the least but eve-

ryone pitched in and thankfully

we came home with every-

body!! We served a lunch of

peanut butter sandwiches, chips,

and drinks on the beach. On Fri-

day night we had popcorn,

Coke, and a movie night. The

kids received a family gift of a

big screen TV from another

sweet lady. They have watched

movies before but had never

had Coke and popcorn with

M&M's! The movie was a big

success.

Our time was dwindling down

because we had to leave the

following day. We had been

able to hang out and spend so

much quality time with the kids.

Just listening and learning their

personalities. We picked up a lot

of Haitian Creole this trip and I

will never forget Christmas in

Haiti! It was the best Christmas

we have ever had as a family.

Wendy, Kevin, and

Tori Whiddon

C H R I S T M A S I N H A I T I B Y W E N D Y W H I D D O N

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1 Page 7

T E L M O N D , C O N ’ T .

FEB 28 FEB 28 FEB 28 FEB 28 ---- MAR 3 MAR 3 MAR 3 MAR 3: Multiple reps from

Vineyard Churches

MAR 9 MAR 9 MAR 9 MAR 9 ---- MAR 23: MAR 23: MAR 23: MAR 23: Heartland Vineyard &

Purdue University Students

MAR 23 MAR 23 MAR 23 MAR 23 ---- APR 1: APR 1: APR 1: APR 1: Ladies form Bolivar Wesleyan

Church

MAR 23MAR 23MAR 23MAR 23---- MAR 30 MAR 30 MAR 30 MAR 30:::: Johnsonville University

MAR 31MAR 31MAR 31MAR 31 ---- APR 8 APR 8 APR 8 APR 8: Eastside Vineyard

MAY 8 MAY 8 MAY 8 MAY 8 ---- MAY 15 MAY 15 MAY 15 MAY 15: Lancaster Vineyard

MAY 29 MAY 29 MAY 29 MAY 29 ---- JUN 7 JUN 7 JUN 7 JUN 7:::: Galilee Christian Church

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

that have been used by visitors

to describe “T” (as he is called)

are hard working, loyal and

humble. For as long as I have

known Telmond he has always

slept outside on the floor with a

thin mattress, never having his

own room or a place to keep

his belongings. He never com-

plained or asked for anything.

This year for Christmas Pascal &

Kevin Winddon took half of our

carport and made T his own

room. We bought him his own

bed & mattress. Telmond was so

grateful and proud to have his

own room.

V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1 Page 8

M O R E P I C T U R E S . . . A R E N ’ T T H E Y A W E S O M E ?

Our Depot Our Depot Our Depot Our Depot ---- Clean and Clean and Clean and Clean and

Organized!Organized!Organized!Organized!